Our Lady of Lourdes of Sijiaoting - Marian Shrine of the Ruifang Hills

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In Sijiaoting, an ancient mining population between Keelung and Ruifang, the Catholic Church maintains a sanctuary dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes. His grotto and his prayer life bring the message of conversion, trust and care to the sick born in Massabielle to the faithful of Taiwan.

A community on mining land

Sijiaoting grew during mining activity in the north-east of Taiwan. In this environment of workers and families, the Catholic community raised a church that originally received the title of Mary Helper. Archbishop Joseph Kuo Joshih presided over the first stone on October 7, 1956, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.

Over the years, devotion to Lourdes was consolidated there. The combination of the landscape of hills, the Marian Grotto and the prayer for the sick made the small church the usual destination of pilgrimages.

The 1990 Shrine

The Archdiocese of Taipei points out that in 1990 Archbishop Joseph Ti-kang raised the church to the sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes. The Taiwanese Catholic press places the termination and blessing of the Marian or Grotto pavilion on February 10 of that year.

Since then, the sanctuary has celebrated pilgrimage masses, the Rosary, Eucharistic worship and special attention to the sick. In the Jubilee of 2025 it was included among the places of the "passport of the pilgrim" of the archdiocese; an archdiocesan day there brought together hundreds of faithful for the Eucharist, the anointing of the sick and prayer.

The message of Lourdes in Taiwan

The devotion refers to the apparitions of 1858 in Lourdes, France, where Bernardita Soubirous claimed to meet the Virgin in the Grotto of Massabielle. The Bishop of Tarbes recognized those apparitions in 1862. Mary identified herself as the Immaculate Conception and called for prayer and penance.

Sijiaoting does not reproduce all the elements of the great French sanctuary, but it retains its spiritual center: to approach Christ with Mary, to pray for conversion, to accompany the sick and to discover the dignity of those who suffer.

The pilgrimage and the sick

The first week of each month is a pilgrimage Mass. The community also maintains Eucharistic worship and celebrations of the Sacred Heart. The pastoral closeness to the sick is directly linked to the World Day of the Sick, celebrated by the Church on February 11, the memory of Our Lady of Lourdes.

The sanctuary is accessible from the Sijiaoting railway station. Its simple scale helps the recovery: it does not seek to reproduce the crowd of Lourdes, but to offer the local community a stable house of intercession and comfort.

Verified location

The Archdiocese publishes address 32, Ruizhu Road, Ruifang District, New Taipei City. The individual cartographic geometry of the enclosure places it in 25.1036716, 121.7643999. The score corresponds to the church and grotto, not to the station or the center of the Sijiaoting district.

Prayer to Our Lady of Lourdes of Sijiaoting

Our Lady of Lourdes, Immaculate Mother of God, looks tenderly to the sick and to those who care for them. From Sijiaoting, call us to conversion, to humble prayer and to the service of the little ones. It reaches strength for the workers, hope for the families and comfort for those who suffer in the body or in the soul. Always lead us to Jesus Christ. Amen.

Sources consulted

• Archdiocese of Taipei: official record, dates, direction and liturgical life.
• Archdiocese of Taipei: inclusion of Sijiaoting in the Jubilee itinerary.
• Archdiocese of Taipei: Jubilee and pastoral pilgrimage of the sick.
• Catholic Weekly of Taiwan: History of the Grotto and the Sanctuary.
• Taiwanese liturgical Commission: relationship of Marian shrines and sense of pilgrimage.
• OpenStreetMap: Individual Shrine Geometry.
• Sanctuary of Lourdes: history and spirituality of the original advocation.

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