Newest Lourdes Grottos
Today, new Lourdes grottos are still being built in North America–they are not just historical relics of the past. In fact, after a low point during the 1970s and 1980s when few new Lourdes grottos were built, the number constructed has been recovering. Since 2020, at least 20 new Lourdes grottos have been dedicated in the US and Canada–and this likely understates their renewed popularity, as the Covid-19 pandemic undoubtedly reduced the number of church projects from 2020 to 2022.
I am attempting to monitor dedications of new Lourdes grottos, detailed here with the most recent construction first, and older grottos described on following pages (see link at bottom for Page 2).
At the bottom of this first page is a list of all the Lourdes grotto replicas built in the US and Canada since 2020 that I was able to discover. (Please contact me if you have a new grotto to announce).
If you are considering building a grotto at your own church or Catholic place, the institutions identified below might be able to put you in touch with the lay members and clergy who worked to help design and build these new grottos, and who would likely have valuable advice to share.
Bishop Miege High School, Roeland Park (Kansas City), Kansas (2025)
In April 2025, The Leaven announced that Bishop Miege High School in Roeland Park (part of the greater Kansas City area) had broken ground for the construction of a new Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto.
The dedication of the new grotto is planned for September 8, 2025, on the Feast of the Nativity of Mary, according to an article on the high school’s website. The new Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes will no doubt be beautiful and a fitting tribute to Our Lady.
St. Patrick Parish Fallowfield, Nepean, Ontario, Canada (2024)
In 2024, the dream of St. Patrick Parish Fallowfield parishioner and retired Ontario judge Charles Tierney, was realized: the completion of a beautiful grotto to Our Lady, a project in memory of his late wife, Bernadette Mary, who had a deep devotion to the Blessed Virgin, according to an article about the grotto on the parish website.
This grotto was designed by an engineering firm with a niche and a cave in a flat face of a mixed stone veneer over concrete, set in a recessed earthen shell, next to the church and a new expansion of the parish cemetery. The Grotto of Our Lady of the Fields was dedicated on June 10, 2025 by Bishop Yvan Mathieu in front of an emotional crowd of parishioners and members of the local community.
Cathedral High School, Indianapolis, Indiana (2024)
Cathedral High School in Indianapolis added a grotto and a large surrounding landscape and patio area to their campus in 2024. The $1.4 million project was made possible by the support of Ryan Hasbrook, ’92 alumnus, and constructed by Envoy contractors.
Ground was broken on May 13, 2024, and the grotto was completed by December of that year. The grotto was dedicated on May 7, 2025 by Father Geoff Mooney, and was the site of a visit by Archbishop Thompson and Bishop Doherty to our Grotto for a May Crowning Ceremony a week later, May 15, 2025.
Some photos from Cathedral High School’s Facebook page:
The Cathedral High School grotto, designed as a formal niche in a rough-faced limestone wall, seems to have been intended to be a grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, although the installed statue of Our Lady is not the usual design with hands clasped in prayer, gazing upward. The statue is, nevertheless, an exceptionally beautiful rendering of Our Blessed Mother (I could not discover who the sculptor was).
This Grotto will, with God’s grace, be a wonderful spot on the Cathedral High School campus for prayer and contemplation and the site of many more May Crownings, far into the future.
Christian Renewal Center, Dickinson, Texas (2024)
The Christian Renewal Center was established as a retreat center in Dickinson, Texas (near Galveston Bay) in the 1960s. In 2023, fundraising was undertaken to add a grotto and a trail of Stations of the Cross to the property, one of a series of improvements made under the director of the center since 2018.
The fundraising and construction took 14 months (see a video of the progress here), and the new Marian Grotto was blessed by Bishop Italo of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston on May 13, 2024.
Some photos from the Christian Renewal Center Facebook page and the above-linked dedication video:
Interestingly, the CRC Marian Grotto is a double-sided grotto, with one side depicting the apparition of Our Lady at Lourdes, France; and the other side the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico. The cave on the Lourdes side holds a moveable altar within the cave for the celebration of Mass, a privilege granted to the CRC by Cardinal DiNardo of the Diocese of Galveston-Houston. The cave has a built in ambo, presider chair, and credence table. The altar and other items are moved inside a locked closet within the grotto when not in use, to ensure protection from vandalism and sacrilege.
