December 13, 2024 • 20 mins
A miniature city crafted from recycled materials lies in the Alabama woods.
One solitary Bavarian Monk is behind its construction.
Noodles and I join the thousands of visitors stopping to admire this humble monk’s startling creation - This is the story of the Ave Maria Grotto.
Works Cited:
https://georgiabulletin.org/commentary/2013/11/a-real-life-fairy-tale-brother-joseph-and-the-ave-maria-grotto/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEF8n2GqQpM
https://pilgrimsprogress.blog/2021/09/06/a-brief-history-of-the-benedictine-order/
https://www.durhamworldheritagesite.com/learn/history/benedictine-order/definition
https://www.messynessychic.com/2021/07/13/when-injury-killed-his-humble-dream-he-built-a-whole-miniature-world-instead/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WblURwNX-VU
https://www.avemariagrotto.com/about.html
https://www.thecrazytourist.com/30-amazing-hidden-gems-in-alabama/
Noah and Noodles here!
We want to extend a heartfelt thanks to every listener of Backroad Odyssey.
Your support fuels our passion and inspires us to keep sharing stories and discover overlooked locations.
Follow each adventure visually at:
https://www.instagram.com/backroadsodyssey/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Cruising down the street.
I wonder where this road wouldlead.
So many possibilities.
Care to share what you think.
Oh Noodle, what do you see?
Back Road Odyssey.
(00:21):
Back Road Odyssey, a miniaturecity crafted from recycled
material, lies in an Alabamawood.
One solitary Bavarian monk isbehind its construction.
My dog Noodles and I join thethousands of visitors stopping
(00:43):
to admire this humble monk'sstartling creation.
This is the story of the AveMaria Grotto.
We are en route to see the AveMaria Grotto in central Alabama,
(01:08):
about an hour north ofBirmingham, something like that.
I'll start by saying this,though, because it's important I
can't speak for my dog noodles,but I myself am not
particularly religious.
I went to Catholic school formost of my early life and never
found a way to fully embrace it.
But I will say this it'sundeniable that there's
(01:30):
something enduring, somethingkind of timeless about works of
art that derive from religiousbelief spiritual belief.
I think of the Sistine Chapel,the Tion Ton Buddha statue,
angkor Wat in Cambodia I couldgo on forever.
But the point is this there'ssomething about having a
(01:55):
deep-seated belief in somethingthat drives humans to accomplish
extraordinary, improbable, evensometimes kind of unnecessary
feats.
All of this is a bit of apreface to this.
Many of these religiouslyinspired structures, these
(02:16):
statues, temples, sites, worksof art require and required many
, many people putting in many,many hours.
But our destination today beginsand ends with one person, a
solitary immigrant monk quietlylaboring in a small town in
(02:41):
rural Alabama.
For every dark night there is abrighter day.
Harriet Morgan, death,impermanence, hardship these are
facts of life for the youngMichael Zawiddle.
In his small Bavarian hometown.
He witnesses his mother's death, nearly drowns, almost burns to
(03:05):
death and narrowly survives apandemic which gives him
lifelong heart palpitations.
Anyone would be forgiven forwanting to leave such a painful
place.
Traveling Benedictine monksvisits his hometown in 1881, the
(03:31):
14-year-old Michael can hardlyresist the call to leave with
them.
The monks had come from of allplaces St Bernard's Abbey in
Coleman, alabama to recruitstudents for their newly
established monastery.
For Michael to leave with theBenedictines, but really in any
conceivable way, is a blessing.
Within a year, 15-year-oldMichael crosses the Atlantic,
(03:56):
dons the title Brother Josephand, upon entering the country
through Ellis Island, slowlymakes his way south to the
Alabama monastery grounds thathe would, for the remainder of
his life, rarely leave.
Idleness is the enemy of thesoul.
(04:27):
Benedict of Nursia.
It's worth for a second,looking into what the young
Michael just signed up for.
What is a Benedictine monk?
Most simply put, theBenedictines are a loose
(04:51):
Catholic religious order,basically kind of a federation
of monasteries that all adhereto the teachings of St Benedict
of Nursia, who lived during the6th century CE.
