A Place of Sanctuary
Bringing The Grotto to You
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Daily Spiritual Reflection
Go. A small word with great potential. We are often on the go, aren’t we? We go to work. We go to the store for groceries. We go to the physician’s office for a remedy for what ails us. We go to a child’s football game to be supportive. We go to Church to experience the Lord in the Eucharist. It seems that we are constantly on the go.
Being in motion is a function of our life. It is also an important function in our relationship with the Lord. Prior to ascending back to His Father, Jesus instructs the disciples to go and bring the good news of God’s love to all people. Jesus has loved them into the gift of faith, instructed them on this faith and now sends them forth to give to others what He gave them. Their mission was not to ponder the faith but to live it and share it with others.
Jesus tells us to “Go” today. He loves us, abundantly blesses us and tells us to share this faith with others, even in a pandemic. Maybe we cannot physically go because we are home staying safe, but we can go in other ways. We can share the faith by writing an e-mail to someone we have not seen for a while. We can text the words “I am praying for you” to someone we care about. We can share with our children why having faith in God brings purpose and hope to our lives.
To be on the “go” in faith is to realize that what we know of God, others need to know to help them through tough times like the present. To go is to acknowledge just how blessed we are by a caring God who desires that our friends, coworkers and families know that they are blessed as well, by the same loving God.
Jesus did not give us the faith to keep it to ourselves, but to grow so deeply in love with Him that we cannot help but share our faith with others. Today, go and do for someone else what God does for you.
Fr. Don Siple, OSM, Rector of The Grotto
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A Homily for The Ascension of The Lord
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Fr. Richard Boyle, OSM, shares a homily for The Ascension of The Lord.
Recorded at the Monastery at The Grotto in Portland, Oregon.
Sunday, May 24, 2020.
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Thank You
Thank you to everyone who contributed to our SnowCap Charities Food Drive this past week. It was a great success. We collected over 1,100 pounds of food and almost 300 pounds of personal care items, enough to go into 400 food boxes. Thank you for helping us help others.
Bringing The Grotto to You
We will continue to share a piece of The Grotto with you each day until Masses resume and our gardens open.
Beginning this week, The Grotto Gift Shop is once again open. There are strict guidelines for shopping, and the rest of The Grotto remains closed. However, we are pleased to be making this first step.
To learn more about guidelines for shopping in this early phase of reopening, please
click here
.
In the meantime, we hope you continue to enjoy our daily emails.
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The Grotto's Wishing Well
The Grotto's wishing well can be found on the lower level, tucked away in some colorful rhododendrons near the Chapel of Mary.
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Sr. Ruth's Well
The Grotto's wishing well has been affectionately called Sister Ruth’s Well, in honor of Servite Sister Ruth Arnott, OSM, who ministered here at The Grotto for more than 20 years.
Her kindness, hospitality, and good humor are fondly remembered by all who knew this remarkable, faith-filled woman.
Sister Ruth died in 2015.
Photo:
Sr. Ruth brings the Servite's dog "Shilo" to be blessed by The Grotto's former executive director, Fr. Jack Topper, OSM, at the annual Blessing of the Animals.
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I Corinthians 13:11-13
"
When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. "
Prayer
Heavenly Father, as a child I mostly thought of you as a 'granter of wishes'.
As an adult I now understand that having a relationship with you is not about wishes.
It is about Faith and Trust; Hope and Honesty.
Help me to be honest with myself and you.
You know my heart and my deepest desires.
Please answer my prayers according to your wishes - your will - so that your will may be done in me.
May my prayers include the intentions and needs of others more than for myself.
Through your Son Jesus - with the intersession of Mary - may I continue to grow as a person of Faith, Hope and Love.
Amen.
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Supporting The Grotto
All donations dropped into Sr. Ruth's Well will help The Grotto continue its ministry of being a place of peace, prayer and natural beauty.
The Grotto is a self-supporting nonprofit, which would not survive without your generous donations. As we must remain temporarily closed for the health and safety of all, your donations of any size will help us bridge the gap to when our visitors and pilgrims are able to return.
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The Grotto's Lower Level
The Grotto's lower level, where the wishing well is located, is free to all throughout the year. We hope it will not be long before we can invite you all back to our beautiful gardens.
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The Well in Winter
Please enjoy these photos of Sr. Ruth's Well during the winter and our Christmas Festival of Lights.
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Memorial Day Candles
Purchase a candle to be lighted at The Grotto in memory of someone. Your candle will burn for seven days in the outdoor cradles by The Grotto.
Your support will help The Grotto continue its ministry through this difficult time.
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Perpetual Enrollment in The Grotto’s Guild of Masses and Prayer honors yourself, your family or your loved ones, and provides support for The National Sanctuary of Our Sorrowful Mother.
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Purchase a Gift Certificate
Not sure what to get someone? Or perhaps you would just like to support The Grotto during our closure?
A Gift Certificate to The Grotto Gift Shop is a great gift. It can be used to purchase admission to the Upper Gardens, candles or store merchandise.
Shop Online
Check out our online shop if you are unable to visit. And if you don't see something you are interesting in our online shop, feel free to contact our Director of Retail Operations by
clicking here
and we can make arrangements.
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The Series
We hope you are enjoying our daily feature
A Place of Sanctuary: Bringing The Grotto to You.
Week 1
St. Francis of Assisi
Celebrating St. Patrick's Day
St. Anne's Chapel
St. Joseph's Grove
The Marilyn Moyer Meditation Chapel
Spring in the Garden
Our Lady's Grotto
Week 2
St. Jude Thaddeus
Statue of Mary, Our Mother
The Pollinator Garden
St. Philip Benizi's Retreat
Pathways of The Grotto
St. Peregrine Shrine
The Servites
Week 3
Here Light Shines
The Peace Garden
Dambana
Looking Up
Feast of Our Lady at the Foot of the Cross
The Rose Garden
Palm Sunday, The Christus Garden
Week 4
Crosses and Crucifixes
Sacred Heart Statue
Angels of The Grotto
Holy Thursday of The Lord's Supper
Good Friday, Stations of the Cross
Holy Saturday, Via Matris
Easter Sunday
Week 5
The Forest
Blessing of the Animals
Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine
Colors of The Grotto
Mysteries of the Rosary
Lighting a Candle
Chapel of Mary
Week 6
Come to the Water
Our Lady of Lavang Shrine
Celebrating God's Creation
Our Lady of Lourdes
The Labyrinth
Looking Out a Window
How The Grotto Began
Week 7
The Cliff and Elevator
Lithuanian Wayside Shrine
The Grotto by the Numbers
Music at The Grotto
May Flowers
Take a Closer Look
Outdoor Mass
Week 8
The Feast of St. Peregrine
Celebrating Your Favorites
A Year at The Grotto
The Seven Holy Founders
Views and Perspectives
The Rhododendrons
Mother's Day at The Grotto
Week 9
Twilight at The Grotto
The Peace Pole
Our Lady of Czestochowa Polish Shrine
A Seat Waiting for You
The Murals
Mosaics of The Grotto
The Chapel Saints
Week 10
The Grotto Gift Shop
The Servite Mission
Architecture of The Grotto
A Retreat at The Grotto
The Visitor Center
Arriving at The Grotto
Today:
Sr. Ruth's Well
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The Grotto
The National Sanctuary of Our Sorrowful Mother
NE 85th & Sandy Blvd.
Portland, Oregon
503-254-7371
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