Belleville, IL: National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows

The Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows in Belleville, Illinois was first established in the early 1940s at St. Henry’s Seminary in Belleville (now gone) by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, according to their website history.

Our Lady of the Snows is one of the oldest Marian devotions, prompted by a miraculous snowfall in Rome in 352 AD: A wealthy childless Roman couple prayed to Mary for guidance about how they might honor her, and she appeared to them in a dream, directing them to build a church built in her honor on Esquiline Hill, in a spot that would be covered with snow, something that rarely appears in Rome in summer. On the following morning of August 5, that hill was covered with snow, and crowds proclaimed it a miracle. A church was built there in 358 AD, and now the magnificent Basilica of St. Mary Major still stands there today as the seat of devotion to Our Lady of the Snows.

The Oblates began a perpetual devotion to Our Lady of Snows at St. Henry’s Church in 1943, and soon a small chapel needed was built for this activity. In 1951, annual outdoor devotions began to be held each August 5, and these attracted thousands of Catholic faithful to the site, which soon could not accommodate all of them. 200 acres of land outside town were purchased beginning in 1958.

According to an interview with Rev. Edwin J. Guild, the priest who oversaw the development of the shrine (described as a “mild-mannered, almost shy Roman Catholic priest,” by the interviewer) the Oblates first constructed a house for the priests. Then, the next project was a replica of the Grotto at Lourdes, because of the current enthusiasm about Lourdes grottos due to the centenary of the visions in 1958.

In 1960, the construction was described in a local newspaper:

A technique said to be one of the oldest in the construction business is being employed here to build an exact replica of the internationally famed grotto at Lourdes, France. The project is under way on the 175-acre tract along U.S. Highway 460, three miles west of Belleville, that will become a national shrine to Our Lady of the Snows….

…probably the most unique is the grotto to Our Lady of Lourdes. Several architectural engineering firms worked on the project for nearly two years without success until placed in the hands of Ralph Hodges, a sculptor and engineer of 4824 West Main Street. After completing a scale model of the grotto, Hodges proposed that it be built of reinforced concrete over an earthen form, cut and sculptured to conform to the rough, stone cavern in France. “Fortunately the wind-deposit loess at the site makes a good modeling clay when made wet,” Hodges said.

The site chosen for the grotto is ten degrees from true eastwest. A natural hump was enlarged by more dirt and then cut with spades and shovels into a huge mold, 90 feet across, 26 feet high and 50 feet deep. Outcroppings of “rock” are being made by using small garden tools or trowels and are made extra smooth with water and brushes. Concrete is poured after reinforcing rods and exterior forms are in place. When the entire concrete cave has been completed, the earthen mold will be dug away.

“We’re getting our money’s worth out of that dirt,” commented Kenneth Dressel, superintendent of the Bauer Brothers Construction Company crew on the project. “First it’s our mold, then we’ll drag it out and use it again as cover and backfill.” The geographical direction of the cavern opening will such that the summer sun will shine “like a spotlight” on the lifesize Carrara marble statue of the Blessed Mother from sunrise until noon. Outlets are being installed for indirect lighting. “The natural little hillside being used was in just the right spot and we’re taken advantage of the opportunity,” Hodges said. The earthen fill that will cover and back the grotto will be planted in trees, shrubs and flowering vines, some of which will hang over the top of the grotto.

Small niches are being provided to hold earth in which vines and moss will be planted in much the same manner as the grotto at Lourdes. Completing the interior of the grotto will be a flagstone floor, a small altar and votive candle stands.

The Belleville News-Democrat, Aug 25, 1960

As the article stated, the Lourdes Grotto at the Belleville shrine is a near-perfect replica of the original grotto at Lourdes. It was constructed at two-thirds the size of the original, out of concrete.

The Lourdes Grotto was dedicated on May 1, 1961:

His Excellency, the Most Reverend Albert R. Zuroweste, D. D., Bishop of the Belleville Diocese, will dedicate the Lourdes Grotto at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows on Monday, May 1, at 7:30 p. m….

