A Cave of Candles / by Dorothy V. Corson

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Fr. Corby’s “Favor Granted” story would not be complete without sharing how this lovely photograph with the inset of the Lourdes Grotto in France arrived on the scene just in time to illustrate this story. It played a large part in inspiring me to renew my research efforts and add this last missing piece, to what I thought, was my already completed research of the Grotto. What that favor was has remained an intriguing mystery for over one hundred years. Like a message in a bottle -- floating in an ocean of time -- all it needed was someone passing by at just the right moment -- who would dig a little deeper or wade a little further -- to find it.

I began researching the story behind Fr. Corby’s “Favor Granted” in January of 2002. Once I established to my own satisfaction what the request granted to him at Lourdes was, I knew I would have to document it to prove my findings. The more deeply I got into the story behind it, the more special it became. Since the Grotto would not exist on the Notre Dame campus if Fr. Corby’s favor had not been granted at Lourdes, it became the last piece in the Grotto puzzle yet to be put in place. Then I could truly feel my mission had been accomplished.

My original A Cave of Candles manuscript was recorded in journal form, as it happened. However in this case, I gathered all the material pertinent to the situation before assembling the evidence in readable order. The material was obtained from correspondence records in the University of Notre Dame Archives, the Indiana Province Archives Center and Mother Augusta’s Papers in Sisters of the Holy Cross Congregational Archives & Records. I owe them all a debt of gratitude. The kindly assistance of their archivists over a period of many months helped keep me on that research trail.

The deeper I got into this new research the more arduous the task became. Visits to unfamiliar archives beyond the University Archives complicated my search. I began to seriously question whether I had the background and the capability to compile this totally new research properly. My doubts drew me to the Grotto with my own request for guidance.

Most of my research on campus was centered in the Hesburgh Library. I had not been to the Grotto area for almost a year. I decided while I was there to touch base with Sue Lentine, the Administrative Assistant, at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. She never failed to tell me how much visitors touring the Basilica enjoyed the large photograph of the Grotto’s 1896 Dedication, with the minims in it. It was the focal point of my library exhibit commemorating the Grotto’s Centenary which appeared in the concourse of the Hesburgh Library in 1996. After the exhibit, I kept it in safekeeping for several years hoping to find a special place for it on campus. The Basilica, being close to the Grotto, seemed the best choice. When I passed it on to Bro. Meyers, the University Sacristan, he found the perfect place for it. The only empty space in a hallway of pictures just seemed to be awaiting its arrival. It is now displayed among them in the corridor near the rear entrance of the church leading to the Grotto.

I made arrangements to stop by after Sue returned from lunch and planned my day accordingly. It was a lovely summer day. When I arrived at the Grotto, I sat for awhile enjoying the view and the sunny warm weather, reflecting upon my dilemma. Should I continue my research or save myself the effort and leave well enough alone. Only one other time had I felt this same kind of dis-ease involving a decision and those memories revisited my thoughts.

The Grotto stories I had collected to go with my manuscripts in the archives, were so priceless they deserved to be shared. I felt publishing them was beyond my capabilities -- what to do? I went to the Grotto to light a candle, and looking up at Our Lady I prayed, “Lady dressed in Light show me the way.” Instantly, intuitively, the answer came. “Give them up for adoption to give them the life they deserve.” In less than six months they became, Grotto Stories: From the Heart of Notre Dame, which was compiled and published by Mary Pat Dowling, Editor of the ALUMNI Newsletter. And they arrived from the printer just in time for the Grotto’s Centennial Celebration on August 5, 1996.

It was my hope that the right answer would come again in this case. Should I take the easy way out and stop now or continue on the path laid before me. Once again, I lit a candle and repeated the same prayer, “Lady dressed in Light show me the way.” This time an immediate answer was not forthcoming as I followed the Grotto steps and the path leading to Sue’s Basilica office. I was a little early so the office light was not on. As I paused to wait, I saw Sue in an adjacent office motion for me to go in, that she’d be there in a minute.

I opened her office door and stepped just inside to wait for her. In the dim light, I saw something that looked like an oversize photograph laying several feet away on her countertop. Curious, when she came in, I asked her what the scene was in the photograph. “Oh,” she said, “that’s for you. When I told Bro. Meyers you were going to stop by, he gave it to me to give to you.” I asked her if he meant it to go to the Archives and she said, “No, He wanted you to have it.” She picked it up from the counter and brought it over to me.

To my amazement, it was an oversized print of the above photograph of the Notre Dame Grotto, with an oval inset of the Lourdes Grotto in France. She could not have known that she had just placed the Heaven-sent answer to my Grotto prayer in my hands. The gift of a photograph of the Grotto would not have been unusual. But a photograph of the Grotto with an inset of the Lourdes Grotto in France was the answer to my prayer. I would document Fr. Corby’s “Favor Granted” at Lourdes and this photograph would illustrate the story. What more could I have asked for? She grinned when I told her of my visit to the Grotto and beamed a “Go for it!” at me as I left her office.

Problem solved, not quite. I asked her as I left if she would mind getting the name of the photographer for me and she said she would ask Bro. Meyers. I proceeded with my research on Fr. Corby’s “Favor Granted” in earnest. Weeks went by and I didn’t hear from Sue. It soon became apparent that no one at the church knew the name of the photographer. He had just left it at the church office and if he had given his name no one could remember it. By now, I was committed to writing Fr. Corby’s “Favor Granted” story and I now became committed to finding the person who left the picture. Without his permission, and his name to credit the photograph, I could not use it.

