Milk Grotto in Bethlehem: Place of pilgrimage and hope for families looking for a miracle

A short distance from the Grotto of the Nativity, in the Holy Land, is the only white stone grotto in the entire Bethlehem region. Known as the “Milk Grotto”, its color and name are linked to a legend that dates back to the 6th century.

According to history, the Holy Family found refuge in this grotto during the “massacre of the innocents,” recounted in the second chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. There, an angel appeared to Joseph and told him to flee to Egypt. Legend has it that, while the Virgin Mary was breastfeeding the Baby Jesus, as she hurriedly removed him from her breast to leave, a drop of milk fell to the ground, turning the stone completely white.

Since 1872, a sanctuary belonging to the Custody of the Holy Land has stood above the grotto (renovated in 2006). However, records from the 12th century already mention the existence of a “Church of Rest” and the “Milk Grotto”.

Since the 6th century, relics of the Milk Grotto have been known in both Europe and the East. These consist of rock powder extracted from the grotto, considered miraculous and distributed in small bags, a practice that is still in force. In 1250, Perdicca of Ephesus wrote that this powder helped mothers produce milk when they lacked it.

For this reason, the grotto has for centuries been a favorite pilgrimage site for women and families seeking the blessing of a child or facing difficulties with pregnancy and breastfeeding. Not only Christian women, but also many Muslim women—who consider Mary a model of feminine virtue—make pilgrimages here.

Little miracles of the grotto

“Just one drop was enough to change the color of the rock, and this drop continues to transform people’s lives,” said Father Luis Enrique Segovia, guardian of the Franciscan convent of Bethlehem, who has served at the Milk Grotto. for the last eight years.

“Many people come here, even from far away, looking for a miracle, and in an instant everything changes,” he said.

Coming to the sanctuary of the Milk Grotto “is coming to a place of hope, a place of life,” added Segovia. “People come to ask for the gift of motherhood and fatherhood, the gift of life. It’s not just about (consuming) the dust. Here, the Virgin Mary can generate life; “It can transform the lives of women and families.”

Thousands of letters have arrived at the sanctuary, testifying to the graces received. These stories now completely cover the walls of the friars’ small office. The letters are often accompanied by photos of children whose births are attributed to the intercession of Our Lady of the Milk Grotto.

“Some return on a pilgrimage and bring the child,” Segovia explained. “A few years ago we even celebrated a baptism.”

Among the pilgrims in the summer of 2019 were Federica Crippa and her husband Giacomo, a young couple who had suffered the loss of two children due to spontaneous abortions in the first months of pregnancy. “We had so many questions,” Federica told CNA. “Why had God given us two children who never even had the chance to be born?”

When they arrived in Bethlehem, Federica was pregnant for the third time. “When I noticed some bleeding, I panicked,” she recalled. “The friend who was hosting us suggested that we visit the Milk Grotto.”

The couple prayed for their baby’s life. “Our lives are deeply marked by faith,” said Federica. “The Milk Grotto was the right place at that time.”

Upon returning to Italy, Federica’s gynecologist prescribed complete rest, confirming a partial placental abruption that, however, had stabilized. The couple continued to entrust themselves to Our Lady of the Milk Grotto, and in February 2020 their son Giovanni was born. Two years later, a little brother arrived.

“We like to think that Giovanni’s birth is connected to the Milk Grotto. If we hadn’t been there, I don’t know what would have happened,” Federica reflected.

Answered Prayers

Among the devotees of the Milk Grotto is another friar of the Custody of the Holy Land, Father Giuseppe Gaffurini. His devotion began many years before arriving in the Holy Land.

“I lived in Rome and I had an image of a sculpture that represented the flight to Egypt, with a prayer behind it,” he told CNA – EWTN News’ English agency. “I used it when people asked me to pray for the gift of children. When I came to the Holy Land for a (month of) rest, a nun directed me to the Milk Grotto. What a surprise when I saw that same sculpture there!”

Since then, Father Gaffurini has been directing all couples who ask him for prayers to have children to the Milk Grotto. And he never returns to Italy without taking with him some bags with the dust from the grotto.

“All the gifts that God gave to Mary, she shares with us. This is the theological reason why this devotion can be considered legitimate and not like magic or superstition,” he emphasized. “We turn to Mary and say: ‘You who enjoyed the joys of motherhood, share this joy with us.’ This is part of the Christian faith.”

Father Gaffurini has witnessed small miracles related to the grotto even within his own family. He told CNA that his nephew and his partner deeply wanted to have a child, but were unable to conceive. During a family lunch, the friar gave them a bag with powder from the Milk Grotto.

Francesca Carleschi, the partner of Father Gaffurini’s nephew, shared the rest of the story with CNA.

“It was December 8, 2022. In January I had an appointment scheduled for medically assisted procreation. Father Giuseppe told me the story of the Milk Grotto and gave me the powder. I come from a Christian family and I thought it could be an extra help,” Carleschi explained.

Every day, he drank a glass of water with a pinch of the powder and recited the prayer he had been given along with it.

“At the end of January, I canceled my appointment for assisted procreation because I was pregnant.” Nine months later, Giulio was born.

When he tells the story, he can hardly believe it, but it really happened to him.

“Surely many factors played in our favor, but having this possibility (of the dust), this help from above, calmed me down. “It gave me a confidence that maybe I hadn’t had before in the possibility of our wish coming true,” he said.

On October 11, Carleschi and his partner asked Father Gaffurini to baptize their son, and on that occasion, they also got married.

“We thought we needed to give back something for what had been given to us, or rather, add one more piece — for our son, but also for us as a couple: to get married and do it in church, to ask for the help of someone greater.” .

“Children are a gift from God, all of them. The fact that, in some cases, this gift is accompanied by difficulties reminds us that all children are gifts from God,” concluded Father Gaffurini.

Translated and adapted by the ACI Prensa team. Originally published in CNA.