St. Malo’s second parish priest, Father Abel Noret, arrived on November 5, 1895. Of French origin, he brought with him from France, his country’s popular devotion to Our Lady of Lourdes.

Exploring the parish domain a short time after his arrival, one site, in particular, caught his attention – the Grotto’s present location. It was a quiet, remote spot before the advent of Highway 59 and the construction of the Provincial Park. Its wooded charm and the proximity of the little river reminded him of the Grotto of Lourdes in France, where the Blessed Virgin had appeared in 1858. He decided to erect a grotto here which too, would honour her as Our Lady of Lourdes.

In July 1896, Father Noret with the voluntary aid of some of his parishioners began working on his project. A clearing was made as they cleared bush and filled hollows and a small chapel was then constructed on the south bank of the river.

The grotto site was separated from the parish church and the village by dense and tall trees. A trail was needed to link the grotto and the village. To do so they had to ring the church bell and from the grotto site Father Noret and his wood choppers began cutting a path towards the sound of the bell. Since the opening of the Highway 59, this sylvan path still exists today but is no longer used.

The first pilgrimage was not a large one. It occurred that fall on September 8, 1896, on the feast of Mary’s Nativity. For the inauguration and first annual pilgrimage, a procession wound its way from the village to the little sanctuary. Damase Malo walked at its head carrying the statue of the Blessed Virgin. Several years later a change in date was made and the annual solemnity was kept on the feast of the Assumption.

By 1902 Father Noret’s plans for the sanctuary had become more impressive. The little chapel was replaced by an actual grotto built with fieldstones so abundant in this area.

Father Noret was working with David Morin and Léger Lambert. They had comp0leted the stone walls and the niche of the Madonna. There still remained the closing of the arch of the main vault. A keystone was needed. Hunting about, they found, high on the bank, a large flat stone of the proper dimension. But how to get it into position? They had no crane. The stone was very large, very heavy and the bank very steep. Dilemma “If we roll it down,” said Father Noret, “we risk smashing everything – rock and grotto. Yet we’ll risk it.”
The three men heaved, and the large flat rock started to slide down the bank. Chance, luck, heavenly intervention, call it what you will,
but the rock stopped at the precise place destined for it as the keystone of the arch. Father Noret and his helpers did not budge it one inch from the place it still is today. Lovers of Mary attribute this feat to the Madonna of Lourdes who chose to be honoured in this sylvan place.

On July 28, 1906, His Grace, Archbishop Langevin of St.Boniface presided the pilgrimage and blessed the new chapel which brought together a large number of people.

Father Noret was probably thinking only of his own parish as he worked and planned for the sanctuary. But little by little, people from neighbouring parishes joined those of St. Malo in its annual pilgrimage and it grew in importance. In 1939 some 7,000 people attended the annual pilgrimage.

Father Arthur Benoit who was parish priest in St. Malo between 1936 and 1941, did much to develop the site of the grotto. Almost immediately he had pavilions constructed for the use of visitors.

In 1939 the biggest change came about. The old altar shelter was re0laced by a much larger canopy. Unfortunately, from the sitter’s point of view, it practically hid the little chapel of 1904, which was located higher up on the slope. The aesthetic lost out to the practical. Visitors could no longer catch the enchanting panorama of the little valley that had hitherto been one of the joys of anyone emerging from the chapel.

Other changes were made. To obtain more seating space before the grotto, the little river had to be directed to a new channel. From the bank to the altar descending paths were constructed to be able to go down to the shelter and grotto area. Though a bit steep and causing one to descend somewhat breathlessly these semi-circular ramps added another note of resemblance to the Lourdes cenacle in France.

To maintain a certain depth of water in the river coursing around the grotto site, a dam constructed with old metal tanks had existed for some time. At spring flood, a miniature waterfall was created. Unfortunately, the tanks had to be removed due to their appearance when the water was at low levels.

The little wooden chapel weathered the years but with time, renovations were necessary. Its modern form emerged more denuded without its former little turrets.

On the interior walls of the chapel are ex-voto plaques placed there by those who have received favours, especially sickness recovery, from the Madonna of Lourdes, such as Mr. David Morin, Miss Marie Hébert, Alice Elémond and Anna Desrosiers.

These are not cures which have been studied by a medical commission, nor officially approved by the Church, but they do accentuate the condition laid down by Christ to those seeking his healing: “Be it done onto you according to your faith.”

The visionary of Lourdes, Bernadette Soubirous, who became a nun with the Sisters of Notre Dame de Nevers, lived her brief life as a nun there and died in 1879 at the age of 35.

After more than 40 years she was found perfectly intact and free from the corruptions of the tomb. Her body lies in the convent chapel in a shrine similar to the one we see behind the altar of this chapel.