On 15 August 1987, the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a significant chapter in Kenya’s religious history was written in Subukia, Nakuru District, when the first site of the National Marian Shrine was officially opened at Munanda. The ceremony was presided over by Bishop Peter Kairo, then Bishop of Murang’a, who […]
On 15 August 1987, the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a significant chapter in Kenya’s religious history was written in Subukia, Nakuru District, when the first site of the National Marian Shrine was officially opened at Munanda.
The ceremony was presided over by Bishop Peter Kairo, then Bishop of Murang’a, who blessed the newly established Marian Grotto and celebrated Mass with pilgrims who had gathered from different parts of the country. The shrine was the result of efforts by Fr. John Jones, a Kiltegan missionary serving in Subukia Parish, who had established a small Marian prayer centre at Munanda in 1985.
The opening came during the global Marian Year proclaimed by Pope John Paul II and marked an important milestone in the Catholic Church’s efforts to create a national centre of prayer and pilgrimage in Kenya. The Munanda Grotto became the first functioning site of what would later develop into the National Marian Shrine of Mary, Mother of God in Subukia.
Over the following decades, the shrine grew into one of East Africa’s most important pilgrimage destinations, attracting thousands of worshippers annually and becoming a symbol of prayer, healing, reconciliation, and national unity.
