TIME HEALS ALL WOUNDS OF DIVISION

​"Dear Kuya Jeff, I remember joining your advent pilgrimage in Laguna a couple of years ago. I'm curious about your pilgrimage plans for this upcoming advent, especially with the Pilgrims of Hope jubilee. As a Marian devotee, I've been wanting to visit Our Lady of Lourdes Church in France, but I don't have the budget for Europe. I heard there's a replica of the Lourdes Shrine in Bulacan. Is the Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto Church in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan, a Catholic church? I'd appreciate your thoughts on this and I'm looking forward to journeying with you on another pilgrimage." - Mario Peregrino

​1. Four years after Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1854, Our Lady appeared in Lourdes, France, to Bernadette Soubirous, a 14-year-old poor and uneducated sheep-keeper. Since then, Lourdes has become a significant pilgrimage destination, renowned for its healing waters and numerous reported miracles. This was the case for Anita Guidote-Guanzon, who in 1961 was cured of uterine cancer after drinking and bathing in the spring water at the apparition site.

2. Upon returning to the Philippines, Anita and her husband Horacio Guanzon envisioned building a replica of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes on a 30-hectare property in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan, to give thanks for Anita's miraculous healing. They intended the shrine to serve as a pilgrimage site for Filipinos seeking compassion and healing through the Blessed Mother's intercession. Construction of the shrine began immediately and was opened to the public in 1965. After Anita Guidote-Guanzon's death in 1990, their children took over the management of the grotto shrine and oversaw the completion of the replica.

3. In 2004, Marietta Guanzon-Holmgren requested personnel from the Malolos Diocese to oversee religious activities at the grotto. Father Rolando de Leon, the vicar forane of the diocese's southeast area, noted that two priests and a nun were assigned to manage the grotto, but they resigned one by one due to incompatibility with Holmgren's management style. Most Reverend Jose Oliveros, D.D., the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Malolos at the time, ceased assigning clergy to the site and forbade celebration of the Holy Mass. Subsequently, worship services were illicitly celebrated by suspended priests and non-Catholic clergy.

4. This beautiful and tranquil site attracts thousands of visitors annually who come to pray, reflect, and take in the breathtaking views. In addition to the church edifice, the grotto shrine includes Calvary Hill, with life-size statues depicting the 14 Stations of the Cross; Rosary Hill, featuring 155 large concrete beads; and a small spring beneath the statue of Our Lady of Lourdes, believed to have miraculous properties. Over the years, the grotto shrine has continued to operate as a privately-owned institution, with ongoing efforts for reconciliation with the Diocese of Malolos.

5. In 2015, the Guanzon heirs reorganized the board of trustees of the Grotto Shrine Foundation Inc., with Rosalinda Guanzon Antiporda assuming the roles of chair and president. Four out of the five heirs supported donating the church edifice to the Diocese of Malolos for appropriate temporal and spiritual administration. 

6. On February 11, 2024, Most Reverend Dennis Villarojo, D.D., Bishop of Malolos, along with nine other clergymen, celebrated the Holy Eucharist at the shrine with the Guanzon family. This event marked the Feast Day of Our Lady of Lourdes, the 32nd World Day of the Sick, and the 59th anniversary of the grotto shrine's inauguration. After many years, both the Guanzon family and the Diocese of Malolos see this as the fulfillment of founders Horacio and Anita's vision to open the shrine to all Catholics seeking compassion and healing. 

7. On June 12, 2024, the Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto Church was officially transferred from the Guanzon family to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Malolos. Concepcion Guanzon Garcia, Rosalinda Guanzon Antiporda, and Tessie Guanzon Velasco represented the Grotto Shrine Foundation Inc., while Most Reverend Dennis Villarojo, D.D., represented the Diocese of Malolos in this act of donation. This transfer coincides with the upcoming 2025 Pilgrims of Hope jubilee declared by Pope Francis. This development is expected to revitalize both liturgical life and tourism in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan, drawing more pilgrims from Bulacan, across the Philippines, and beyond. "Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers and sisters dwell in unity!" - Psalm 133:1

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us!