Who lived during the 6thcentury CE.
And the essence of thisBenedictine mentality can be
summed up in the following Latinphrase Ora et lucora, pray and
(05:15):
work.
Labor for a Benedictine isrelevant and even essential to
the human and sometimesspiritual experience.
This mentality, this workmentality, seeps into everything
young Michael will go on to do.
If the body is strong, the soulweakens.
(05:37):
If the body weakens, the soulis strong.
Benedicta Ward, the DesertFather's Sayings of the Early
Christian Monks.
A small town in the Americanpost-war deep south seems like
an unlikely place for a youngBavarian boy to settle down.
But alas, the young Michaeldives right in, throwing himself
(06:00):
into his studies with the fulland unconditional intent to
become a priest.
But it wasn't meant to be.
An incident happens Reminiscentof his misfortune-filled early
years.
The accident-proned Michael iscrushed by a heavy church bell,
leaving the jest already underfive foot youth with a permanent
(06:22):
hunchback.
And this becomes a problem.
At the time, physicalabnormalities were considered a
distraction, somethingparishioners would easily be
distracted by, and a noticeablehunchback to the Benedictines at
least rendered Michael'spriestly dreams null and void.
(06:43):
But physical labor, it seemsfor the Benedictines, was still
on the table.
Still young, but in poor health,michael now Brother Joseph
works as a housekeeper for theAbbey's priests, a job he still
very much wanted but could neverhave.
Years later he works for theAbbey's coal-fired power plant,
(07:07):
often laboring for periods of upto 17 hours straight, watching
gauges, shoveling heavy coal,waiting for time to pass.
Time often is a gift towandering minds, and Michael's
(07:27):
mind, from then on, was alwaysmoving.
If he could no longer study forthe priesthood, something new
must fill his time, give himpurpose.
So one small question starts toform at the back of his mind
what would this purpose be?
If you build it, they will comeField of Dreams To pass the
(07:54):
time between dusty shovels ofblack soot.
Michael would construct small,picturesque caves called grottos
, to house small statues of theVirgin Mary.
The first two he built soldvery quickly.
He then received an order for500 additional grottos, which he
completed, and he lost countafter making over 5,000.
(08:18):
This creative work seems tohave struck something deep with
inside Michael a desire tocreate Ora et lacura, pray and
work.
For Michael, the work was inall caps In time.
He branches out from grottos andbuilds model buildings and
(08:40):
structures and locations, tinyrecreations of places that he
finds interesting.
He begins with a detailed modelof the city of Jerusalem,
completed in text 1912.
The structure is installed inthe monastery garden, and here's
where the story gets a littlemore interesting.
This was a side project, a wayto pass the time, and only meant
(09:03):
for the residents of themonastery.
But quickly, word of the tinyJerusalem gets out.
Curious locals and beyond beginto visit to see the masterfully
crafted tiny city.
So many visitors pour into themonastery that Michael was told
to halt any further projects hewas thinking about doing, citing
(09:25):
the movement as disturbing theoperations of the monastery.
So years pass after beingdenied the chance to move his
little project to another placeand make further projects.
Finally, cooler heads seem tohave prevailed Because they
approve a small patch of slopingland for Michael to do with as
(09:50):
he wished.
The world is but a canvas to ourimagination.
Henry David Thoreau.
With the time in between,repetitious prayers and long
shifts, shoveling coal.
Michael builds small replicasof religious sites, fairytale
(10:11):
locations and, most strikingly,historical locations.
And most strikingly, historicallocations, undoubtedly inspired
by the many hours reading abouthistory which he loved In time.
Hundreds of beautifullydetailed buildings and sites
lined the gentle slope near themonastery, all, it has to be
(10:31):
said, made from concrete bits ofbroken pottery, chicken wire,
shells, anything and everythingMichael could find.
Interestingly, though, of thehundreds of beautifully
intricate models Michael makes,only two locations are
physically visited by him duringhis lifetime One, a model of St
(10:53):
Bernard's Abbey within themonastery that he was staying at
, and two, a model of StBernard's Abbey within the
monastery that he was staying at, and two, a model of a building
within his hometown.
