When pilgrims visit Lourdes they:-
- Light candles and pray the rosary
- Bathe in the baths fed by the spring well in front of the grotto
- Attend Mass in one of the Churches near the grotto
- Take part in the processions.
What I discovered about Taize
Taize is a place where all the Christian communities come together.
Young people from different backgrounds come together to pray, cook, camp, study and go to Church. They talk and discuss their views and opinions on religion together.
The Story of the Shrine of Our Lady of the Taper in Cardigan
During the Middle Ages there was a famous pilgrimage in honour of Our Lady in Cardigan.
An ancient legend says that a statue of Mary was found by the side of the River Teifi. The statue was taken to the Parish Church but not permanently. The statue returned three or four times to the place where it was found. St. Mary’s Church is now built on this spot.
Pilgrims came to pray and leave gifts as a priest sang Mass daily in honour of Our Lady.
Outside the town there is an old pilgrim track to Saint David’s shrine. By a stream there a ruins of a small building called “Capel Bach”. It may have been an oratory ( a place of prayer). Here pilgrims prayed before they walked one mile, barefoot for penance, to the shrine. The shrine was destroyed in 1538 and the Benedictine monks were expelled.
St Mary’s was a priory church of Chertsey Abbey.
In 1904, Breton monks (in exile near Cardigan) revived the devotion by giving the title “Our Lady Of Cardigan” to their abbey church and to a little church they opened in the town in 1912. The monks left in 1916 and another generation passed before the name was used again.
The shrine was restored in 1952, Martin Gillette told Bishop Petit that Cardigan once had a famous shrine. In 1956 a new statue was blessed by Cardinal Griffin in the Westminster Cathedral. It was taken to every parish within the Diocese of Menevia before arriving in Cardigan. It became the Welsh national shrine. Pope John Paul blessed the candle.
The symbolism of the shrine statue is that Mary presents her son to us, like she did to the Wise Men, to be adored. The Taper shows us that he is the light of the world.
