Shocking facts you never knew about Ferrero Rocher candy
Wednesday, October 2, 2024
Emily Chaffins
As Halloween approaches, Catholics prepare to eat lots of candy and, most importantly, to pray for those who have gone before us on All Soul’s Day. Some people may view the candy-eating as a distraction. But what if munching on chocolate can actually elevate our celebrations? Case-in-point: Ferrero Rocher chocolates and their connection to Our Lady of Lourdes.
Hold up – what in the world does a chocolate-covered hazelnut have to do with the 19th century apparitions of the Blessed Mother’s in Lourdes, France?
Actually, a lot! In a Catholic News Agency article, Francesca Pollio Fenton reveals that Michele Ferrero, the founder of Ferrero Rocher, was a practicing Catholic and even placed statues of the Blessed Mother in his production facilities. It seems that he wanted his chocolates to be not just delicious, but also meaningful.
“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,” says Fenton. “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 in Lourdes, which had a special meaning to the chocolatier.”
Indeed, Our Lady of Lourdes was a special part of Ferrero’s life. Fenton notes that he apparently went to Lourdes every year on pilgrimage, and once even conveyed employees to Lourdes.
Ferrero shows how we can use any and all of our gifts to glorify God, no matter what those talents are. Who would have thought that making chocolate could be so meaningful, bringing others closer to God? Even the smallest things are important in God’s eyes. As St. Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower, once said, “You know well enough that Our Lord does not look so much at the greatness of our actions, nor even at their difficulty, but at the love with which we do them.”
I was blessed to go on pilgrimage to Lourdes three times as a high schooler. Millions of people who are sick in body, mind, and soul journey to Lourdes every year, praying for healing as they wash in the miraculous spring that Our Lady of Lourdes showed to St. Bernadette.
I went there with a group of youth to serve the pilgrims at the Accueil Notre Dame, a hospital-like facility where pilgrims can stay. We cleaned rooms, served lunch and dinner, put on talent shows and played music, and helped them get around the sanctuary of Lourdes, accompanying them every step of the way.
For me, any help I gave them was small compared to everything they taught me.
I learned that receiving or giving a smile can be the biggest gift! From a little boy with a brain tumor to a wheelchair-bound woman, I discovered that the strength that comes from God allows us to meet any situation with joy.
Despite all the suffering in Lourdes, the atmosphere is full of peace and joy beyond anything I’ve experienced since. Rising at the crack of dawn and reaching the end of a long day near midnight, you feel tired, but the best kind of tired. You have lost yourself in putting others first and absorbing the wisdom and joy that radiates from them – and in so doing, you have found yourself.
St. Maximilian Kolbe, who was martyred in a Nazi concentration camp, once said, “Hatred is not a creative force: only love is creative.” At Lourdes, new people pour in every day, each with a unique vantage point on life and suffering. Each of these people is a unique, precious gift.
As human beings created in the image and likeness of God, we have incredible dignity. So do our talents and our work, and the creativity that we pour into our work. Ferrero had a talent for chocolate, so he gave it to God, as unusual as that might sound.
Perhaps that is the secret ingredient that makes Ferrero Rocher chocolate so delicious.
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