Grotto La Pluie-December 9, 2007

Since before the apparitions of Our Lady in 1988-89, the mountains protecting this valley were consecrated to Our Lady. We know consecrations mean a great deal to Mary and believe strongly that this type of action, done with faith, God’s grace, and love, is what paved the way for Her coming for Our Lady wants to collaborate with us as She has told us with Her own words.

Saturday Dec. 9: Climb to Grotto La Pluie

 

Since before the apparitions of Our Lady in 1988-89, the mountains protecting this valley were consecrated to Our Lady. We know consecrations mean a great deal to Mary and believe strongly that this type of action, done with faith, God’s grace, and love, is what paved the way for Her coming for Our Lady wants to collaborate with us as She has told us with Her own words. The community often climbs these mountains in reparation for the sins of this country and to pray for Our Lady’s plans and intentions. These mountains are very special to us, and we have prayed for a very long time that God would allow us to share them with those who pilgrimage here.
 

La Pluie is the name of a small waterfall nestled in the mountains directly behind Caritas. It is to this spot that we will be pilgrimaging. A small grotto lies directly above the waterfall. In the middle of two severe droughts during the early summer of 1992, we climbed to the waterfall and found no water running down it even though it was only June. On this trip up the mountain, we were inspired to pray for rain and the end of the drought. After placing a small statue of Our Lady in a crevice behind the waterfall, we re-consecrated it and the entire mountain to Our Lady. We felt this would be a good place to come to pray to God to rain blessings upon us whenever we were in need. A friend from France was with us and told us that “rain” in French was “La Pluie.” This is how the grotto got its name. Within two days of our prayer in the grotto, it started to rain. It rained so much that in August the record was broken for the most rain ever to fall in the month of August in the entire history of Alabama. We knew this was Our Lady and that She was pleased with the gift of the grotto. We felt then that it was for a bigger purpose in Her plans than simply a place to come to pray for Her intentions for us.
 

It is a steep and rocky climb. For those who have been to Medjugorje, we believe that you will find it a similar experience to climbing Mt. Podbrdo or Cross Mountain. As in so many places Our Lady has appeared around the world, here too, there is a mountain to climb, a Calvary to ascend, to offer as a sacrifice for the salvation of the world.