Euclid’s Lourdes Shrine turns 100, renewing attention on a landmark of faith and healing

One hundred years after its 1926 dedication, Our Lady of Lourdes National Shrine of Euclid remains a daily place of Mass and prayer at 21281 Chardon Road, on the motherhouse grounds of the Sisters of the Most Holy Trinity.

Hundreds gathered there for an outdoor centennial Mass at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, May 31, led by Cleveland Bishop Edward Malesic. A reception followed in the St. Ann Dining Room.

“The sisters lovingly care for this sacred place,” Malesic told worshippers. He also pointed to the welcome pilgrims receive: “They welcome visitors with a smile so it’s no surprise they’re welcoming us here today on the feast of the Holy Trinity.”

From apparition to grotto

The site’s reported religious history predates the shrine. In 1870, Julia Harms reported that Mary appeared to her while she was praying on land then owned by her family. That account remains part of the site’s religious tradition.

The Sisters of the Good Shepherd lived on the property from 1920 to 1952. The Sisters of the Most Holy Trinity have operated the shrine since 1952.

In 1922, the Good Shepherd mother superior was inspired during a pilgrimage to Lourdes, France, to create a replica in Euclid. The local grotto was dedicated in 1926, beginning its century-long role as a destination for prayer and pilgrimage.

The Sisters of the Most Holy Trinity trace their order to Rome in 1762 and their arrival in the United States to 1920.

A living place of worship

The shrine is not simply a preserved grotto. Mass is celebrated every day: 7 a.m. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday; 5 p.m. Tuesday; 8 a.m. Saturday; and 8 and 9:30 a.m. Sunday.

Tuesday Adoration runs from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., before the 5 p.m. Mass. From the first Sunday in May through the last Sunday in October, the 9:30 a.m. Sunday Mass is held outdoors when weather permits.

During the outdoor season, breakfast and lunch are served in the St. Ann Dining Room from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Stations of the Cross follow at 3 p.m., with Rosary, homily and Benediction at 4 p.m.

Stories of healing

Accounts of healing have long been part of the shrine’s place in local religious life. The shrine says many sufferers have obtained cures from spiritual and bodily infirmities. Those are faith-based accounts, not medical findings.

Jennifer Boresz Engelking, co-author with Joanne Boresz of the 2026 History Press/Arcadia book Our Lady of Lourdes National Shrine of Euclid, said the stories have drawn visitors from well beyond Northeast Ohio.

“There are people who've driven from all over, from other states, who've heard about it and have had experiences where they feel they were healed from various illnesses or afflictions,” Engelking said.

Not everyone reports those experiences to the Sisters, she said. “The sisters say, so often, that they don't know how many people have had these experiences there, because sometimes they come back and tell them, and sometimes they don't.”

Learn more Sept. 14

Mentor Public Library will host Monday University: Our Lady of Lourdes National Shrine of Euclid from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 14, in the Village Room at its Main Branch.

Engelking is scheduled to present the program, drawing on the book she co-authored with Boresz. The presentation will cover reported healings and the religious communities that have lived at the Chardon Road site, including the Sisters of the Good Shepherd and the Sisters of the Most Holy Trinity.

For Engelking, the shrine’s pull is also personal and close to home. “It's a place that we feel drawn to, like a lot of people, and we feel like we’re blessed and lucky to have it so close by.”