Saturday Mass in Our Lady's Grotto

Mostly wet and at times pooring, Saturday we celebrated Mass at the Grotto of Our Lady. On an altar under the roof of the cave we again participate in the death and ressurection of Our Lord, Mary's Son, as she gazes upon us from where She once appeared to Bernadette. The Grotto area is not only a shrine to Our Lady but also a chapel under the sky. Archbishop Broglio of USA Military Service was the principal celebrant. As I was waiting for Mass to begin, head down and quietly thinking about the fullness of the pilgrimage schedule thus far, not particularly meditating on what had happened in this Grotto 156 years earlier, an elderly woman sitting behind where I was standing, used her prayer book to swat a mosquito on my leg, an impressive delivery with enough power to have disabled something much larger than a bug. Maybe Jesus was reminding me to pay better attention to His Mother and doing so with a a little humor.