Draft:Sendangsono Grotto

Sendangsono Grotto (Indonesian: Gua Maria Sendangsono) is a Marian shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes, located in Kulon Progo, Yogyakarta. This shrine is managed by Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Promasan, northwest of Yogyakarta under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Semarang.

The shrine is packed with pilgrims from all over Indonesia in May and October which celebrated as the month of Mary and month of Rosary, respectfully. Pilgrims usually drink and brought home the water from the Shrine which they believed can cure illness.

Related records show that Sendangsono was originally a stopping place (short break) for pedestrians from Borobudur Magelang District to Boro District (Kulon Progo), or vice versa. This place is visited by many because of the sendang (spring) that appears between two sono trees.

The existence of Sendangsono grotto cannot be separated from the role of Father Van Lith SJ, a Dutch priest who lived on the island of Java for a long time. This also indicates that Sendangsono cannot be separated from the historical circle of the Catholic Church on the island of Java considering that Father Van Lith himself was one of the clergy who spread Catholic teachings on the island of Java.

History
On December 14, 1904, Father Van Lith baptized 171 local residents (villagers) using water sourced from under two Sono trees. As the first catechumen in this area, Barnabas Sarikromo was baptized by Van Lith on May 20, 1904, in the Muntilan mission center. This baptism was the outcome of his labors. 25 years later, on December 8 1929, Sendangsono was officially declared a place of pilgrimage by Father JB Prennthaler SJ.

The statue is a donation form the Queen of Spain. And after received, the statue was brought up by the people of Kalibawang from Sentolo Village.

In 1945, Indonesian Catholic Youth had the opportunity to make a pilgrimage to Lourdes, from there they brought the stone where the Virgin Mary appeared. This stone to be embedded under the foot of the Sendangsono statue of Our Lady as a relic so that Sendangsono was called the Lourdes Grotto in Sendang Sono.

Sendangsono was built in stages since 1974, only relying on donations from the people. Cultural, scholar, priest, and architect, YB Mangunwijaya, provided a touch of distinctive vernacular architectural style. The concept of the Sendangsono complex building is in Javanese nuances, with materials utilizing local, environmentally friendly resources.

In 1991, The Indonesian Architects Association awarded the Sendangsono building complex the best architectural award in the special building group category.

On October 17 2004, a procession and holy eucharist mass was held at 10.00 WIB by Bishop Ignatius Suharyo to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Sendangsono.

Pilgrimage Area
The Sendangsono pilgrimage complex is located several kilometers from the main road, on a smaller road with quite steep ups and downs and is slightly damaged at several points, but can still be passed by four-wheeled vehicles.

The Sendangsono pilgrimage complex covers almost 1 hectare. From the entrance gate, pilgrims can find the Way of the Cross, which begins at the church under the Sendangsono pilgrimage complex. Pilgrims who want to visit the church can access the road located several hundred meters before the Sendangsono parking location by following the existing road signs. It is from this church that the old way of the cross originates. The distance of this cross road is around 1 kilometer.

On the right a new cross route was built which was smaller in the sense that the distance from one stop to another was very short, only a few steps.

At the end of the way of the cross, pilgrims will enter a courtyard where in the middle area, at the bottom, there are water taps to draw water from the Sendangsono spring, which flows from the top, namely the spring point which is shaped like a closed well.