Our Lady of Lourdes Kevin Sinnott Memorial Grotto was started to honor the Memory of Kevin Sinnott, a young man who tragically drowned in 2009 at a lake at the nearby Southern Catholic College, which is now closed. Before his death, he and other students had started raising money to build a small Grotto on the campus. His classmates took this tragedy and raised close to $25,000 dollars, but the co
llege closed due to decreased attendance before construction could begin. Bigger...
The money raised sat for a few years untouched until some of the former students approached their old Chaplin, Father Brian Higgins: now pastor of the local Catholic Church, Christ the Redeemer and asked to have the grotto built there. Being a small church compared to most of just 250 families, he welcomed the offer and plans were made to make a small grotto on the hill behind the current church. The Blessed Mother Mary Council #15238 of the Knights of Columbus took on the task of selling pavers and benches and was over whelmed by selling over 200 pavers initially, as well as 30 benches. BIGGER……
When the site for the grotto was denied by the county due to existing utilities, a new site was chosen along the driveway to the rectory located in the back of the property. The site was cleared in October, but wet weather delayed the project until after Christmas. Plans were made to have a small grotto cave above the main altar with St. Bernadette looking at Our Lady of Lourdes in the grotto cave. A small water feature would be accent the other side of the altar. A second phase would add a memorial to the unborn and those lost to abortion and miscarriage. As more and more paver and bench orders came in, it became apparent that there would have to more paver area to hold all the ordered paver and benches. It was also decided to complete the second phase at the same time, partially funded by the Knights of Columbus to add a statue to Our Lady of Guadalupe and a small water fountain. The main water feature grew to become a 15 foot cascading double waterfall. Perrigrine was donated in honor of all those fighting cancer and those who have lost that battle. Rain, snow, and subzero temperatures caused numerous more work stoppages. It took until mid-April 2014 to finish the major construction of the grotto. The blessing and dedication was set for May 24, 2014 and Kevin’s mother, Kathy Sinnott; a disability rights campaigner and a former European Parliament member; was gifted a plane ticket to attended. Also invited were former classmates Jessica Duron and then Deacon, now Father; Rey Pineda to speak. The dedication was attended by many more of his former classmates and many parishioners who donated their money, time, and effort to build the grotto. Father Brian Higgins blessed the Grotto at 11am and was followed by a potluck lunch
We are still selling pavers at a cost of $100 for two lines or $125 for three lines. Follow the link below for a form and mail it with payment to Christ the Redeemer Catholic Church.http://www.christredeemerchurch.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Grotto-paver-order-form-rev-June-30-2014.pdf
