Our Lady of Lourdes of Sendangsono

Marian Advocation of Sendangsono (Java)

La devoción a Our Lady of Lourdes of Sendangsono It is born from the convergence of two facts: the expansion of Catholicism in Central Java and the global irradiation of the advocation of Lourdes, approved by the Church following the apparitions of 1858 in France.

Main data

Origin and history

La devoción a Our Lady of Lourdes of Sendangsono It is born from the convergence of two facts: the expansion of Catholicism in Central Java and the global irradiation of the advocation of Lourdes, approved by the Church following the apparitions of 1858 in France.

En Sendingsono (near Muntilan, Central Java), next to a spring, some of the primeros bautismos de javanes converted to Catholicism, in the context of the Jesuit mission and after the Dutch Catholic mission in the area; that place of living water has since been linked to the memory of the beginning of the local Church. In the 20th century a sanctuary was erected there dedicated to the Virgin under the title of Our Lady of Lourdes, taking as a spiritual model the French sanctuary and linking the spring of Sendangsono to the symbolism of the water of Lourdes and the sacraments.

About local traditions and accounts, in various Indonesian chronicles it is mentioned that the environment of the spring was considered a special place already before the Catholic presence, and that evangelization would have known "to baptize" that religious sensitivity by directing it to Christ and the Virgin Mary; however, these details are rather transmitted as Pious tradition y no constan fully documented. Del mismo mode, no consta that in Sendangsono there have been Marian apparitions officially recognized by the Church; the title "de Lourdes" refers to universal advocation and its spirituality, not to new approved visions.

The image and the sanctuary

In the Shrine of Sendangsono a imagen of the Virgen de Lourdes, following the usual iconographic model of this advocation: Mary standing, dressed in white, with blue cincangle, hands together in prayer, rosary hanging and, often, a rose on each foot, according to the description linked to the apparitions of Lourdes in France. The material specific to the main image of Sendangsono (stone, cement or resin), so, in the absence of verifiable data, it can only be said that it is a statue of contemporary devotional style, directly inspired by the iconography of Lourdes.

The place of worship is known as Sendangsono Marian Sanctuary, recognized in Indonesia as one of the Marian shrines of the country and point of reference for the local diocese and for much of the Church in Java. It does not know that it has the title of minor basilica nor of a national sanctuary formally proclaimed by the Holy See; on a pastoral level it actually functions as a sanctuary of pilgrimage of a national dimension, but no consta a specific pontifical title. The set includes the area of manantial, outdoor spaces for celebrations, chapels, devotional stations and reception structures for pilgrims, all adapted to the Latin ritewhich is the same as the Catholic Church in Indonesia.

Sponsorship and coronation

Our Lady of Lourdes of Sendangsono is considered special patron of Central Java Catholics and emblematic place for the Church in Indonesia, which promotes it as a Marian sanctuary of reference for the country, especially in the area of the diocese / archdiocese to which the territory of Muntilan belongs. It does not contain, in the sources consulted, a formal proclamation of canonically erected national patronage for this specific advocation; it is rather a de facto patronage, lived by the local Catholic community.

As for the canonical coronation of the image, in the documentation available from the Holy See, the diocese and the Catholic media consulted does not contain a documented canonical coronation by pontifical decree or authorized delegation. It should therefore be expressly stated: does not contain a documented canonical coronation.

Party and devotion

The main feast of Our Lady of Lourdes is celebrated throughout the Church 11 February, date of the first apparition in Lourdes, established in the Roman liturgical calendar. In Sendangsono, local devotion is aligned with this date, which is usually one of the the culminating moments of pilgrimages, masses and Marian processions, along with other large concentrations in strong times (particularly May and October, months traditionally dedicated to Mary and the Rosary).

The shrine of Sendangsono is one of the most popular pilgrimage places in Indonesiawhere faithful come from various dioceses of the country, often in groups organized with priests and religious. There are no precise official figures of annual inflow in the sources consulted; however, their national importance is recognized as “Marian centre” for Indonesian Catholics. Among the most frequent devotional features are: community prayer, the celebration of the Eucharist, the water use of the spring as a sign of blessing (without necessarily attributing the same status as the water of Lourdes, but with strong symbolic baptismal burden), processions with candles and floral offerings, and personal promises of thanks for favors received.

Link to the Rosary

La advocación de Our Lady of Lourdes is traditionally linked to prayer of the Rosary, both for the context of the original apparitions in France - where the Virgin appeared with a rosary in her hands - and for the Marian spirituality that is derived from them. This connection is also reproduced in Sendangsono: the Rosary is one of the prayers more practiced by pilgrimsespecially in Marian processions and vigil. Although there are no particular rules of the sanctuary on a "special" form of Rosario, the practice of meditated rosary, praying in community with the spring or in front of the image, is part of the usual way of living this devotion.

From a general Marian perspective, the Rosary in Sendangsono allows to contemplate the mysteries of Christ's life in a place where water recalls the Baptism and first evangelization of Java, uniting the memory of the origins of the local Church with the intercession of Mary. Thus, the advocation of Our Lady of Lourdes of Sendangsono is integrated into the great current of the Marian piety of the universal Church, where the Rosary acts as "thread" of prayer that unites the faithful of Indonesia with those of Lourdes and the whole world.