Lourdes Grottos in Arkansas

I was able to find nine Lourdes grottos in the state of Arkansas. The earliest may have been one (possibly a Lourdes grotto) at St. Mary’s Church in Helena, mentioned in a 1922 newspaper article:

In the afternoon at three o’clock another impressive ceremony will take place namely the annual procession and the coronation in honor of the real May Queen. The line of march will begin at Sacred Heart Academy thence to the lately-erected Grotto, where the image of the Virgin Mother will be crowned, and on to church. Here again amid the children’s chant of:

“Of Mary, we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels, Queen of May”

A dainty wreath of flowers will be placed upon the statue of Mary, Queen of Angels, and of Men. Be sure to be on hand.

The (Helena) Daily World, May 7, 1922, page 10

However, that grotto must not have endured too well, because another one (definitely a Lourdes grotto) was built there and dedicated in 1957:

The article mentioned that the Namour family donated the grotto to St. Mary’s Church at the wish of Mr. Namour’s mother, Mary Namour, following a trip to the grotto at Lourdes. It described the grotto:

The grotto is made from native Arkansas stone from Batesville. The kneeling rail of wrought iron was designed in Memphis. The two statues, one of Our Lady of Lourdes and the other of St. Bernadette kneeling in devotion before her, were sculptured out of marble in Italy…. Representing the “healing waters” which flow around the original at Lourdes, is a fountain coming out of the top of the grotto. It trickles down the sides and is absorbed under the stones below. At night two floodlights light the grotto. The water used in the dedication was brought from the fountain at Lourdes.

The Guardian (now the Arkansas Catholic), March 1, 1957

The Lourdes grotto at Holy Angels Convent in Jonesboro was built in 1929, according to a history of the convent in the Arkansas Catholic, below, but the only image of it I could find is a poor-quality newspaper photo from 1962. That Lourdes grotto no longer exists, as the convent moved to its present location on the edge of town in 1974, and St. Bernard’s Hospital has expanded to encompass their former grounds (although they likely still retain the statues).

The Lourdes grotto at St. Scholastica Monastery in Forth Smith (shown at top), was constructed in 1930, according to a monastery Facebook post, and the statues were added in 1937. Interestingly, this is a double-sided grotto, with a statue of St. Benedict placed the following year in a niche on the reverse side of the grotto. Both grottoes still stand on the monastery grounds, and are much remembered and loved by St. Scholastica Academy alumni, according to an article in the November 2023 monastery newsletter.

The Grotto at St. Paul’s Church in Pocahontas was built in 1932 and 1933 by the Pocahontas Knights of Columbus, and still exists. See this post about the Pocahontas grotto.

The Subiaco Abbey grotto was built in 1939 and 1940, according to an Arkansas Catholic article about its dedication in December 1940:

A grotto of Our Lady, replica of the famed Lourdes grotto in France, was blessed and dedicated at Subiaco Sunday morning following the Solemn High Mass of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. The grotto, erected as a memento by the deacon class of 1939 of New Subiaco seminary, stands in the east park of the monastery. A missing statue of the Virgin, which was all that remained to complete the grotto, built by the clerics during recreation time the past year or so, was recently added through efforts of the Rev. George Strassner, 0. S. B., of Corpus Christi, Tex. The Rev. Harold Heiman, promoter of the Sodality at Sublaco, arranged for the dedication. The new statue and grotto were solemnly blessed by the Rt. Rev. Paul M. Nahlen, head of the Benedictine Order In Arkansas, before a gathering of parish people and students who marched in procession to the scene in the park following the Sunday High Mass. The Rev. Joseph G. Laughlin, pastor of Christ the King Church in Fort Smith, preached a dedicatory sermon. Pointing out that Christ the Saviour was the gift from on high to a suffering world through the spotless Virgin Mary, he asked for a spirit of giving in a world made unhappy by a spirit of getting on the part of dictators, spoiled children, and generally selfish people. Assistant to Abbot Paul at the dedication ceremonies were the Rev. Vincent Orth, the Rev. Clement Schmidt, the Rev. Michael Lensing, Frater Fintan Oldam, and the Rev. Norbert Grummet. The Rev. Alcuin Kubis, of Subiaco Academy, was master of ceremonies.

Arkansas Catholic December 13, 1940, page 1

A 1989 Arkansas Catholic article about Father Harold Heiman, who taught at the seminary and became prior of the abbey in 1974, states that Heiman was the “chief engineer” for the lovely stone grotto, that he loved gardening and landscaping, and that he had greatly enhanced the beauty of the Abbey grounds.

A Lourdes grotto named the Grotto of Our Lady of the Ravine existed at the St. John’s Seminary in Little Rock (now the St. John Center, the Little Rock Diocese offices).

