page_title: Carfin Grotto
section_title: Growth and Development of the Shrine
hierarchical_section_title: Carfin Grotto / Growth and Development of the Shrine
caption_attribution_description: English: I took this photograph of St Bernadette's statue at Carfin Grotto
context_page_description: Carfin Lourdes Grotto, a Roman Catholic shrine in Scotland dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes, was created in the early twentieth century. The "Carfin Grotto", as the shrine is locally referred to, was the brainchild of Father, later Canon Thomas N. Taylor, parish priest of St. Francis Xavier's Parish in the small, mining village of Carfin, which lies two miles east of Motherwell, in the West of Scotland. Following a trip to France's principal Marian shrine at Lourdes, Canon Taylor's vision was to build a religious memorial in honour of Our Blessed Lady based on the template of the Grotto of Massabielle; realising this vision was to become his life's work. Since its opening in the early 1920s, the "grotto" has attracted pilgrims in the hundreds of thousands and its environs have been modified and enhanced with rich Catholic symbols and buildings. For the past 90 plus years, the grotto shrine has offered a pilgrimage season with Sunday processions, rosaries, outdoor Masses and dedicated Feast Day events which runs annually from early May until late September.
context_section_description: The shrine opened in late 1922 and it quickly became a pilgrimage site for Catholics from across Scotland and the rest of the world.  Services were held for the Polish and Lithuanian communities that had settled in Scotland. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims of different faiths have visited Carfin.
  The shrine expanded beyond a single field to many acres between 1922 and the 1960s. The grotto later added a Glass Chapel situated on a raised "Headland" above the main pilgrim walkway. The grotto grounds house many life-size depictions of Christ, Our Blessed Lady and many saints. It also contains a life-size representation of Jesus' life with Mary and Joseph in their Loretto house and carpentry shop, which is depicted in a cave; a Reliquary; as well as a sunken garden. Many holy statues and artifacts were added to the central Lourdes Grotto scene. Other depictions include the Way of the Cross, a large number of statues of Saints, and a statue honouring Our Lady, Star of the Sea, complete with miniature lakes.
  On Sunday afternoons at 3pm, between May and October, Rosary processions are held. These are traditionally attended by thousands of visitors. The rosary is led by the parish priest, a tradition started by Fr. Taylor and carried on by his successor, Fr. George Mullen (later Canon George Mullen). The priest would stand on the parapet of the Glass Chapel, from which a clear view could be obtained, both of the Grotto itself and of the movement of the procession along the shrine's gravel paths. Each Sunday procession culminated in Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament in the upper Glass Chapel. Many local people remember the discomfort of kneeling in the gravel as children, at the moment of adoration in the Benediction service.
caption: Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima
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