Beyond this, every single oneof the more than 150 models are
created using postcards,descriptions in books and his
own seemingly limitlessimagination.
(11:16):
I'm at the grotto now, let me.
Let me describe what I see.
So you first enter a building,you pay your $8 entrance fee,
then you exit through the back.
From there, you kind of see asloping hill with a winding
sidewalk that leads all the wayto the bottom.
On this sidewalk there'sreplicas of churches, holy sites
and historical places, but thereal showstopper comes at the
(11:44):
end, which is where I'm at now.
I'm at the end of the sidewalk,at the bottom of this slope,
all right, how do I describethis?
Hundreds and hundreds ofstructures populate every
available surface, every creviceof this kind of large hill.
I see St Peter's Basilica,Roman temples, famous landmarks
from all across the world, allmade expertly to scale,
(12:07):
incredibly detailed.
If we walk in up close here yousee just how resourceful Michael
was, or more likely, had to be.
He utilized thrown awayflooring, tile, anything it
seems he could get his hands on.
(12:28):
I was talking to the front deskincoming in and the person
there, very nice, said that hewould take regular trips to the
dump to get materials to buildall of this, all of what I'm
looking at now.
But here's the thing you haveto go close.
You have to go close to look atwhat he implemented, the
(12:48):
materials that he implemented.
It's hard to describe beinghere.
It's artistry.
But I digress a little bit.
In the middle of thiscivilization, upon a hill,
there's a truly massive grottowith the Virgin Mary in the
center, hence the name, the AveMaria Grotto.
(13:11):
But stepping back again, thiswhole complex would take a
village years to make To thinkthat this is the work of one
single person is something else.
You can picture him crouchedover at the end of a long day
trying to get every detail ofhis latest project exactly right
.
I was reading a bit about himcoming here and apparently his
(13:34):
disposition was that of a shyand a quiet person, even when
compared to his fellow monks.
He would pick up a gardeningtool, pretend to be the gardener
, just so that he could avoidquestions, conversations and,
most notably, recognition.
Most notably recognition, whichfurther begs the question right
(13:57):
, why did he continue to build?
Obviously it wasn't for himself.
Years pass, prayers are prayed,back-breaking work ensues, and
yet Michael continues to create,to build, to obsess.
Simultaneously, appreciationfor the grotto continues to grow
(14:17):
.
As Michael ages, visitors flocklike seagulls to see his
creations.
But Michael, brother Joseph,never changes, it seems.
In a way, it's the work itselfthat provides meaning, not the
(14:41):
results of the work.
It's the act of building thatprovides satisfaction for him.
Otherwise, we can only imaginethat he would look around at the
over 150 models and say I'vedone enough.
Ora et lucara, pray and workFor Michael, these two
Benedictine words seem to besynonymous.
(15:02):
Work is prayer, prayer is work.
It provides meaning, a drive, apurpose.
Michael, brother Joseph,continues to create until his
last replica is completed at 80years old.
Three years later, in 1961, hepasses away, leaving behind the
(15:26):
vast fruits of his labor.
Nothing will work unless you do.
Maya Angelou, I'm back in thevan, give me a second.
Here's my initial thoughts,starting with this.
(15:46):
The simple fact that one personcould continue to create in a
decade-long unbroken chain until, quite literally, he physically
couldn't, is astonishing.
In my own life I get interestedin a hobby or an activity, and
I'll do it for a while, but itrarely keeps my interest.
(16:07):
Definitely I'm nowhere near thelevel of effort, skill, work
that Michael put into thisgrotto his entire life.
But here's the thing I bet andI'd wager there were days, weeks
, even years where Michael hadno to little desire to keep his
(16:30):
project going.
But he did, and there's a wordfor that Dedication Long,
continuous, intentionaldedication, both as a monk right
, he still prayed every day, hestill read the scriptures every
day, he still worked a veryphysically demanding job but
(16:52):
also and I think he probablywould hate me for using this
word as an artist.
