TONIGHT

Don't miss the last Cloud of Witnesses event of the season

P.S. There will be Italian food!

Re-Dedication Mass at

Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto

Saturday, May 6, 2023

at 8:30 a.m.

Join us for the re-dedication of this important prayer space. Please bring lawn chairs!

The Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto at Saints Peter and Paul Cemetery will be re-dedicated at an outdoor Mass at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 6, 2023. The parish-funded restoration of the grotto began in the spring of 2022 using donations collected at Luminary Masses held over the years, as well as regular contributions by parishioners who understand the importance and legacy of the local Marian shrine. Parish sacristan Rita Schmidt organized the fall Luminary Mass for 23 years until her death in 2020.

The work contracted to Marion Restoration was completed in 2022, but the Diocese of Joliet—which now owns the cemetery—has since provided additional enhancements, including lighting, bench seating, and maintenance to the paver patio. Memorial plaques, including a history of the grotto, also will be installed later this year.

Grotto History

A grotto is a natural or artificial cave often used as a shrine, and one of the world’s most famous is the Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto, where then 14-year-old Bernadette Soubirous—now an official saint of the church—saw Marian apparitions in Lourdes, France, in 1858. The image of Our Lady of Lourdes has been widely reproduced in shrines, including our grotto.

The SSPP burial grounds were established in 1846, and records indicate that the grotto has served as a prayer space within the cemetery since the early 1920s, when it was designed and built by local masons Paul Baumgartner and Arthur Miller.

Loving Maintenance

Saints Peter and Paul has been dedicated to maintaining and improving the historic structure over the past century. The first grotto restoration happened in the mid-1970s, when fallen rocks were cemented back into place and the new statues of St. Bernadette and the Blessed Mother installed. The grotto’s patio was built using extra bricks from the Millennium Labyrinth, installed near Naperville’s Riverwalk in 1998.

And Carolyn Lauing-Finzer, a 1961 graduate of Saints Peter and Paul School and granddaughter of Arthur Miller—has lovingly maintained the gardens surrounding the structure for decades. 

The 2022 restoration process included replacing missing stones, stone cleaning, and roof, stairway, and archway repairs, including the installation of waterproofing membranes and galvanized steel supports.

Perpetual Adoration

Saints Peter and Paul began sign-ups on Divine Mercy Sunday for permanent weekend adorers, with the goal of opening the chapel to perpetual (24/7) adoration by the Feast of Corpus Christi on June 11. 

We need 82 people to fill 41 holy hours with Jesus so the chapel can be open

7 days a week, 24 hours a day.

Current Hours Monday 8 a.m. to Saturday 3 p.m.

Hours Needed Saturday 3 p.m. to Monday 8 a.m.

Sign up today for a permanent or substitute weekly adoration hour using the link below, or visit sspeterandpaul.net/adoration for more information.

Join Us!

If you have an upcoming first- or second-grade student who is not currently registered for religious education or for the parish school, we invite you to join our program! It’s designed to engage students in the Catholic faith, not only preparing them for the Sacraments of First Reconciliation, First Holy Communion, and Confirmation, but also providing ongoing instruction and faith-sharing each year.

The Diocese of Joliet requires two years of preparation prior to receiving a sacrament, which means that children typically start preparing for First Communion in first or second grade. Students begin preparing for Confirmation no later than 6th grade. 

Registration for classes is going on now. Register and pay by May 26th for the lowest rate!