The Grotto goes up in flames

[mgriff]

Grotto at Notre Dame goes up in flames

Wow, that's just terrible.

 

[johnnykillz]

Holy shnikes...

We need it restored ASAP!

 

[NeuteredDoomer]

It will be restored quickly.

 

[GreatGolson]

do they know the cause? if it was arson from one of those anti obama ND haters....

 

[mgriff]

It will be restored quickly.

Definitely, I wouldn't be surprised if they have people there right now.

 

[calidomer43]

you mean one of those Pro-Obama, ND haters...

 

[military_irish]

please don't be a bad omen for the season

 

[Riddickulous]

God's wrath for the underaged drinking?

In all seriousness, that sucks. It needs restoration as soon as possible.

 

[BGIF]

"I came here as a young man and dreamed of building a great university in honor of Our Lady. But I built it too small, and she had to burn it to the ground to make the point. So, tomorrow, as soon as the bricks cool, we will rebuild it, bigger and better than ever."

Edward Sorin, CSC
1879

 

[GreatGolson]

Edward Sorin, CSC
1879

My great great grandfather was one of the men who built Notre Dame, he built the administration building, sacred heart, and some of the first classrooms and dorms.

 

[dshans]

I haven't been there in years, but aside from the candles I don't think there's much flammable material in it. The kneelers and candle racks will undoubtedly need replacement. Cleaning the rock, statue and plaques will probably be needed. Along with testing the mortar and overall structural integrity.

I have no doubt that what needs to be done will be done in short order. Certainly in time for the entering freshman class and the start of the football season.

One of my favorite spots on campus while I was there was the top of the grotto. It was a quiet, peaceful spot to read or just think. I'm worried about the vegetation around and above that created a "living" grotto.

 

[HereComeTheIrish]

Very sad. Hope Tom Dooley was able to offer one more assist for the common good on this one. One of my favorite, more understated statues on campus.

 

[phork]

Bad Omen imo.

 

[IrishGiant]

Hey, these things happen, unfortunately. Growing up my church almost burned completely down, we were forced to worship in the basement of a convent, while repairs were made over a year. It's funny, but that event actually brought the parish closer together. Notre Dame is strong, and will come out stronger than ever!

 

[Old Man Mike]

I'm not one for negative thinking so I refuse to believe in any bad omen here. The Grotto is part of the Spiritual Heart of Notre Dame, and we're all stronger than a little fire. I choose to see it as the Phoenix: the "old" ND football of the last painful years just burnt away, and watch the New Era rise out of those ashes to fly high across the skies of college football. Let's not burn the rest of the campus down, though. I like to see my old Sorin Hall, and the Log Chapel my Mom and Dad got married in still there.

 

[tko]

God is pissed

 

[Stalking_Eagle]

Maybe the spirts are just furious.

 

[NDOM]

Oh shit!!!! I know who did it and I'm 100% for real people. Oh my god. It was in fact Richard Rodriguez your head football coach for the mighty wolverines. In desperation to save his job in Ann Arbor (She's a whore by the way) he lit all the candles in the Grotto plus he brought a candle to represent his each of his players and quote (Now he told me this himself so for real people bear with me)...."Dear Our Lady" "I beg of you to not beat us so bad this year, Pretty please dont ass stomp us and humilate me." "I need to win everygame to pretty much save my job" "If you're by chance feeling pity MAYBE you could let us beat you????.........CRACK!!!!! LOUD RUMBLE OF THUNDER!!!! Richie boy got struck by lightning and his big block M hat caught fire and then started the ivy around the grotto on fire. And then thats pretty much it. Thats all he told me. Anyway. Later

 

[condoms SUCk]

Oh shit!!!! I know who did it and I'm 100% for real people. Oh my god. It was in fact Richard Rodriguez your head football coach for the mighty wolverines. In desperation to save his job in Ann Arbor (She's a whore by the way) he lit all the candles in the Grotto plus he brought a candle to represent his each of his players and quote (Now he told me this himself so for real people bear with me)...."Dear Our Lady" "I beg of you to not beat us so bad this year, Pretty please dont ass stomp us and humilate me." "I need to win everygame to pretty much save my job" "If you're by chance feeling pity MAYBE you could let us beat you????.........CRACK!!!!! LOUD RUMBLE OF THUNDER!!!! Richie boy got struck by lightning and his big block M hat caught fire and then started the ivy around the grotto on fire. And then thats pretty much it. Thats all he told me. Anyway. Later

son of a b*tch, i knew that POS would try something like that. Mother F'er

 

[dre1919]

Unfortunate, but it will be alright. They will have it back in shape in very little time...I have no doubt about that.

 

[Irish.Ca]

I vote sabotage by the SBPD. All kidding aside, its a shame and hope they're able to restore it to its former glory just like BK will help the Irish do this year. A phoenix from the flames....oooh, foreshadowing?

 

[Jerry]

I'm doing a fire restoration right now in a house that has stone masonry not unlike the grotto. Stone can handle flames but if the temp of the fire get's high enough it will crumble. Too bad. Hopefully they don't have to completely remove the masonry.

 

[Lou Holtz]

This isnt the first time

This isnt the first time

The Grotto also caught on fire during a game against MSU in 1985

Notre Dame's Grotto 68

 

[BGIF]

Hong Kong, December 2, 1960

Dear Father Hesburgh,

They’ve got me down. Flat on my back . . . . . with plaster, sand bags and hot water bottles. It took the last three instruments to do it however. I’ve contrived a way of pumping the bed up a bit so that, with a long reach, I can get to my typewriter. . . . my mind. . . .my brain. . . . my fingers.