You can't stand at the bottom ofthe hill of the grotto and fail
to appreciate the sheer,dedicated artistry of it all.
What is the Ave Maria Grotto?
(17:26):
It's simultaneously aninterconnected sculpture, a form
of religious worship, aroadside oddity, a simple and
extended way to pass the time.
It's, paradoxically, everythingand nothing all at once.
Whatever the grotto is, andwhatever you personally perceive
(17:50):
it to be, you have to admit thefive-foot, hunchbacked,
underappreciated BavarianBenedictine monk behind its
construction has a story worthtelling, a story that's told in
every spare tile, broken shelland cut chicken wire.
Within the oddly impressive,endlessly fascinating, wholly
(18:13):
incomprehensible Ave Mariagrotto, it's Noah here.
Thank you so much for listeningto Backroad Odyssey.
(18:34):
Let's get into it.
Would I recommend you going outof your way to see the grotto
if you're near Birmingham,alabama?
Yes, yes, I would, and here'swhy Not every location you go to
is going to be show-stopping,life changing, but the grotto,
especially if you know the storybehind its construction, is
(18:54):
special, not necessarily in acultural way or even a religious
way.
I said in the beginning I'm notparticularly religious, but
it's a unique experience, giventhe story.
Personally, what I got from itgoing to the grotto made me
think about myself, how I spendmy time.
You know, I started to thinkabout the things in my life that
(19:17):
take a long time to build.
You know this podcast, forexample, a lot of daily
unnoticed work.
But sometime from now, whateveryou are working on personally,
you're going to step back andsee the true scale of all of
your efforts, and to me, that iswhat I got from the grotto and
that's why it's worth going tosee.
(19:39):
After Michael's death, theAbbey's handyman, lee I hope I'm
saying this right, I'm sorry ifI'm not Schweiger continued to
preserve the site and even addeda few of his own creations in
Michael's style.
These include the Great Wall ofChina, the pyramids and, my
personal favorite, a crosswalkfor the local chipmunks who
(20:01):
inhabit the grotto.
Value in the time and theresearch that Noodles and I put
into each episode.
I would greatly appreciate you.
Taking a minute to rate orwrite a review.
Really, really, really helps,and I personally appreciate it.
I'll leave with this, whateveryou're working on right now if
(20:24):
it doesn't feel like it's addingup to something.
Think about the grotto.
Think about the time it takesto make something lasting.
It's work.
It's continued work, it'srelentless work, but in the end,
the work will speak for itself.
So keep at it.
We're two.
Next, be good to each other.
(20:45):
Backroad Odyssey.
Cruising down the street.
I wonder where this road wouldlead.
So many possibilities.
Care to share what you think.
Oh Noodle, what do you see?
Back Road Odyssey.
(00:21):
Back Road Odyssey, a miniaturecity crafted from recycled
material, lies in an Alabamawood.
One solitary Bavarian monk isbehind its construction.
My dog Noodles and I join thethousands of visitors stopping
(00:43):
to admire this humble monk'sstartling creation.
This is the story of the AveMaria Grotto.
We are en route to see the AveMaria Grotto in central Alabama,
(01:08):
about an hour north ofBirmingham, something like that.
I'll start by saying this,though, because it's important I
can't speak for my dog noodles,but I myself am not
particularly religious.
I went to Catholic school formost of my early life and never
found a way to fully embrace it.
But I will say this it'sundeniable that there's
(01:30):
something enduring, somethingkind of timeless about works of
art that derive from religiousbelief spiritual belief.
I think of the Sistine Chapel,the Tion Ton Buddha statue,
angkor Wat in Cambodia I couldgo on forever.
But the point is this there'ssomething about having a
(01:55):
deep-seated belief in somethingthat drives humans to accomplish
extraordinary, improbable, evensometimes kind of unnecessary
feats.
All of this is a bit of apreface to this.
Many of these religiouslyinspired structures, these
(02:16):
statues, temples, sites, worksof art require and required many
, many people putting in many,many hours.
