HISTORY OF LOURDES SHRINE The Lourdes Rosary Shrine is located in the Church of Saint Louis Bertrand in Louisville, Kentucky. The shrine resembles the grotto at Lourdes, France, where, in 1858, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared eighteen times to the child Bernadette. But this resemblance to the Lourdes Grotto is more than one of appearance; it also extends to the devotion of those who pray there and to wonderful favors granted. When the story of Our Lady of Lourdes and Bernadette became known in the United States, the faithful in Louisville wanted to express their love for the Mother of God. Our Lourdes Rosary Shrine Grotto was the result. It was erected in 1884, only twenty-six years after the miraculous apparitions to Saint Bernadette, and is one of the earliest grotto shrines in the United States. Since then, devotion to Our Lady of Lourdes and Saint Bernadette and their beloved Rosary has grown with the years. As at Lourdes, here too, many wonderful favors, both spiritual and material, have been granted in answer to the prayerful petitions placed at the Grotto. These petitions are remembered in all the Masses and Novena prayers each day.
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