Lourdes Grotto - July 16, 2001

Lourdes Grotto - July 16, 2000 (Sunday)

I am writing this in my backyard after coming back home from my Sunday soundwalk.

I went down to the Grotto today, hoping to record a mass since it was Sunday. The sky was overcast (as usual this summer) but it wasn't raining so I thought maybe there was a hope it might happen.

A man with a medium thick French accent came up to me to explain that, no, there was not going to be mass today and there will not be an outdoor mass for two weeks because it will rain for two more Sundays too. He based his prediction on a belief that if it rains on Trinity Sunday (it did), it will rain for nine more Sundays thereafter (it has, so far). It is only week 7 today. But he did give me some more ideas - he said that every night at 7:30, about 100 people come out to the Grotto to pray the Rosary. And the Sundays when it doesn't rain, the Grotto is full. So obviously, the Grotto is not merely a historical remnant from a bygone age - it still plays an active role in the life of the community.

He also told me that there are special masses on major holy days. On Good Friday, there is a special procession down Montreal Road, attended by 1500 people. There are several other major ceremonies, including the Feast of the Assumption in February (I may have heard him wrong - February is the coldest month of the year with sub zero temperatures and wind and snow. I can't imagine anybody holding a mass outdoors in those conditions but if they do, I want to be there - it will be a much different place in the cold, with snow having the same dampening effect on the sound as a large quilt. It also says something about the character of the community if people will come out to a mass in subzero weather.)

As far as other sounds I heard this morning, I was surprised at how quiet the neighbourhood is. Maybe it's because it's a grey day. Or maybe the presence of the Grotto (and the massive cemetery behind it) have a quieting effect on the whole neighbourhood.

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