I went down a labyrinth of paths trying to locate the photographer in the midst of my research with nothing more to go on than the information given to me at the church that they thought he was a professor -- on a campus filled with professors. Six months later, when I was about ready to give up the search, I stopped by to see another campus friend, Carol Brach, formerly a Reference Librarian at the Hesburgh Library, who was now in charge of the Engineering Library at the College of Engineering in Fitzpatrick Hall. I tried my riddle on her, but she couldn’t come up with the name of any Professor of Engineering, who was also a photographer. But she did suggest that I call Graphics Services in the Engineering Building and inquire there (I didn't know they had one).

Several days later, I did as she suggested and described this very distinctive photograph to Joanne Birdsell, Managing Editor, of Graphic Services. To my amazement, she said she did remember being shown a photograph like that by a Robert Dunn, whose office was in the Engineering Building. She very kindly gave me his telephone number and suggested I call him.

In addition, I garnered an extra bonus for my efforts. I did not know that Marty Schalm, who was the Book Designer for Grotto Stories: From the Heart of Notre Dame, had moved from Publications in Grace Hall and was now a Graphic Designer at Graphic Services. Before I concluded my call, I asked to speak to him -- to thank him again, as I always do when I encounter him infrequently on the campus -- for his contribution to Grotto Stories. The beautiful job he did on it, and more recently, on the desktop published book on the Irish Brigade Flag, Blue for the Union & Green for Ireland. He thanked me for the compliment and when I casually asked him what other books he had done, to my surprise, he told me Grotto Stories was the first desktop published book he had designed. Fr. Hesburgh’s early reassurances to me, “the help will be there when you need it,” came to mind, followed by: “Cast your bread upon the waters.”

When I called Robert Dunn, he not only gave me his permission to use the photograph but also provided scans of the print with and without the oval inset of Lourdes.

Bob’s own story of how the photograph originated added more to the mystery of its arrival on campus. Robert Dunn is a 1965 Notre Dame alumnus. For 33 years he worked for IBM in the United States and in Europe -- the last 13 years as an IBM executive. In 1996, the year the Notre Dame Grotto celebrated it’s Centenary, he attended the Notre Dame Navy game in Dublin, Ireland with another IBM executive who also has close ties to Notre Dame. After their trip to Dublin they went together on a pilgrimage to Lourdes. It was during that 1996 trip that Bob took the photograph of Lourdes in the inset of this Notre Dame Grotto photograph.

He retired from IBM in March, 2001 and the next day returned to the campus as a Professional Specialist in the College of Engineering. Shortly after he arrived on campus, he took the -- seemingly made to order -- photograph which illustrates this story and sent it to his former associate and friend at IBM. He added the Lourdes inset as a remembrance of their pilgrimage to Lourdes.

Dorothy V. Corson
April 5, 2003

There are other “Gems” on campus -- like the Grotto -- “that lift the soul above the clouds.” And I would be remiss in not pointing them out to new visitors to the University of Notre Dame du Lac campus. The beautiful Basilica of the Sacred Heart leaves many people who see it for the first time, in awe of the interior of the church, the main altar, the Lady Chapel and the wall painting of Bernadette at Lourdes.

The Main Building with its Golden Dome is also a must see for anyone new to the campus. The interior of the Dome, the Atrium and the Columbus paintings, all of which, like the Basilica, have been newly restored are very old and very impressive.

The beauty of the University’s pastoral surroundings, the landscaped grounds, the lakes and trees, and the walks around St. Mary’s and St. Joseph’s Lakes provide an invitation to explore the campus.

And for those who are not able to come to the campus to see it in person. The Notre Dame Photo Gallery by Robert F. Ringel will introduce the reader to this picturesque campus. There are 163 distinctive photographs compiled in seven segments featuring: The Golden Dome, The Basilica, The Grotto, Lakes and Trees, Wildlife Up Close, Art on Campus, and Notre Dame Traditions.

Anyone wishing to draw their own conclusions from the evidence I have compiled will find photocopies from the publications mentioned and my inch thick folder of photocopied letters and articles in my research materials in the Dorothy Corson Collection stored in University of Notre Dame Archives.

Point at the photographs with your cursor for subject information and Photo Credits. Photographs were provided by the University of Notre Dame Archives, the Indiana Province Archives Center and the Sisters of the Holy Cross Congregational Archives.

Dear Reader:

If you have a fond remembrance of the Notre Dame Grotto, or have had someone share theirs with you, I would appreciate hearing about it. Just jot it down in a letter, in your own words, be it serious, humorous, uplifting or inspiring and it will be added to the others in the Grotto Stories Collection which is being preserved in the University of Notre Dame Archives for future generations of Notre Dame Fans, Friends and Alumni to enjoy.

Comments and questions are always welcome. I would also be pleased to receive any information on the stories behind the “Favor Granted” plaques now attached to the Grotto, which I have been unable to identify. The first one, because of the date and the two sets of initials, I feel may be associated with World War I. By date, they are:

Please include your name, address, telephone number, and email address with your Notre Dame Grotto Remembrance, if you wish, or none, if you'd prefer to remain anonymous.

As a new millennium dawns over St. Mary’s Lake on the campus of Notre Dame, I leave you with Father Jan’s favorite blessing: