National Shrine Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, Emmitsburg, Maryland

Mount St. Mary's University

National Shrine Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes is the oldest known replica of the revered French shrine, dating to about 1875 (the original Lourdes apparitions were in 1858). The Grotto has been in use since 1805 when Fr. John Dubois founded it as a place of prayer and devotion.

The Grotto was proclaimed a Public Oratory on December 8, 1965, by His Eminence Lawrence Cardinal Shehan, archbishop of Baltimore. A place of pastoral beauty and spiritual inspiration, it draws hundreds of thousands of religious pilgrims and tourists annually from all faiths and all parts of the country.