Improvements were recently made to the Our Lady of Lourdes statue just outside Campus Ministry. Dr. Richard Mani, MD, a devoted Catholic mosaic artist, was instrumental in this effort. 

     According to Dr. Andrew Currier, “Dr. Mani wanted to honor the prominence and centrality of the Virgin Mary in Marianist education by having the Our Lady of Lourdes statue cleaned and repainted. Our Lady of Lourdes appeared to St. Bernadette Soubirous in the Pyrenees mountain village of Lourdes, performing many miracles of healing. Our Lady appeared in a grotto, or stone outcropping above a ravine and Dr. Mani wanted to show a visual representation of the grotto around Mary.”

     Dr. Currier continued, “You see these kinds of grotto replications all around the world in honor of the healings at Lourdes, the power of Mary’s intercession, and the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception.” 

     Dr. Currier has a strong devotion to Our Lady of Lourdes, having made a pilgrimage there when he was a young teacher working in Southern France. 

     While not many from Riordan have had the chance to pass by the grotto yet and see the restoration, students and staff may take a double look when they see it again – for the first time in months.

     Dr. Currier said, “It is wonderful to have Our Lady’s statue restored and improved. We are grateful to Dr. Mani for his generosity and his faith.”