Ferrero Rocher: The chocolate inspired by Our Lady of Lourdes
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The popular chocolate Ferrero Rocher actually honors Our Lady of Lourdes. / Canva Stock ImagesCNA Staff, Apr 16, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).Many know Ferrero Rocher for its popular hazelnut chocolates, but the company's tie to Our Lady of Lourdes is lesser known.Michele Ferrero, the company's founder and a devout Catholic, had a deep devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and wanted to honor her through his work. It is reported that he named his company "Rocher" after the rock grotto, the Rocher de Massabielle, which marks the location where the Virgin Mary appeared to St. Bernadette in Lourdes, France.In fact, "rocher" means "rock" in French. With this in mind, many point to the chocolate's crunchy coating and uneven gold wrapping as Ferrero's attempt to resemble this rock formation at Lourdes, which had a special meaning to the chocolatier. At the 50th anniversary of the founding of the company, Ferrero said: "The success of Ferrero we owe to Our Lady of Lourdes; without her we ...
The popular chocolate Ferrero Rocher actually honors Our Lady of Lourdes. / Canva Stock Images
CNA Staff, Apr 16, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).
Many know Ferrero Rocher for its popular hazelnut chocolates, but the company's tie to Our Lady of Lourdes is lesser known.
Michele Ferrero, the company's founder and a devout Catholic, had a deep devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and wanted to honor her through his work. It is reported that he named his company "Rocher" after the rock grotto, the Rocher de Massabielle, which marks the location where the Virgin Mary appeared to St. Bernadette in Lourdes, France.
In fact, "rocher" means "rock" in French. With this in mind, many point to the chocolate's crunchy coating and uneven gold wrapping as Ferrero's attempt to resemble this rock formation at Lourdes, which had a special meaning to the chocolatier.
At the 50th anniversary of the founding of the company, Ferrero said: "The success of Ferrero we owe to Our Lady of Lourdes; without her we can do little."
In an interview with CNA's Spanish-language news partner, ACI Prensa, in 2023, Father Mauricio Elias, a chaplain at the Sanctuary of Lourdes, said: "Mr. Ferrero had a lot of devotion to the Virgin of Lourdes; he came a lot to Lourdes and was a benefactor."
"He was a man who always came here, he had a lot of devotion to the Virgin, he confessed, he led a Christian life," Elias added.
It was said that Ferrero made annual pilgrimages to Lourdes and also organized a visit for his employees. He also had a statue of the Virgin Mary in each of his company's 14 production facilities around the world.
Ferrero passed away on Feb. 14, 2015, at the age of 89. Shortly before his death, a flood damaged the sanctuary at Lourdes. Ferrero promised "a great donation to recover what was lost," Elias shared. After his death, his children kept their father's promise and helped with the repairs.
The family-run business continues its tradition with Michele's son, Giovanni Ferrero, running the company today. Founded in 1946 in Alba, Italy, by Pietro Ferrero, Michele's father, today Ferrero Rocher is the third-largest chocolate producer in the world. Since its launch in other European countries in 1982, the company has expanded to include other brands such as Nutella, Tic Tac, and Kinder, among others.
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Outer details of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Chicago. / Credit: Eric Allix RogersCNA Staff, May 15, 2024 / 12:12 pm (CNA).Catholics and city preservationists in Chicago are scrambling to try to preserve a historic parish on the city's North Side, one that has survived a century of the city's development including being fully moved to a new location after it was first built. Our Lady of Lourdes Parish will hold its final Mass on Sunday, May 19, before the parish merges with nearby St. Mary of the Lake. The consolidation is part of the Archdiocese of Chicago's ongoing "Renew My Church" initiative that has closed and merged dozens of parishes in order to address shrinking budgets and priest shortages. The archdiocese announced the Lourdes parish merger in 2021. Katerina Garcia, the president of the Our Lady of Lourdes Church Preservation Society, told "EWTN News Nightly" anchor Tracy Sabol this week that parishioners at the parish dispute ...
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Stained-glass window at the Cathedral Basilica in St. Louis. / Credit: Ella Manthey/ShutterstockSt. Louis, Mo., May 15, 2024 / 14:47 pm (CNA).Two St. Louis parishes that appealed to the Vatican after Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski ordered them to merge last year have had their appeals upheld by the Holy See, reversing the archbishop's prior decision.As part of the archdiocese's major pastoral planning initiative dubbed "All Things New," Rozanski announced a year ago that the number of parishes would be reduced by nearly 50 by way of parish mergers and closures.Under canon law, a diocesan bishop has the authority to alter parishes, but only for a just reason specific to each parish. Concern for souls must be the principal motivation for modifying a parish.Amid the All Things New process, a number of parishes announced their intention to send appeals to the Vatican, putting aspects of the mergers planned for the parishes on hold until the Dicastery for the Clergy's rulings. Af...