s of Horacio and Anita Guanzon The Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto Shrine was first opened to the public on February 11, 1965, coinciding with the Feast of
Our Lady of Lourdes. The site was established by Horacio A. Guanzon and Anita Guidote-Guanzon, whose familial roots traces to wealthy families in
Bulacan,
Pampanga and
Nueva Ecija. Guidote-Guanzon, after being cured of cancer following her family's pilgrimage to
Lourdes, France, in 1961, decided to establish the
grotto shrine as an act of thanksgiving, believing that the improvement of her condition was a
miracle. The doctors who diagnosed her cancer projected that she only had six months to live but she went on to live for three more decades. The Guanzons started a project to build a replica of the
Rosary Basilica in
Lourdes, France. After the death of Anita Guidote-Guanzon in 1990, the management of the grotto shrine was entrusted to their children, who oversaw the completion of the replica. The eldest daughter of the Guanzons, Marietta Guanzon-Holmgren, asked the
Diocese of Malolos in 2004 to send personnel to supervise religious rites at the grotto shrine. However, allegations arose that Guanzon-Holmgren was meddling too much on how clergymen sent by the diocese performed their duties. In a circular released on March 22, 2004, the shrine was said to be not compliant on Roman Catholic guidelines on
liturgy and worship leading to Bishop
Jose Oliveros, then
Apostolic Administrator of
Malolos, to stop recognizing the shrine as a Roman Catholic institution. On June 12, 2024, the Guanzon family and the Diocese of Malolos finally agreed to address the status of the Shrine. The Guanzons formally donated the Shrine to the Diocese of Malolos. The Canonical Possession and Transfer of the Shrine to the diocese was finalized on July 20, 2024, in a ceremony officiated by bishop
Dennis Villarojo. ==Status==