Pilgrims feel sense of community at Mission's Marian shrine

MISSION—Each August, thousands of pilgrims are drawn to to Our Lady of Lourdes grotto in Mission to pray and honour Our Lady, and organizers say the crowd this year, the centennial of the apparitions at Fatima, was larger than usual.

On Aug. 19, the Marian shrine atop a hill in Mission again attracted thousands of pilgrims for a day of prayer, reflection, and socializing. The pilgrimage is the largest annual event in the Archdiocese of Vancouver and is held on or near the Feast of the Assumption.

“It’s good to be together with people,” said first-time pilgrim Gerhard Lauk, who travelled from his home in Tsawwassen to the grotto, B.C.’s oldest Marian shrine.

“It’s a friendly feeling, to be with people who have the same beliefs, orientation, and goals.”

“Maria is a very special person for me,” said Lauk, who seeks out special places to pray everywhere he travels, from Lourdes, to Fatima, to Montreal.

“I have quite a lot of places where I feel connected to God and Maria,” he said. “I think Maria holds an umbrella over me. She provided a lot of help and protected me from accidents.”

For pilgrim Michael Goco, the annual event is a time to strengthen his faith and remember Mary’s message of peace.

“Mary takes the lead. She always exhorts us to walk towards her Son – she who even stood by him up to Calvary hill,” he said. She is a Christian model who “never let go of her faith, despite many trials.”

Goco directed the choir at this year’s celebration and has attended the pilgrimage four years in a row. This year’s event was especially meaningful because of the Fatima centenary.

“In this world today, that is troubled because of men and women who choose to only listen to those who think like them while they seclude themselves from others and can eventually breed contempt of the other, it is comforting to know that Fatima’s message of peace … can indeed have an effect on this world.”

The pilgrimage to the grotto began with confessions and Mass at the bottom of the hill at Fraser Valley Heritage Park. Retired Bishop David Monroe of Kamloops, who now lives in Vancouver, celebrated the Mass.

“This pilgrimage helps us to realize that with Mary, as our Mother, we are a family,” he said during his homily.

“Celebrating this pilgrimage to the shrine in honour of Mary helps us to create and care for common places that give us a sense of belonging, of being a community of faith, of being the family of God.”

After Mass, a procession with a statue of Our Lady of Fatima walked up the hill to the grotto, where a large crowd of devotees prayed the rosary. The event wrapped up with a picnic in the park.