Cross Country Cruzin: Ave Maria Grotto

The Ave Maria Grotto in Cullman, AL, is located on the grounds of St. Bernard Abbey, the only Benedictine monastery of men in the State of Alabama. The Abbey was founded in 1891. The Grotto consists of a landscaped hillside of 125 small stone and cement structures, the handiwork of the creative genius of Brother Joseph Zoetl, a monk of the Abbey for almost 70 years.

A pleasant two-block pathway winds beside these miniature buildings, passing in front of a large cavern-like grotto (Italian word for cave) on the lower level of the hillside. Opened in 1934 on the site of a former stone quarry used by the Abbey, the Grotto was a continuation of the work of Brother Joseph, who built his first replicas in about 1912 and his last, the miniature of the beautiful Lourdes Basilica Church, in 1958. It was constructed when he was 80 years old.

Brother Joseph Zoetl was born in 1878 in the town of Landshut, Bavaria. In 1892 he came to the newly founded St. Bernard Abbey where his monastic life was spent in prayer and in laboring in the Abbey power house. When not busy shoveling coal into the furnaces, Brother Joseph took time to construct some miniature buildings using stone, concrete, and unwanted donated materials, e.g., broken plates, costume jewelry, ceramic tile, beads, marbles, seashells, etc.

Originally Brother Joseph placed his creations in the gardens near the monastery, but due to the large number of visitors coming to see them, they were moved to the present site in 1934.

Brother Joseph gathered ideas for his work from extensive readings of history and the Bible - and from his wonderful imagination. Of all the factual replicas constructed, he had seen only about six: those in his home town of Landshut and those at St. Bernard Abbey. All the others were constructed from photographs or from printed descriptions.

Brother Joseph, who died in 1961, is buried in the Abbey Cemetery, final resting place of the monks of the Abbey.

Tower of Babel

The Ave Maria Grotto stands 27 feet high, 27 feet wide, and 27 feet deep. The structure was decorated by Br. Joseph with countless pieces of colored stone and glass. He built the alter using bits of crushed glass, stone and cement. He also made the stalactites which hang from the ceiling. Standing in the center is the Virgin Mary, with the Child Jesus in her arms. Standing on the left is St. Benedict of Nursia, founder of Benedictine monasticism. On the right is his twin sister, St. Scholastica.