Lourdes Grottos in Alabama

The Ave Maria Grotto at St. Bernard Abbey in Cullman is the most famous grotto site in Alabama. This c.1930 postcard image is of the first of the numerous grottos and miniature stone buildings built by Brother Joseph Zoettl between about 1915 and 1958. This was a Lourdes grotto, but it was later replaced by a Grotto of the Little Flower when his constructions were moved to a different location on the Abbey grounds in the 1930s.

I was able to find references to about 10 Lourdes grottos in the state of Alabama. The earliest was located at Sacred Heart Convent in Cullman, next to the Sacred Heart Church and school, built by 1900, according to a newspaper article.

…the church and convent grounds… occupies an extremely beautiful site…. I saw It one summer’s afternoon, with the shadows of early evening falling over the rose-covered wall and saw a group of white-veiled novices passing into the little grotto of the Lady of Lourdes…. The stone grotto at the rear of the convent is open at all hours, and at all hours one may see a quiet figure kneeling across the threshold. When I was shown the grotto a woman was at prayer, and I involuntarily paused quietly at the entrance….The grotto of the Lady of Loudes is a miniature after the famous grotto in France. The interior is a pyramid of stones, in the center of which is a statue of the Virgin. In the niches were candles…..

Birmingham Post-Herald, June 3, 1900

The Sacred Heart Convent was established by the Notre Dame sisters around 1880, and the Benedictine sisters assumed responsibility for the school in 1898. They moved to their current Sacred Heart Monastery property in 1903, where they built another Lourdes grotto before 1942, when it was mentioned in another article:

This beautiful grotto is located in the Sacred Heart Monastery grounds. (photo from the monastery’s Facebook page)

Another early Lourdes grotto was constructed on the campus grounds of Spring Hill College in 1903, according to the school’s Facebook page and this 2012 article about their grotto.

A postcard postmarked 1910 shows the grotto on the Spring Hill College campus in Mobile.
A 2013 photo of the Spring Hill College grotto from the school’s Facebook page. It still looks as beautiful and peaceful as it did in 1910.

Below is a list of the Lourdes grottos, past and present, that I have located in Alabama (although there certainly must be others: more private ones that have not been mentioned in digitized newspapers or online).

Type of Institution Key:
C=Church S=School M=Convent/Monastery H=Hospital O=Orphanage/Old Home I=Independent Pilgrim Site T=Cemetery R=Retreat P=Private Residence X=Other

StateCityInstitutionTypeNameDate(s)/DecadeExtant?Address
AlabamaCullmanChrist the King MonasteryMyes5060 Co Rd 1635, Cullman, AL 35058
AlabamaCullmanConvent of the Sacred HeartMGrotto of the Lady of Lourdesbef.1900no217 2nd St SE, Cullman, AL 35055
AlabamaCullmanSacred Heart Monastery and College (Benedictine)SGrotto of Lourdesbef.1941yes916 Convent Road, Cullman, AL 35055
AlabamaCullmanSt. Bernard CollegeMThe Grottoc.1915no1600 St Bernard Dr, Cullman, AL 35055
AlabamaCullmanSt. Bernard College (miniature)MGrotto and Basilica at Lourdes1958yes1600 St Bernard Dr, Cullman, AL 35055
AlabamaHancevilleShrine of the Most Blessed SacramentILourdes Grottoc.1999yes3222 Co Rd 548, Hanceville, AL 35077
AlabamaMobileSpring Hill CollegeSGrotto of Lourdes1903yes4000 Dauphin St, Mobile, AL 36608
AlabamaMobileSt. Pius X ChurchCyes217 S Sage Ave, Mobile, AL 36606
AlabamaSelmaOur Lady of the Assumption SchoolSGrotto of Our Lady of Lourdes1954yes2513 Summerfield Rd, Selma, AL 36701