The Diocese of Malolos formally took over the pastoral care of the Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan on Saturday, July 20.
The diocese said, it had signed an agreement on June 12 with the heirs of the late Horacio and Anita Guanzon for the pastoral management of the popular pilgrimage site, said a CBCP News post Saturday, July 20.
“The Diocese of Malolos, together with the children of Horacio and Anita Guanzon, will strive to fulfill the wishes of their parents that the grotto becomes a true place of devotion for Catholic faithful. May Our Lady of Lourdes pray for us as we visit her at this shrine so that we may receive abundant blessings from the Lord,” the diocese said in a statement.
Malolos Bishop Dennis Villarojo presided over the holy mass for the canonical possession and formal turnover of the grotto to the diocese.
Anita Guanzon decided to set up the grotto after being cured of cancer following her family’s pilgrimage to Lourdes, France in 1961, A replica of the original grotto in Lourdes, it was her and her family’s way to give thanks for her healing which they believed was a miracle. Her doctors actually gave her only six months to live but she went on to live for three more decades.
The grotto was inaugurated on Feb. 11, 1965.
When she passed away in 1990, almost five years after her husband’s death, the management of the grotto was entrusted to their children.
For many years, the diocese assigned priest-chaplains to the site. However, since the owners did not intend to donate the property for religious services, the diocese stopped assigning priests, leading to the arrival of non-Catholic ministers.
In 2004, the diocese said in a circular that the grotto was private property and not recognized as an official Catholic pilgrim site.
Efforts to negotiate with the Guanzon family “to fulfill their parents’ wish to have the shrine opened for Catholic believers” paved the way for Bishop Villarojo to celebrate mass at the grotto on Feb. 11, on the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.
On Saturday, July 20, the pastoral care of the Lourdes Grotto was formally entrusted to the Diocese of Malolos.