Grotto of the Virgin Mary of Lourdes in Szent

In Lourdes, the Virgin Mary first appeared to a poor, uneducated 14-year-old girl, Bernadette Soubirous, on February 11, 1858, at the Massabielle grotto near the town. Mary wore a snow-white dress, her cloak was dazzling white, she had a sky-blue belt around her waist, and her bare feet were decorated with a golden rose. She had a rosary in her hand. She appeared to the girl eighteen times until July 16, asking for repentance and atonement. On March 25, she revealed her name: I am the Immaculate Conception. In 1862, construction began on a basilica on the rock above the spring, which was completed by 1876. In the grotto, at the site of the apparitions, a marble statue of the Virgin Mary was built under Bernadette's guidance, and today, in copies of various sizes, it can be seen all over the world. ; The statue of the Virgin Mary of Lourdes in Szent is located in a recess (cave) built into the side of the church hill. The red marble tablets placed on both sides provide information about its beginnings, which testify that the facility was built in 1902 thanks to the kindness of Mrs. Lászlóné Poór and consecrated by the provost of Bratislava, Ferenc Horeczky. Since then, numerous thank-you tablets have been placed on the wall supporting the cave. ; It is said that when Count János Esterházy was transported from the concentration camp in northern Russia to Bratislava, he spied the small statue of Mary in the dark, hoping and waiting, as he approached Szent. To his great joy, after four years of deportation, he managed to see this statue of Mary of Lourdes from the prisoner transport car, which floated before his mind's eye when he prayed to the Virgin Mary in the Russian camp. This statue was the last clear sight he saw of his beloved homeland before he was transported to Russia for forced labor.