Annually there is a pilgrimage to a holy site for Catholics in the upper part of the Fraser River Heritage Park to what is called the ” Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto”. It is modelled after the original grotto in France. The place has much spiritual significance for local catholic Christians. It is also historically significant. It has been built, then demolished, then built again, demolished, and then rebuilt over the course of more than 110 years.

From the Fraser Valley Record Wednesday July 19, 1995, Mission Community Archives. This was before its current state was completed.

“The Grotto was a six sided building, constructed of wood, with a silver covered dome that stood sentinel over the entire Fraser Valley. It was a landmark for those who used the river for travel.

The founder of the catholic mission here, Bishop d’Herbomez, made a promise to God, while he was at Lourdes, France, to build this religious landmark. He dedicated it to St. Mary but died before his vow could be carried out. His succesor, Bishop Durieu, completed the construction in 1892.

The Grotto fell into disuse in the 1920s but was refurbished in the early 1950s and once again became the focus for pilgrimages and special religious observances. But by 1965 the owners of the property, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, decided the building had deteriorated too far to be save and it was demolished before it became a safety hazard. ”

FAITH:

British Columbia Report, August 14, 1995 33. Mission Community Archives. CRF No: 881-06.

“Whenever his travels took him to St. Mary’s Mission, Bishop Louis D’Herbomez enjoyed walking up a wooded hill north of the mission to a rocky ledge that commanded an inspiring view of the Fraser River below. Appointed in 1863 as the first Roman Catholic bishop on the British Columiba mainland, Bishop d’ Herbmomez looked out over a rich and rugged land, one that was largely unsettled except, of course, for the native Indians the bishop and his fellow Oblate missionaries were attempting to bring the faith and to educate in European ways.

It was on one such walk up that hill some time in the 1880s that Bishop d’Herbomez is first thought to have conceived of the idea to build a shrine there to the Virgin Mary, a shrine that would be a focal point for the public devotions of his many new native converts. It is said the rock promontory and a nearby stream reminded the bishop of the Grotto at Lourdes, a Roman Catholic holy site in France where a young peasant girl, Bernadette Soubirous, had numerous visions of the Virgin Mary in 1858. ”

The current Grotto was completed in 1996 and since then Marian Pilgrimages have occured on a yearly basis. Prayers are made, a benediction, and procession. The building itself is a prominent landmark visible from the Mission bridge that spans the Fraser River between Mission and Abbotsford. and is an important part of the park. I t is also part of the rich history of Mission.