But our destination today beginsand ends with one person, a
solitary immigrant monk quietlylaboring in a small town in
(02:41):
rural Alabama.
For every dark night there is abrighter day.
Harriet Morgan, death,impermanence, hardship these are
facts of life for the youngMichael Zawiddle.
In his small Bavarian hometown.
He witnesses his mother's death, nearly drowns, almost burns to
(03:05):
death and narrowly survives apandemic which gives him
lifelong heart palpitations.
Anyone would be forgiven forwanting to leave such a painful
place.
Traveling Benedictine monksvisits his hometown in 1881, the
(03:31):
14-year-old Michael can hardlyresist the call to leave with
them.
The monks had come from of allplaces St Bernard's Abbey in
Coleman, alabama to recruitstudents for their newly
established monastery.
For Michael to leave with theBenedictines, but really in any
conceivable way, is a blessing.
Within a year, 15-year-oldMichael crosses the Atlantic,
(03:56):
dons the title Brother Josephand, upon entering the country
through Ellis Island, slowlymakes his way south to the
Alabama monastery grounds thathe would, for the remainder of
his life, rarely leave.
Idleness is the enemy of thesoul.
(04:27):
Benedict of Nursia.
It's worth for a second,looking into what the young
Michael just signed up for.
What is a Benedictine monk?
Most simply put, theBenedictines are a loose
(04:51):
Catholic religious order,basically kind of a federation
of monasteries that all adhereto the teachings of St Benedict
of Nursia, who lived during the6th century CE.
Who lived during the 6thcentury CE.
And the essence of thisBenedictine mentality can be
summed up in the following Latinphrase Ora et lucora, pray and
(05:15):
work.
Labor for a Benedictine isrelevant and even essential to
the human and sometimesspiritual experience.
This mentality, this workmentality, seeps into everything
young Michael will go on to do.
If the body is strong, the soulweakens.
(05:37):
If the body weakens, the soulis strong.
Benedicta Ward, the DesertFather's Sayings of the Early
Christian Monks.
A small town in the Americanpost-war deep south seems like
an unlikely place for a youngBavarian boy to settle down.
But alas, the young Michaeldives right in, throwing himself
(06:00):
into his studies with the fulland unconditional intent to
become a priest.
But it wasn't meant to be.
An incident happens Reminiscentof his misfortune-filled early
years.
The accident-proned Michael iscrushed by a heavy church bell,
leaving the jest already underfive foot youth with a permanent
(06:22):
hunchback.
And this becomes a problem.
At the time, physicalabnormalities were considered a
distraction, somethingparishioners would easily be
distracted by, and a noticeablehunchback to the Benedictines at
least rendered Michael'spriestly dreams null and void.
(06:43):
But physical labor, it seemsfor the Benedictines, was still
on the table.
Still young, but in poor health,michael now Brother Joseph
works as a housekeeper for theAbbey's priests, a job he still
very much wanted but could neverhave.
Years later he works for theAbbey's coal-fired power plant,
(07:07):
often laboring for periods of upto 17 hours straight, watching
gauges, shoveling heavy coal,waiting for time to pass.
Time often is a gift towandering minds, and Michael's
(07:27):
mind, from then on, was alwaysmoving.
If he could no longer study forthe priesthood, something new
must fill his time, give himpurpose.
So one small question starts toform at the back of his mind
what would this purpose be?
If you build it, they will comeField of Dreams To pass the
(07:54):
time between dusty shovels ofblack soot.
Michael would construct small,picturesque caves called grottos
, to house small statues of theVirgin Mary.
The first two he built soldvery quickly.
He then received an order for500 additional grottos, which he
completed, and he lost countafter making over 5,000.
(08:18):
This creative work seems tohave struck something deep with
inside Michael a desire tocreate Ora et lacura, pray and
work.
For Michael, the work was inall caps In time.
He branches out from grottos andbuilds model buildings and
(08:40):
structures and locations, tinyrecreations of places that he
finds interesting.
He begins with a detailed modelof the city of Jerusalem,
completed in text 1912.