The grotto is made from Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete, a comparatively light material that was cast into limestone-like rock formations. It was built using 50 yards of concrete and 2 tons of steel, and is designed to hold up under the tropical hurricane conditions of the Gulf coast for decades. It was constructed by RicoRock, pool and spa contractors of Seguin, Texas, who donated most of the labor and all management expenses–over $150,000–to the retreat center, which allowed enough leftover project funds for seating and other improvements. (48 concrete benches on the large concrete surround can seat nearly 200 people on the Lourdes side; 96 on the Guadalupe side.)
Pilgrimages are already being made to the grotto, which can be reserved by groups for church events. By God’s grace, it will inspire devotion among numerous retreat participants in the years to come.
Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament, Detroit, Michigan (2023)
On Sunday, March 15, 2020 at the end of his first live-streamed Mass during the Covid-19 pandemic, Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron entrusted the Archdiocese of Detroit to the care and protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and promised to build a grotto dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes in gratitude and thanksgiving for her healing power. The following year, he began fundraising for the project, a grotto was completed and received a preliminary blessing in 2023. Archbishop Vigneron formally dedicated the grotto on May 12 (Mother’s Day), 2024, with crowds attending.
Some photos from the Cathedral’s Facebook page:
The grotto was constructed of massive natural limestone slabs native to the area that required an engineering firm with heavy machinery to hoist them into place. It is a work of beautiful design and construction, an effort befitting Our Lovely Mother.
The Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes was part of the plan of Archbishop Vigneron (who retired in 2025) to make the Cathedral into a “Cathedral of the Arts,” a reminder that the proof of God is beauty. Such beauty can draw people to the faith, according to the Archbishop, via “shallow entry points,” the via pulcha (“way of beauty”) advocated by Saint John Paul II.
St. John Neumann Catholic Church, Sunbury, Ohio (2023)
In 2023, a Marian Grotto was built at St. John Neumann Church in Sunbury, Ohio (north of Columbus), according to an article in the Diocese of Columbus newspaper, The Catholic Times. Longtime parishioners Joe and Marge Gernert suggested the idea to Father Daniel Dury, pastor at St. John Neumann, and construction began after a groundbreaking ceremony in June 2023.
The Marian Grotto was blessed by Bishop Earl Fernandes on May 12, 2024 (Mother’s Day), followed by a potluck, live band playing in a big tent, and a fireworks display in honor of Mary.
The Marian Grotto at St. John Neumann is a formal, buttressed niche rising from a low capped knee wall that provides additional seating. The niche and wall are made of rough-faced stone slabs, perhaps Ohio limestone, which is known for its range of colors. The niche is capped by a Romanesque semicircular arch of contrasting stone, possibly a light gray granite. The statue of Our Lady rests on a ledge inscribed with “Ave Maria, Gratia Plena” (Hail Mary, Full of Grace), and at night is beautifully illuminated by recessed lights within the niche. A sizeable patio of brick or stone set in a herringbone pattern provides space for multiple benches, kneeling benches, and a small altar for services. A Bernadette statue kneels on the grass at some distance from the niche.
The Marian Grotto was designed by Harper Architectural Services of Gahanna, Ohio, which specializes in religious architecture.
St. John Neumann’s grotto is a lovely spot for prayer and contemplation, and is a beautiful part of the parish’s “Magnify the Lord” capital campaign, intended to draw souls to Jesus Christ and lead individuals to a transformative encounter with God through enhancing the liturgical life and parish grounds.
St John the Evangelist Church, Viera, Florida (2023)
St. John the Evangelist Church, established in 2001 in Viera, Florida (a planned community developed in the 1990s near Cape Canaveral and the Florida coast), adopted a master development plan as it grew into a parish of more than 2,600 families: A parish Center was built in 2005, which was used for services until the massive church was completed in 2018; a beautiful Our Lady of Sorrows Courtyard and garden was dedicated in 2019; and in 2021, plans were made for a Stations of the Cross walkway leading to a Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes.
The Grotto and Stations of the Cross were dedicated by Bishop John Noonan of the Diocese of Orlando on April 22, 2023.
Here is a very short video tour of the new Grotto and Stations on Youtube.
St. John the Evangelist Parish’s new Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto is built of hand-stacked natural rocks, in the traditional style of most historical grottos that were built by the men in a parish (who often included at least one stonemason). This grotto was likely constructed by professionals, to a design by Lyman, Davidson, Dooley, the architecture and construction firm that built the St. John Parish church. But the builders did not make the work too perfect, like a perfectly regular stone wall, instead using rocks as God and nature shaped them, and stacking them irregularly, so that the Grotto has a unique and natural character.