Two things prompt this note to you sir. The first is that whenever my cancer acts up. . . . and it is certainly “acting up” now, I turn inward a bit. Less do I think of my hospitals around the world, or of 94 doctors, fund raising and the like. More do I think of one divine Doctor, and my own personal fund of grace. Is it enough?

It has become pretty definite that the cancer has spread to the lumbar vertebrae, accounting for all the back problems over the last two months. I have monstrous phantoms. . . as all men do. But I try to exorcise them with all the fury of the middle ages. And inside and outside the wind blows.

But when the time comes, like now, then the storm around me does not matter. The winds within me do not matter. Nothing human or earthly can touch me. A wilder storm of peace gathers in my heart. What seems unpossessable I can possess. What seems unfathomable, I fathom. What is unutterable, I utter. Because I can pray. I can communicate. How do people endure anything on earth if they cannot have God?

I realize the external symbols that surround one when he prays are not important. The stark wooden cross on an altar of boxes in Haiphong with a tortured priest . . . the magnificence of the Sacred Heart Bernini altar. . . . . they are essentially the same. Both are symbols. It is the Something else there that counts.

But just now. . . and just so many times, how I long for the Grotto. Away from the Grotto Dooley just prays. But at the Grotto, especially now when there must be snow everywhere and the lake is ice glass and that triangular fountain on the left is frozen solid and all the priests are bundled in their too-large too-long old black coats and the students wear snow boots. . . . if I could go to the Grotto now then I think I could sing inside. I could be full of faith and poetry and loveliness and know more beauty, tenderness and compassion. This is soggy sentimentalism I know, (old prayers from a hospital bed are just as pleasing to God as more youthful prayers from a Grotto on the lid of night.

But like telling a mother in labor, “It’s okay, millions have endured the labor pains and survived happy. . . you will too.” It’s consoleing [sic] . . . but doesn't lessen the pain. Accordingly, knowing prayers from here are just as good as from the Grotto doesn’t lessen my gnawing, yearning passion to be there.

I don’t mean to ramble. Yes, I do.

The second reason I write to you just now is that I have in front of me the Notre Dame Alumnus of September 1960. And herein is a story. This is a Chinese hospital run by a Chinese division of the Sisters of Charity. (I think) Though my doctors are British the hospital is as Chinese as Shark’s Fin Soup. Every orderly, corpsman, nurse and nun know of my work in Asia, and each has taken it upon themselves to personally “give” to the man they feel has given to their Asia. As a consequence I'm a bit smothered in tender, loving care.

With a triumphant smile this morning one of the nuns brought me some American magazines ( which are limp with age and which I must hold horizontal above my head to read. . . . . .) An old National Geographic, two older times, and that unfortunate edition Life . . . and with these, a copy of the Notre Dame Alumnus. How did it ever get here?

So Father Hesburgh, Notre Dame is twice on my mind . . . and always in my heart. That Grotto is the rock to which my life is anchored. Do the students ever appreciate what they have, while they have it? I know I never did. Spent most of my time being angry at the clergy at school . . . 10 PM bed check, absurd for a 19 year old veteran, etc. etc. etc.

Won’t take any more of your time, did just want to communicate for a moment, and again offer my thanks to my beloved Notre Dame. Though I lack a certain buoyancy in my bones just now, I lack none in my spirit. I must return to the states very soon, and I hope to sneak into that Grotto. . . . before the snow has melted.

My best wishes to the students, regards to the faculty, and respects to you.

Tom Dooley 1927- 1961

Six weeks after writing that letter while racked with pain from cancer of the spine Tom Dooley died in a New York hospital, a day after his 34th birthday. His letter was etched in stainless steel and placed at the Grotto for generations to see.

For those that have never seen the Grotto there's a picture at Notre Dame's Grotto 64

 

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

Symbolizes rebirth...

 

[tommyIRISH23]

Oh shit!!!! I know who did it and I'm 100% for real people. Oh my god. It was in fact Richard Rodriguez your head football coach for the mighty wolverines. In desperation to save his job in Ann Arbor (She's a whore by the way) he lit all the candles in the Grotto plus he brought a candle to represent his each of his players and quote (Now he told me this himself so for real people bear with me)...."Dear Our Lady" "I beg of you to not beat us so bad this year, Pretty please dont ass stomp us and humilate me." "I need to win everygame to pretty much save my job" "If you're by chance feeling pity MAYBE you could let us beat you????.........CRACK!!!!! LOUD RUMBLE OF THUNDER!!!! Richie boy got struck by lightning and his big block M hat caught fire and then started the ivy around the grotto on fire. And then thats pretty much it. Thats all he told me. Anyway. Later

South Bend PD has released a photo taken from survalence cameras placed facing east on the Hammes Bookstore. The cameras recored an image of two suspects running, and upon further analysis, these individuals were identfied as Joseph Paterno; and Richard Rodriguez. No arrests have been made yet, but authorities consider these two men persons of interest.

 

[mgriff]

I'm not one for negative thinking so I refuse to believe in any bad omen here. The Grotto is part of the Spiritual Heart of Notre Dame, and we're all stronger than a little fire. I choose to see it as the Phoenix: the "old" ND football of the last painful years just burnt away, and watch the New Era rise out of those ashes to fly high across the skies of college football. Let's not burn the rest of the campus down, though. I like to see my old Sorin Hall, and the Log Chapel my Mom and Dad got married in still there.

I like that your being positive but I am still amazed at the difference in each man's perception. To one is it a bad omen, to another, it is rebirth. It's just crazy how many different views can be gathered from one event.