The pilgrimage site “Klein Lourdes” in Tienray has a large Lourdes grotto within the church. This is the second church on the same site. The architect of the former church was Johannes Kayser (1842-1917) from Venlo. In 1944, this building was destroyed by wartime violence. In 1946, architect Martinus Hendrikus Josephus (Martien) van Beek (1896-1962) designed a new church building. The building priest was Jan Antoon Hubert (Jan) Dinckels (1886-1963), the parish priest of Tienray from 1932 to 1955. He encouraged pilgrimages to Tienray. In 1952, the church was consecrated to “Our Lady, Comforter of the Afflicted”.
The Lourdes Grotto is an indoor structure designed by Peter Cruysberg (1917-1986) and was built in 1982. Remarkably, this current grotto is the fourth one! The first Lourdes Grotto was created in the church in 1884, but it was rejected by Joannes Baptist Hubertus Maessen (1825-1909), the parish priest from 1874 to 1909. The second Lourdes Grotto was created in 1888, but the structure was destroyed during the Second World War (1935-1945) in 1944.
The third grotto arrived in 1950. This is an abstract grotto, and the parishioners had an uneasy feeling about its construction. They preferred a faithful replica of the grotto in Lourdes, France. Subsequently, the fourth grotto was built after Father Pierre de Klijn listened to the parishioners. He was the parish priest of Tienray and Swolgen between 1980 and 1988, and he initiated action in 1982, something his predecessor had not intended. This is why more than 30 years passed before another grotto was built. In 1983, the Lourdes grotto was consecrated by Monsignor Alphonsus Maria Henricus Antonius (Alphons) Castermans (1924-2008), Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Roermond (1982-1997).
Above the grotto structure stands: “Lourdes Grotto since 1888” and it has a long history.
Address of the Lourdes Grotto: Kloosterstraat 1, 5865 AA Tienray.
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