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Midwestern College Dedicates Marian Shrine
BY Joseph Pronechen Register Staff Writer
September 27-October 3, 2009 Issue |
Posted 9/18/09 at 10:55 AM
ATCHISON, Kan. — Benedictine College
has always felt a special connection to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The college
thanked her this year by building Mary’s Grotto near the heart of the campus.
With hundreds gathered on Sept. 8,
the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Archbishop Joseph Naumann
of Kansas City, Kan., celebrated Mass on the Atchison, Kan., campus, then
blessed and dedicated this new Marian grotto.
“The Virgin Mother has protected us
and loved this college and campus so much,” says Stephen Minnis, president of
Benedictine.
That care, protection and
intercession even precede the college’s founding in 1858. Two years earlier,
Benedictine Father Henry Lemke, the founder, credited the Blessed Mother’s
intervention with saving his life on the prairie.
And it’s no surprise Mary’s Grotto
strongly suggests the Grotto of Lourdes, where also in 1858 Our Lady appeared
to St. Bernadette Soubirous. In fact, holy water from Lourdes was mixed into the concrete
being poured for Mary’s Grotto, and then used to bless the entire
foundation.
Into the center of the grotto’s
foundation Minnis placed a “Raven rosary” (with red-and-black beads, the
college’s colors) with a St. Benedict cross and medal. Pope
Benedict XVI blessed the rosary in 2008.
Prayer
played a strong role in buil-ding the grotto. Minnis enlisted a “Memorare
Army” to do as Blessed Te-resa of Calcutta did when she needed $85,000 for an
orphanage. She had her sisters pray 85,000 Memorares. On completion, a donor
gave her the exact amount. The college completed nearly 100,000 Memorares.
Engagement Central?
No students will miss Mary’s
presence. The new grotto is on a hillside overlooking the heart of the campus
and next to the main walkway connecting buildings.
“We put it there purposely,” says
Minnis, “so even though our students can’t go there to spend time with Mary,
she can watch over them as they go to class, and their parents can know Our
Lady is looking over their kids each day.”
He also believes the grotto will be
the key place for engagements on campus like it became for the first couple to
get engaged there, Juan Rosete and Megan Klump, both 21. Even before they
dated, the Blessed Mother always played a very important role in their lives.
“We
have always had a devotion to the Blessed Mother together,” Klump said.
Together they made their consecrations to Mary, and on Friday night after
classes, they regularly prayed and lit a candle at the local parish’s Blessed
Mother statue. Rosete was planning to ask Klump to marry him in front of that
statue, but that day people were cleaning the church. He immediately thought,
“Why not get engaged in the grotto?”
Klump’s reaction? “It was the
perfect place,” she said. “It was awesome to get engaged with Mother Mary
looking on. All through our relationship, she has been so important to us.”
“We intend to visit the grotto a lot
this year,” Rosete added.
Apparently, so do many other
Benedictine students. As Minnis notices, “It’s like Grand Central Station
there. This grotto has already impacted our kids.”
Staff
writer Joseph Pronechen is
based in Trumbull, Connecticut.
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