In Neeroeteren in Limburg, in the hamlet of Schootsheide, a sub-municipality of Maaseik, there is a Lourdes grotto in a Marian park. The Marian park was co-founded by Leonard Coenegrachts (1884-1958), parish priest of Neeroeteren (1933-1958).
The grotto was built in 1932, partly on the initiative of Jaak Hilven (+1936). In the Lourdes grotto there is a narrow niche where candles burn, which makes the grotto very special. In front of the grotto are benches in the garden, and to the right of this is a covered prayer area.
On the other side of the street, opposite the Lourdes grotto, images have been placed of, among others, Our Lady of Banneux, also known as Our Lady of the Poor, with the date 5 October 1941. Next to the statue of Our Lady of Fatima, the inscription reads “OLV of Fatima protect us 1948”. There is also a Calvary group, and the cross on Mount Calvary was placed on Good Friday 1995. Other statues are of Joseph with Child and Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. The small chapels with the Seven Sorrows of Mary date from 1939.
A chapel has also been built, in which a large statue of a Pietà is housed. The chapel, opposite the Lourdes grotto, was consecrated on 13 August 1939 by Louis-Joseph Kerkhofs (1878-1962), Bishop of Liège (1927-1961). Next to the chapel is a toilet. This entire complex forms a Mary's Park and is located to the left of the house numbered 81 on both sides of the road.
Every day people come to the Grotto of Lourdes to pray, and on August 15th, the Feast of the Assumption of Mary, there is a Eucharist service in the morning.
Address: to the left of number 81 in Grotlaan, Neeroeteren.
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