The structure is installed inthe monastery garden, and here's
where the story gets a littlemore interesting.
This was a side project, a wayto pass the time, and only meant
(09:03):
for the residents of themonastery.
But quickly, word of the tinyJerusalem gets out.
Curious locals and beyond beginto visit to see the masterfully
crafted tiny city.
So many visitors pour into themonastery that Michael was told
to halt any further projects hewas thinking about doing, citing
(09:25):
the movement as disturbing theoperations of the monastery.
So years pass after beingdenied the chance to move his
little project to another placeand make further projects.
Finally, cooler heads seem tohave prevailed Because they
approve a small patch of slopingland for Michael to do with as
(09:50):
he wished.
The world is but a canvas to ourimagination.
Henry David Thoreau.
With the time in between,repetitious prayers and long
shifts, shoveling coal.
Michael builds small replicasof religious sites, fairytale
(10:11):
locations and, most strikingly,historical locations.
And most strikingly, historicallocations, undoubtedly inspired
by the many hours reading abouthistory which he loved In time.
Hundreds of beautifullydetailed buildings and sites
lined the gentle slope near themonastery, all, it has to be
(10:31):
said, made from concrete bits ofbroken pottery, chicken wire,
shells, anything and everythingMichael could find.
Interestingly, though, of thehundreds of beautifully
intricate models Michael makes,only two locations are
physically visited by him duringhis lifetime One, a model of St
(10:53):
Bernard's Abbey within themonastery that he was staying at
, and two, a model of StBernard's Abbey within the
monastery that he was staying at, and two, a model of a building
within his hometown.
Beyond this, every single oneof the more than 150 models are
created using postcards,descriptions in books and his
own seemingly limitlessimagination.
(11:16):
I'm at the grotto now, let me.
Let me describe what I see.
So you first enter a building,you pay your $8 entrance fee,
then you exit through the back.
From there, you kind of see asloping hill with a winding
sidewalk that leads all the wayto the bottom.
On this sidewalk there'sreplicas of churches, holy sites
and historical places, but thereal showstopper comes at the
(11:44):
end, which is where I'm at now.
I'm at the end of the sidewalk,at the bottom of this slope,
all right, how do I describethis?
Hundreds and hundreds ofstructures populate every
available surface, every creviceof this kind of large hill.
I see St Peter's Basilica,Roman temples, famous landmarks
from all across the world, allmade expertly to scale,
(12:07):
incredibly detailed.
If we walk in up close here yousee just how resourceful Michael
was, or more likely, had to be.
He utilized thrown awayflooring, tile, anything it
seems he could get his hands on.
(12:28):
I was talking to the front deskincoming in and the person
there, very nice, said that hewould take regular trips to the
dump to get materials to buildall of this, all of what I'm
looking at now.
But here's the thing you haveto go close.
You have to go close to look atwhat he implemented, the
(12:48):
materials that he implemented.
It's hard to describe beinghere.
It's artistry.
But I digress a little bit.
In the middle of thiscivilization, upon a hill,
there's a truly massive grottowith the Virgin Mary in the
center, hence the name, the AveMaria Grotto.
(13:11):
But stepping back again, thiswhole complex would take a
village years to make To thinkthat this is the work of one
single person is something else.
You can picture him crouchedover at the end of a long day
trying to get every detail ofhis latest project exactly right
.
I was reading a bit about himcoming here and apparently his
(13:34):
disposition was that of a shyand a quiet person, even when
compared to his fellow monks.
He would pick up a gardeningtool, pretend to be the gardener
, just so that he could avoidquestions, conversations and,
most notably, recognition.
Most notably recognition, whichfurther begs the question right
(13:57):
, why did he continue to build?
Obviously it wasn't for himself.
Years pass, prayers are prayed,back-breaking work ensues, and
yet Michael continues to create,to build, to obsess.
Simultaneously, appreciationfor the grotto continues to grow
(14:17):
.
As Michael ages, visitors flocklike seagulls to see his
creations.
But Michael, brother Joseph,never changes, it seems.
