GUA MARIA

Day 228: December 26

Gua Maria (Mary's Grotto), Mojosongo, Jebres, Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia



The sanctuary was born as a simple place of prayer where Catholics could gather to recite the Holy Rosary. In 1975, a shelter was added, since rainfall is very abundant in this area.

In 1980, Mary Queen Parish in nearby Purbowardyan began holding Masses at the shrine. The parish priest therefore began a fundraiser to build the Grotto, which Cardinal Julius Darmaatmadja, bishop of Semarang, blessed by inaugurating it on December 25, 1983.

Before entering the Grotto there are two statues, one of the Virgin Mary and the other of St Joseph. Beyond the entrance you find yourself surrounded by a wall and trees surrounding the perimeter. Here pilgrims can gather in prayer and take water to bless and take home, through practical taps.

In the main building there are several columns, each of which bears a copper representation of the seven sacraments (Baptism, Eucharist or Communion; Confirmation; Reconciliation or Confession; Anointing of the Sick; Holy Orders; Marriage).

On the left side is the statue of the Virgin Mary but to get closer you need to take off your shoes and not make noise. The caretaker is very attentive and the room, as well as the marble floor, is always well cared for and clean.

The shrine hosts youth gatherings on Thursday evenings and a public rosary on the first Friday at 8:00 p.m., followed by numerous confessions.


St Justin Russolillo Writes...

"Grant me all this, O Mary, so that in you, for you and with you, I may be totally and constantly assumed and transformed in the divine perfections and beatitudes, O Daughter, O Mother, O Spouse of the Lord."

(Justin Russolillo, Spirit of Prayer, trans. Luois Caputo, Vocationist Fathers, Newark, 1996, p. 78)

Comments

Post a Comment

Hot Picks

OUR LADY OF MELIAPORE

Image
Day 47: June 26 This is the shrine in the East Indies, where Saint Francis Xavier often retired to pray during his eleven years with the people of India. The Blessed Virgin Mary was Francis’ constant source of strength and inspiration. The image before which Saint Francis used to pray is called Mylai Matha in Tamil, or Our Lady of Mylapore in English. It is an ancient statue about three feet tall, Our Lady of Meliapore can still be venerated at the church. The church of Saint Thomas of Mylapore – spelled somewhat differently from the above – contains Mary’s shrine. According to tradition, the Apostle Saint Thomas came to India in 52 AD. Due to his success making converts to the True Faith, he was persecuted and finally martyred in the year 72 AD. Saint Thomas is buried at the shrine of Our Lady of Meliapore, and there are relics of Saint Francis Xavier. There was a church known to be in Mylapore going back to the 1st century, and built by St Thomas. According to tradition, there was a ...
Read more

Marian Year 2025-26

Image
  MARIAN YEAR The year 2026 marks the first centenary of the apparition of Our Lady to St Justin Russolillo, the Founder of the Vocationists. As the feast of Our Lady of Divine Vocations falls on May 11, the year preceding to that year (May 11 2025 – May 11 2026) has been declared to be celebrated as Marian Year by the Vocationists. The reason behind this year-long celebration is, as Pope Pius XII decreed prior to the Marian Year in 1953 on the occasion of the first centenary of the definition of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Mother, “that the faith of the people may be increased and their devotion to the Virgin Mother of God become daily more inflamed.” As Rev. Fr. Louis Caputo SDV rightly points out, “the life of Fr. Justin here on earth began with the…apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary…, it developed in the shadow of Mary and ended in union with Mary.” The birth of Justin was preceded by an announcement by the Blessed Virgin Mary to Fr. Sa...
Read more

OUR LADY OF DIVINE VOCATIONS

Image
The Devotion to Our Lady of Divine Vocations The devotion to Our Lady of Divine Vocations has its foundation on the Marian Apparition that St Justin Russolillo had on May 10, 1926. He was praying breviary near a hut made of straws called pagliarella. St. Justin describes it in his diary (Book of the Soul) "May 10, 1926, first day of the Rogations. It was given to me the certainty that the Blessed Trinity has given the Blessed Lady the Office of the Immediate Superior of the Society of Divine Vocations and therefore of all the offices, mansions, studies, works, spheres and everything. She is the authority of the Society. Glory and thanks to God and Mary. Therefore, the established practice of having one person always present and on guard in the room dedicated to Our Lady to honor and venerate her perpetually." After the Marian Apparition, St Justin rushed to the rectory of St George's parish in Pianura where he used to be the parish priest. He asked Fr Luigi Diodato to pre...
Read more