After more than a year of planning and construction, the two thirds size replica of the famous grotto at Lourdes, France, is now completed. The reinforced concrete shell of the grotto was designed by Ralph Hodges. The general construction work was handled by Bauer Bros. Construction Co. William C. Severson did the rock-sculpturing and furnished the appointments. Richard Cummings joined Mr. Severson in designing the setting which surrounds the Grotto.

The dedication ceremonies will begin at 7:30 p. m., with procession from the residence building to the Grotto. Included in the procession beside the Most Reverend Bishop will be members of the clergy, the Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus, the Catholic War Veterans Honor Guard and servers. Others assisting His Excellency in the ceremony will include Right Reverend Msgr. LeLeonard A. Bauer, V.G. and Rt. Rev. Msgr. Joseph Orlet, Dean, as chaplains to the bishop; Very Reverend John Walsh, O.M.I., Assistant General, celebrant for Benediction; Reverend Boniface Wittenbrink, O.M.I., deacon; Reverend Emil Helfrich, O.M.I., subdeacon. The masters of ceremonies will be Reverend Melvin Haas and Reverend Floyd Boeckman, O.M.I. St. Henry’s Seminary| choir, under the direction of Reverend Joseph Menker, O.M.I, will sing for the ceremony. Special buses will leave the Belleville Square at 6:30 and 7 p. m. on Monday night and will go directly to the shrine.

The Messenger (Belleville), Apr 28, 1961

But shortly after the dedication ceremony, the grotto was again in the news–in more than 20 newspapers across the nation–for a dispute over the work on the amphitheater:

A labor dispute between the Oblate Fathers and Local 309 the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers has halted construction of the multi-million dollar Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows near Belleville…. Electricians went on strike and began picketing last Tuesday after the Rev. Edwin J. Guild O.M.I, director of the shrine, and Norman C. Elliott, business agent for Local 309, failed to reach agreement on the union’s request that all major construction work be done under contract.

Father Guild said Elliott asked him to promise that members of the Oblate Fathers would do no more electrical work after one of the order’s brothers, Ray Kripple, wired a grotto and the Stations of the Cross. The priest refused to agree to the demand, and the strike followed. “We are not violating any civil or moral law,” Father Guild said. “We don’t intend to give up our rights. This is a matter of justice. We have a right to do work on our own property.” Father Guild said the wiring done by Brother Kripple was not included in the $100,000 contract with Friedman Electric Co. of Belleville, performed by union electricians. He said Brother Kripple does general maintenance work at the shrine offices, and wired the grotto and outdoor Stations of the Cross so they could be used for devotions while the major portion of the shrine was being built….

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 21, 1961

The strike was called off within days: “…International Electrical Workers union, Local 309, said he and Rev. Edwin J. Guild… had reached an ‘equitable solution of principles involved.’ But Rev. Guild said he had not changed his position that the Oblate fathers could do electrical wiring and other work at the shrine when they want to do so in keeping with their holy vows to pray and work. He said the Oblate brothers would tolerate no interference…. The Belleville area long has been a center of both Catholicism and unionism, but Rev. Guild said the three electricians and the union business agent had no personal clash of loyalties. “The electrical workers and the business agent are not Catholic so we didn’t carry much weight in that department,’ the Oblate father said. ‘Perhaps there was too much public opinion on our side.'” (Emphasis added; Palladium Item (Richmond, Indiana), May 24, 1961)

Clearly the “mild-mannered, almost shy Roman Catholic priest” knew how to stand up to bullies.

The shrine held its annual novena for the first time at the new location several months later, during the nine days leading up to August 5, 1961. As many as 2,500 people attended each evening.

After the Grotto and Stations of the Cross were finished, a visitor center was built, and then a huge outdoor amphitheater able to seat 20,000 constructed in a midcentury modern style. These were followed by a guesthouse, retirement village, numerous shrines such as the Way of Cross, and eventually a large church in 1990.

The shrine’s Facebook page shows that the Lourdes Grotto at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows continues to be the site of numerous events and devotions to Our Lady. If you’re in the Midwest, this lovely and faith-filled spot is definitely worth a visit.