On the evening of February 11, 150 years to the day since the first apparition of Our Lady to St Bernadette, almost 100 people gathered at the grotto in the grounds of the Home of Compassion, Island Bay, to mark the event. The grotto, a replica of that of Lourdes in France, was built by Wilhelm Kraus, in 1973.
Over the years many people have delighted in the grotto and it has become a particular place of pilgrimage for the Assyrian community, many of whom have come as refugees from Iraq over the past 12 or so years. On this special anniversary, many members of the Assyrian community and others met to pray and sing praise to God for the gift of Mary the mother of Jesus and for the humble French girl, Bernadette Soubirous, to whom Mary appeared. 
A highlight of the evening was to hear the gospel proclaimed in Aramaic, the language of Our Lord and his mother, by Fr Aprem Pithyou of the Ancient Church of the East. Food from various cultures was shared in a supper afterwards.
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