In a way, it's the work itselfthat provides meaning, not the
(14:41):
results of the work.
It's the act of building thatprovides satisfaction for him.
Otherwise, we can only imaginethat he would look around at the
over 150 models and say I'vedone enough.
Ora et lucara, pray and workFor Michael, these two
Benedictine words seem to besynonymous.
(15:02):
Work is prayer, prayer is work.
It provides meaning, a drive, apurpose.
Michael, brother Joseph,continues to create until his
last replica is completed at 80years old.
Three years later, in 1961, hepasses away, leaving behind the
(15:26):
vast fruits of his labor.
Nothing will work unless you do.
Maya Angelou, I'm back in thevan, give me a second.
Here's my initial thoughts,starting with this.
(15:46):
The simple fact that one personcould continue to create in a
decade-long unbroken chain until, quite literally, he physically
couldn't, is astonishing.
In my own life I get interestedin a hobby or an activity, and
I'll do it for a while, but itrarely keeps my interest.
(16:07):
Definitely I'm nowhere near thelevel of effort, skill, work
that Michael put into thisgrotto his entire life.
But here's the thing I bet andI'd wager there were days, weeks
, even years where Michael hadno to little desire to keep his
(16:30):
project going.
But he did, and there's a wordfor that Dedication Long,
continuous, intentionaldedication, both as a monk right
, he still prayed every day, hestill read the scriptures every
day, he still worked a veryphysically demanding job but
(16:52):
also and I think he probablywould hate me for using this
word as an artist.
You can't stand at the bottom ofthe hill of the grotto and fail
to appreciate the sheer,dedicated artistry of it all.
What is the Ave Maria Grotto?
(17:26):
It's simultaneously aninterconnected sculpture, a form
of religious worship, aroadside oddity, a simple and
extended way to pass the time.
It's, paradoxically, everythingand nothing all at once.
Whatever the grotto is, andwhatever you personally perceive
(17:50):
it to be, you have to admit thefive-foot, hunchbacked,
underappreciated BavarianBenedictine monk behind its
construction has a story worthtelling, a story that's told in
every spare tile, broken shelland cut chicken wire.
Within the oddly impressive,endlessly fascinating, wholly
(18:13):
incomprehensible Ave Mariagrotto, it's Noah here.
Thank you so much for listeningto Backroad Odyssey.
(18:34):
Let's get into it.
Would I recommend you going outof your way to see the grotto
if you're near Birmingham,alabama?
Yes, yes, I would, and here'swhy Not every location you go to
is going to be show-stopping,life changing, but the grotto,
especially if you know the storybehind its construction, is
(18:54):
special, not necessarily in acultural way or even a religious
way.
I said in the beginning I'm notparticularly religious, but
it's a unique experience, giventhe story.
Personally, what I got from itgoing to the grotto made me
think about myself, how I spendmy time.
You know, I started to thinkabout the things in my life that
(19:17):
take a long time to build.
You know this podcast, forexample, a lot of daily
unnoticed work.
But sometime from now, whateveryou are working on personally,
you're going to step back andsee the true scale of all of
your efforts, and to me, that iswhat I got from the grotto and
that's why it's worth going tosee.
(19:39):
After Michael's death, theAbbey's handyman, lee I hope I'm
saying this right, I'm sorry ifI'm not Schweiger continued to
preserve the site and even addeda few of his own creations in
Michael's style.
These include the Great Wall ofChina, the pyramids and, my
personal favorite, a crosswalkfor the local chipmunks who
(20:01):
inhabit the grotto.
Value in the time and theresearch that Noodles and I put
into each episode.
I would greatly appreciate you.
Taking a minute to rate orwrite a review.
Really, really, really helps,and I personally appreciate it.
I'll leave with this, whateveryou're working on right now if
(20:24):
it doesn't feel like it's addingup to something.
Think about the grotto.
Think about the time it takesto make something lasting.
It's work.
It's continued work, it'srelentless work, but in the end,
the work will speak for itself.
So keep at it.
We're two.
Next, be good to each other.
(20:45):
Backroad Odyssey.
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