In the morning we had our last information session and then left right away for a national pilgrimage site, The Grotto on a Portland hilltop.
The Grotto is a shrine to Mary as Sorrowful Mother and is part of a huge rock face on the hill top.
At the top of the cliff and the grotto is a beautiful forest of magnificent trees.
On the edge of the cliff, with a panoramic view, is this chapel for meditation and prayer. It is amazing that all of this is within the city of Portland.
Our time at The Grotto concluded with a final liturgy. The presider was Bishop Stephen Raica whom I first met at the 1978 Florida NCOD conference in Florida, when he was a new priest getting into deaf ministry.
Back at the hotel, we had a concluding banquet. For me it was a chance to meet more new friends.
