De Lourdesgrot van Mariahout

After the parish was founded in 1932, Van Eijndhoven, the first parish priest, wanted to build a Lourdes cave. After all, the parish was dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes.

The cave, 10 meters high and 25 meters wide, was a faithful copy of the Cave of Massabielle, as it existed in Lourdes in southwestern France in 1935. In a niche, 4 meters above the ground, there was a life-size statue of Mary, 180 cm high and made of French sandstone. Other items, such as the fountain with the three taps and the inscription: Allez boire à la Fontaine et vous y laver (Go drink and wash at the source), pulpit, fence and candle stand are faithful copies of the objects present in Lourdes.

Many pilgrims were attracted to this Lourdes cave, but interest waned from the mid-1950s onwards. Moreover, the plaster cave was not too solidly built: part of it collapsed in 1960. Despite conservation measures in 1982, the remaining part also collapsed in 1996. The statue of Mary remained undamaged.

In principle, rebuilding had already been decided in 1991, but the associated costs made this an unfeasible ideal for the time being. It was still possible with the help of volunteers, in 1998 the recovery started and in 1999 the renewed cave could be consecrated.

This cave was now a copy of the situation in 1935. And although in 1958 the fencing, the pulpit, the fountain and the altar were removed in the 'real' cave in Lourdes, they were maintained in the Mariahout Lourdes cave, so that it is now a copy of the situation in 1935 of the cave of Massabielle.

In 1999, a stone from the real grotto of Lourdes was also placed in the wall of the Mariahout cave.

Behind the cave is a procession park, which also contains some statues related to Lourdes, such as a statue of Bernadette and a statue of Mary.

The devotion to the Lourdes cave has started again: candles are burned and intentions are written in the book ready for that purpose.

In 2001 it was decided to protect the church and the procession park as a national monument. Although the Lourdes Cave was an important part of this whole, the cave and the pulpit were not listed because they are not the original, but were rebuilt in 1999