A waterfall adds life and movement to the Grotto, cascading down a series of terraced stones below the statue of Our Lady, and alluding to the healing waters that flow from the exact spot where the Blessed Virgin appeared to Bernadette in Lourdes, France in 1858. The Grotto is 21 feet high and 44 feet wide, in front of which is a large brick patio ringed by multiple benches, and the area is surrounded by the 14 Stations of the Cross.
As The Florida Catholic put it: “Approaching Our Lady of Lourdes grotto, one can hear pilgrims murmuring in wonder, ‘magnificent,’ ‘gorgeous,’ ‘inspiring’. Those words fall short for the new grotto at St. John the Evangelist Parish.” Indeed, this is an exceptionally beautiful grotto in tribute to Our Lady of Lourdes.
New Grotto descriptions Page 2 >>
Below is a list of Lourdes grotto replicas constructed since 2020 in the United States and Canada. Please contact me if you have a new grotto you would me to add to this list:
| State | City | Institution | Name | Year | Address |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas | Roeland Park (Kansas City) | Bishop Miege High School | Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto | 2025 | 5041 Reinhardt Dr, Roeland Park, KS 66205 |
| Ontario, Canada | Nepean | St. Patrick Parish, Fallowfield | Grotto of Our Lady of the Fields (with Lourdes statue) | 2024 | 15 Steeple Hill Crescent, Nepean, ON K2R 1G2, Canada |
| Indiana | Indianapolis | Cathedral High School | Grotto | 2024 | 5225 E 56th St, Indianapolis, IN 46226 |
| Michigan | Detroit | Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament | Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes | 2023 | 9844 Woodward Ave, Detroit, MI 48202 |
| Texas | Dickinson | Christian Renewal Center | Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto | 2024 | 1515 Hughes Rd, Dickinson, TX 77539 |
| Ohio | Sunbury | St. John Neumann Catholic Church | Marian Grotto | 2023 | 9633 E, 9633 OH-37, Sunbury, OH 43074 |
| Florida | Viera | St John the Evangelist Church | Lourdes Grotto | 2023 | 5655 Stadium Pkwy, Melbourne, FL 32940 |
| Ohio | Conneaut | St. Joseph Cemetery | Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes | 2022 | 369 Keefus Rd, Conneaut, OH 44030 |
| Pennsylvania | Milton | St. Joseph Cemetery | Lourdes Grotto | 2022 | 109 Broadway St, Milton, PA 1784 |
| Illinois | Peoria | Peoria Notre Dame High School | Fountain of Grace Grotto | 2022 | 5105 N Sheridan Rd, Peoria, IL 61614 |
| South Carolina | Moncks Corner | Mepkin Abbey | Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes | 2022 | 1098 Mepkin Abbey Rd, Moncks Corner, SC 29461 |
| California | Belmont | St. Mark’s Church | Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto | 2022 | 325 Marine View Ave, Belmont, CA 94002 |
| Kansas | St. Mary’s | Immaculate Conception Church | Grotto for Our Lady of Lourdes | 2021-2 | 208 W Bertrand Ave, St Marys, KS 66536 |
| Indiana | Mishawaka | Marian High School | Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto | 2021 | 1311 S Logan St, Mishawaka, IN 46544 |
| Florida | Boca Raton | Our Lady of Lourdes Church | Grotto of Lourdes | 2021 | 22094 Lyons Rd, Boca Raton, FL 33428 |
| Delaware | Seaford | Our Lady of Lourdes Church | Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes | 2020 | 528 E Stein Hwy, Seaford, DE 19973 |
| Illinois | Normal | St. John Paul II Catholic Newman Center | Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes | 2020 | 501 S Main St, Normal, IL 61761 |
| Florida | Hialeah | St. Benedict Church | Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes | 2020 | 701 W. 77th St. Hialeah, FL 33014 |
| North Carolina | Raleigh | Cardinal Gibbons High School | Grotto | 2020 | 1401 Edwards Mill Rd, Raleigh, NC 27607 |
| Utah | Logan | Newmann Center, University of Utah | Lourdes Grotto | 2020 | 795 N 800 E, Logan, UT 84321 |