Sacred Heart Grotto is a retreat and pilgrimage center under the Holy Trinity Church at Jerusalem No. 2, an outstation of St. Martin de Porres Parish, Nkoranza. The village came to be as a result of the presence of the Catholic Church in the area. It all started in the late 1940s when Opanin George Akwasi Adjei (popularly known as Wofa George) returned from Kwaamang, Offinso to establish a Catholic Church in Asempaneye, a village near Nkoranza, where his late mother, Obaapanin Yaa Baagyei hailed from.
Initially, Nana Akwatia Poku, the chief of Asempanaye, gave him a piece of land to start his Church. However, when many people of the town, especially the youth were following him to worship with him he was seen as a threat to their traditional worship. According to a document believed to have been dictated by Wofa George himself, in 1952 he was found guilty at the Nkoranzahene's palace and was asked to pay Fifty Pounds Sterling (€50) as penalty. He and his 'followers' were expelled from the village and they settled on a piece of land which lies between rivers "Krutu" and "Asubone".
This piece of land was called "Yentreso" meaning a vast land which nobody could farm. And it was known as an 'evil forest' In the forest, it was revealed to Wofa George in dreams that he was sent there for a divine purpose. Through dreams, all the fourteen Stations of the Cross were revealed to him. He began developing the place and named the Church Holy Trinity Catholic Church and the prayer center, Sacred Heart Grotto.
The Grotto combines Marian and Sacred Heart devotions. The Major Program of the Grotto is on first Friday of every month, dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It begins on the Tuesday preceding the first Friday till the Saturday after the first Friday of the month. Eucharistic celebration on the Friday which is followed by Stations of the Cross climaxes the whole program. Pilgrims and Devotees from all over the diocese and from Kumasi and other parts of the country visit the Grotto for prayers. Bishops, Priests, Religious and laity alike.
Besides the devotion and prayers, pilgrims also come for holy items from the ground. They include Holy Water from a special rock, Holy Soil from designated part of the Grotto, Holy Flowers of certain plants which some pilgrims uproot to plant in their houses for spiritual protection and for medicinal use. Many testimonies abound from the pilgrim who get their prayers answered and their spiritual and devotional needs met. Besides the first Friday program, individuals, groups and families, make their private retreats and devotional pilgrimages at the grotto every time of the year.
