Skaro Shrine Pilgrimage

Skaro Shrine Pilgrimage

Thursday, August 14th, 2025

• 6:30 p.m. Reconciliation
• 7:00 p.m. - Rosary
• 7:30 p.m. - Vespers
• 8:00 p.m. Mass at the Grotto

Friday, August 15, 2025

• 10:00 a.m. Mass at the Grotto with the Sacrament of the Sick

Thousands of people gather each year at Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto at Skaro, Alberta for the annual Skaro Pilgrimage, which is held in celebration of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Into Heaven on August 14-15.

The shrine was built in 1919 by Polish immigrants who hauled 600 wagonloads of stones to the site, in honor of their Blessed Mother.

The Annual Skaro Pilgrimage will be held at the Grotto of Skaro Shrine. Following the Mass (August 14th), the candlelight procession of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction will conclude the evening.

Skaro Shrine (Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto)

570010, AB-831, Skaro, AB T0B 2R0

Our Lady of Good Counsel (Skaro Shrine) is located at the intersection of Highway 45, and Secondary Highway 831.

Skaro - Our Lady of Good Counsel & Shrine

https://www.olafortsask.caedm.ca/Our-Parish

Directions: input Our Lady of Good Counsel, Skaro or go to: https://maps.app.goo.gl/Zxjq9kjdnCJamV3M9

(FAQ) – Frequently Asked Questions:

https://caedm.ca/news-events/pilgrimages/skaro-annual-pilgrimage/

Skaro Pilgrimage 2024 in pictures

https://caedm.ca/skaro-pilgrimage-in-photos/

After 100 years, Marian shrine in Alberta still draws thousands

https://northstar.website/after-100-years-marian-shrine-in-alberta-still-draws-thousands/

When Pilgrims Emigrate The Skaro Pilgrimage to Our Lady

https://www.academia.edu/121531286/When_Pilgrims_Emigrate_The_Skaro_Pilgrimage_to_Our_Lady

Marian Traditions: Skaro Shrine (Salt + Light Media)

https://slmedia.org/blog/marian-traditions-skaro-shrine

Annual Local Pilgrimages

https://caedm.ca/pilgrimages/

The shrine was built in 1919 by Polish pioneers who hauled 600 wagonloads of stones to the site.

What passing drivers are missing is a story of hardscrabble immigrants who came to the Skaro district and, in 1919, used shovels and horse-drawn plows to build the grotto. A century later, the 91-by-108-foot stone wall that encircles a small altar stands as a testament to the faith and determination of the pioneers, who were mostly from Poland.

“It brings people together,” said Helen Wilchak, 89, who grew up in the area. Her father, Martin Gabinet, helped build the grotto. People from all faiths visit “because it is such a beautiful place.”

The number of first-generation descendants of pioneers is dwindling, but those who remember say the credit for building the Skaro grotto goes to Oblate Father Anthony Sylla, who was assigned to the Skaro mission in 1917.

In fall 1918 Father Sylla proposed building a grotto similar to the Our Lady of Lourdes grotto in France. He enlisted the help of Father Philip Ruh, who was serving in Eldorena, north of the Skaro site, and was familiar with the French structure.

The pioneers built it because “they had a strong faith,” said Stan Malica, 91, who grew up directly opposite the grotto site and whose father John helped build it.

“If you want to look at a miracle, look at this thing here,” Malica said. “It wasn’t built with engineers. No blueprints or anything. They just built it. Father Sylla had an idea how to build it and Father Ruh was the main contractor. He knew how to use stones.”

Construction began June 5, 1919. Working in shifts of 20 to 40 people at a time, men and women used plows and scrapers drawn by horses, as well as wheelbarrows and shovels, to haul and place stones. The only mechanical equipment was a generator to operate the concrete mixer.

Parishioners would bring loads of stones “from their own fields,” said Malica, whose family still farms the land opposite the grotto.

“It was like a work bee,” recalled Wilchak, who is related to Malica by marriage. “Everybody helped.”

They were so committed to the project that the grotto took precedence over everything else.

“They sacrificed their own duties at home, lots of them. That’s how passionate they were about this,” Mackay said. “After about two weeks they ran out of rocks … and they were going to give up. Father Sylla convinced them, ‘We started. We have to finish.'”

Six hundred wagonloads of stones and 300 bags of cement were used to build the grotto, which was completed in time for the first pilgrimage Aug. 14-15, 1919.

“I’ve never missed a pilgrimage here,” Wilchak said. “It’s in our blood. They came from Poland and they had a strong faith there. They brought it to Canada. And they kept it.”