On the 11th February 1858, the Immaculate Virgin Mary appeared for the first time to Bernadette Soubirous in the Grotto of Massabielle in Lourdes. This apparition was followed by 17 others and Lourdes soon became a loca sancta for Marian pilgrims.
Some 20 years after the first apparition, in 1879, a visitor opined that the rocks of the Mgarr harbour hill resembled those of Massabielle in Lourdes. So, the residents of Ghajnsielem erected a statue of our Lady in the rock face in honour of Our Lady of Lourdes. This was soon followed by a small, neo-gothic church, also dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes, which was completed 9 years later, in February 1892, less than four decades after the apparitions in Lourdes, France.
The feast is celebrated in this church on the 11th February, being the date of the first apparition.
From here the wak continues past Dar Guseppa Debono along Triq Lourdes in the direction of Ghajnsielem village core and the Our Lady of Loreto Parish Church.
