In Oudenbosch, there are two Lourdes grottoes, one in Marialaan and another behind the Markt, within the former convent complex of the Brothers of Saint-Louis.
In 1878, Jesuit fathers established the philosophical college of Saint John Berchmans and it was named “Collegium Berchmanianum”, which moved to Nijmegen in 1929. Johannes (Jan) Berchmans (1599-1621) was a Jesuit, born in Diest, Flanders. He was canonised by Leo XIII, Pope from 1878-1903, born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci (1810-1903). Berchmans is the first Belgian saint.
The Fathers of the Holy Family purchase the complex from the Jesuits and rename it St. John Berchmans Mission House. In 1964, the Brothers of Saint-Louis take over the buildings and adjacent grounds. They provide education for boys at a training college, later a teacher training college, to train them as primary school teachers. From 1994 onwards, the monastery complex's purpose changes to include hospitality and residential use.
The Grotto of Lourdes formed part of the grounds of the Brothers“ House of the Brothers of Saint-Louis and is situated in the park of the former convent garden. The grotto, with a small pond in front of it, was created in 1904, exactly 50 years after the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1854. The grotto is constructed from rendered brick and concrete. The image of Mary is located in a niche approximately 2 metres high, and the statue of visionary Bernadette Soubirous is missing. A commemorative plaque has been placed at the grotto bearing the Latin words ”Virgini Immaculatae” (To the Immaculate Virgin) along with the years 1858-1908. The apparitions to Bernadette took place in 1858, and this plaque therefore serves as a commemoration of 50 years of apparitions in Lourdes.
The grotto is far from a copy of the original Lourdes grotto in the south of France and displays a free interpretation of a fantasy grotto. Behind the grotto is a stone with words that refer to the jubilee year 1904, namely 50 years of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. The publication of this doctrine was on 8 December 1854, exactly 9 months before the feast day of the birth of Mary on 8 September, and it is a reference to the year the Lourdes grotto was built here.
The monastery garden will later also accommodate an arboretum; a tree garden as a collection of tree species on a scientific basis.
The Lourdes Grotto is a national monument.
Address: Markt 68, 4731HR Oudenbosch.
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