POWER OF MARY´S INTERCESSION

Article Home Mary is a great woman of faith and she communicates something of her faith to those who have devotion to her. People who go on pilgrimages to the great shrines of Mary testify that they experience there a great strengthening of their faith. Something of Mary’s faith seems to radiate from these holy places. And this deepening of faith in the hearts of the pilgrims tends to manifest itself in a more generous practice of Christian life. Mary continues to say to each of her devotees what she said to the servants of Cana: “Do whatever Jesus tells you”. And these words of hers are words of power that transform lives.
She also listens to the other petitions that pilgrims make – petitions for spiritual and temporal favours of all sorts. With a mother’s heart she is attentive to every request no matter how “worldly” it may appear. “They have no wine” – these words of Mary at Cana have always inspired Christians with the conviction that no human need, even the most humble, is beneath Mary’s attention. Infact one of the special reasons why God has willed that we should acknowledge Mary as our Mother and have confidence in the power of her intercession is precisely to keep alive in our hearts that confidence,
that God whose providence embraces even the sparrows and the lilies of the field, does not despise any of our human needs. God has given us Mary as a permanent sign and reminder of his own motherly heart, and devotion to Mary is meant to be an easy and very gentle school, where we learn that most fundamental of all New Testament lessons, childlike trust in God: “Unless you become like little children you will not enter the kingdom of God.”
And if it should happen that the request that we make through Mary’s intercession should not be granted – for God in his wisdom, foresees that not all that we ask for may be for our true good – pilgrims to Mary’s shrines experience her presence and her power in another precious way. Through her hands comes the grace of simple and humble submission to the will of God. She shares with them her own attitude of loving acceptance of the mysterious but always merciful ways of God’s providence: “Be it done to me according to your Word”. How often for example, one meets seriously ill people who have gone to Lourdes with the hope of being cured and who have returned still seriously ill, but now marked by a joyful and serene acceptance of the will of God.
Mary is still a transfiguring presence in our world and it is above all at her Shrines that she delights to show herself as a channel, a sort of Sacrament, of precious graces of God.

Rev. Fr. Noel Molloy, OP

HISTORY

In 1858 Mother Mary appeared to a poor girl named Bernadette at Lourdes 18 times during the month of February and March. She asked Bernadette to pray and do penance for the conversion of sinners. Great crowds began to flock to Lourdes, and numerous miracles took place there making it one of the most frequented Christian pilgrimage centres.

All over the world shrines of Our Lady of Lourdes begun establishing. The Lourd Mata Mandir is one such shrine that was erected in Nagpur in 1892 in thanksgiving for favours received by devotees of Mother Mary.

In 1890 the Vicar General of Nagpur diocese, Fr. Charles Felix Pevat, MSFS, obtained a plot of 18 acres from the Bhonsle estate on the Takli Hill as a first step towards the projected building of St. Charles’ Seminary.

The following year Mr. G.B. Heysmond of Harda, an employee of the railways, made a vow to go on pilgrimage to the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes in France. But, the railway authorities were not sanctioning the necessary leave to journey to Lourdes and back. Mr. Heysmand made representations to the Church authorities.

The authorities asked him to perform a religious work followed by a sacrifice that will be more or less equal to the burden of fulfilling his original promise (of visiting the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, France).

He was told of the possibility of building a Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes in the recently acquired valley of Takli Hill, Nagpur. Accordingly, he donated the entire money needed for building a Grotto.

At that time the Seminary Hills was a lonely place, surrounded by thick forest. There was neither Mass nor Novena nor the celebration of a feast at the Grotto. A few people used to come there on Saturdays to pray and say the Rosary. But during the rest of the week it remained forgotten.

In 1975 the Grotto was entrusted to the newly erected Rosary Parish run by the Dominican Fathers and Brothers. Soon afterwards there were more developments of the site in and around the Grotto under the leadership of Fr. C.J. Sebastian, OP, who was then the Pastor of the Rosary Parish. Presently, Fr. Justus Paul is the Parish Priest and Fr. Jose T., OP is the parochial minister.

On February 13th 2000, Archbishop Abraham declared the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes as a pilgrim center and Lourd Mata as a Patroness of Nagpur Archdiocese. Today this place attracts thousands of people and so many people receive favours from Lourd Mata.