The Grotto at St. John’s Seminary was built by the seminarians in 1941-1942, according to a 1942 article about its dedication:

The new Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, completed at St. John’s Home Missions Seminary by preparatory students, after a year’s labor, will be dedicated Sunday, Mother’s Day, at 4 p.m. by His Excellency, the Most Rev. Albert L. Fletcher, D. D., Auxiliary Bishop of Little Rock, who will be assisted by members of the clergy and seminarians. May Day procession and crowning of the Blessed Virgin will take place at the dedication. A replica of the famed European shrine, the grotto is situated west of the gymnasium in a beautiful spot in the ravine, nestled between two towering banks of moss-covered bed rock. At one end of the grotto floor is a waterfall fed by several natural springs. The water flows over ten feet of mossy rock into a pool and then disappears from view wider the floor of the grotto. Flowers and shrubs border the grotto floor, while to the forepart near the waterfall is a three-tier rock garden.

The niche, where the beautiful five-foot statue of Our Lady has been placed is six feet tall, with arched top and curved back. A prie-dieu, constructed from concrete set with quartz and oyster shells, is placed in front of the niche. Flagstone path, beginning at the rear of the gymnasium, leads over the top of the niche to the grotto proper and a new path has been constructed recently, which leads from the west end of Fitzgerald Hall down along the ravine to the lower end of the grotto floor. Construction was by George P. Freyaldenhoven, who was assisted by Joseph P. Abele and Bernard J. Roberson. Most of the work on the grotto was done during recreation periods. The statue of the Virgin was donated by the Paul Freyalden-hoven family, members of St. Joseph’s parish, Conway, in honor of their parents. A cornerstone has been prepared, which will bear a history of the seminary, names of the donors of the statue, history of the construction and pictures of Bishop Morris, Bishop Fletcher and Msgr. Gaffney, Rector of the Seminary.

Arkansas Catholic, May 8, 1942

Apparently the ravine setting caused some drainage issues for the area, as an article appeared a couple of years later:

Beautification of the grotto is now receiving attention by members of the Prep Department. Improvements of the shrine of Our Lady of the Ravine is now a daily task and the fruits of their labor are beginning to blossom. At present, the students are exerting their efforts on a drainage system which will enable the water from heavy rains to flow under the rock floor of the grotto. Previously, the flow or water streamed over the floor of the grotto which made visitations impossible for several days after a rainfall. The Seminarians will likewise endeavor to build several palisades on the hill overlooking the shrine. Truly there remains much work to be done on this project, but when motivated by a desire to give more honor to Our Heavenly Mother, nothing is too difficult. While all of the students give their assistance to this work, this program is under the direction of Messrs. Thomas Stauder and Reuban Groff.

Arkansas Catholic December 1, 1944

The ruins of the grotto still exist at the St. John Center, although the statues have been removed. According to a 1987 Arkansas Catholic article, at some point the statue of Our Lady was stolen, but was later recovered on the Arch Street Bridge; and after the seminary was closed in 1967, the paths to the ravine became overgrown: “Time and vandals have taken their toll on what was once a beautiful and serene shrine for meditation and prayer.”

St. Edward Church in Texarkana, Arkansas has a very nice Lourdes grotto right next the sidewalk in front of the church, which was built in the Marian Year of 1954. The short article accompanying the nearby photo in the Arkansas Catholic states that it was built of Arkansas quartz, with a terra cotta statue of Our Lady. (But there did not appear to be a statue of Bernadette at the time of its dedication.) Flower boxes were inset below Our Lady to beautifully ornament the rocky setting.

Additionally, an article in the October 24, 1986 issue of the Arkansas Catholic announced that a Lourdes grotto had been built at Sacred Heart Church in Morrilton, east of the small parking lot. It was built by Mike Cunningham and “his young helpers from the church,” and a rosary and blessing of the grotto had been held. Viewing the church on Google Street indicates that the grotto is no longer there.

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Below is a list of the Lourdes grottos, past and present, that I have located in Arkansas (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

State	City	Institution	Type	Name	Date(s)	Extant?	Address
Arkansas	Fort Smith	St. Scholastica Monastery	M	Grotto of Lourdes	1930	yes	1315 S. Albert Pike Avenue Fort Smith, AR
Arkansas	Helena	St. Mary’s Church (old grotto)	C	Grotto	1922	no	123 Columbia St, Helena, AR 72342
Arkansas	Helena	St. Mary’s Church (new grotto)	C	Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes	1955	yes	123 Columbia St, Helena, AR 72342
Arkansas	Jonesboro	Holy Angels Convent	M	Lourdes Grotto	1929	no	225 E Washington Ave, Jonesboro, AR 72401
Arkansas	Little Rock	St. John’s Seminary	S	Grotto of Our Lady of the Ravine	1942	partial	2500 N. Tyler St. Little Rock, AR 72207
Arkansas	Morrilton	Sacred Heart Church	C	Grotto of Lourdes	1986	no	506 E Broadway St, Morrilton, AR 72110
Arkansas	Pocahontas	St. Paul’s Catholic Church	C	Grotto	1934	yes	1002 Convent St, Pocahontas, AR 72455
Arkansas	Subiaco	Subiaco Abbey	S	Grotto	1940	yes	405 N. Subiaco Avenue, Subiaco, AR  72865
Arkansas	Texarcana	St. Edward Catholic Church	C	Grotto	1950s	yes	410 Beech Street, Texarkana, AR 71854