About Our Lady of Monte Cassino Shrine · Saint Meinrad, Indiana
Our Lady of Monte Cassino Shrine is a small sandstone Marian chapel sitting atop Monte Cassino Hill near Saint Meinrad Archabbey in Spencer County, southern Indiana. Maintained by the Benedictine monks of Saint Meinrad, the shrine has been a place of Marian devotion since 1857 and was dedicated on May 1, 1870. It is famous locally for the novena of January 1871 credited with sparing the village from a smallpox epidemic, an event still commemorated by an annual student pilgrimage around January 13. The site welcomes thousands of pilgrims each year for Saturday Mass, public rosary pilgrimages during May and October, and quiet personal prayer amid views of the Anderson Valley.
- Established
- 1870
- Patron
- Our Lady of Monte Cassino (Blessed Virgin Mary)
- Rector
- A Benedictine monk of Saint Meinrad Archabbey presides at the Saturday Mass; the chapel is listed as a mission of the Archabbatial Church of Our Lady of Einsiedeln at Saint Meinrad.
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of Indianapolis
Why belong here
Monte Cassino is a place to draw close to Mary in the quiet of a wooded hilltop rather than a typical parish community. Visitors come for a weekly Saturday Mass offered by a Benedictine monk of Saint Meinrad Archabbey, for the hour-long public rosary pilgrimages held each Sunday during the Marian months of May and October, and for the annual student pilgrimage around January 13 that marks the 1871 novena. The newly restored chapel — with conserved 19th-century murals, original stained glass by Emil Frei and F.X. Zettler, a prayer garden and sandstone piazza — invites prayer and reflection in a setting that links Einsiedeln, Saint Meinrad and the original Monte Cassino in one Benedictine lineage.
Mass times at Our Lady of Monte Cassino Shrine
Weekly Mass schedule
History of Monte Cassino Shrine
The story of the shrine begins with the 1854 founding of Saint Meinrad Archabbey by Benedictine monks from Einsiedeln Abbey, Switzerland. In 1857 a monk and some seminarians fixed a lithograph of the Immaculate Conception into an oak tree on a nearby wooded hill, naming the spot Monte Cassino after the Italian mother abbey of the Benedictine order. By 1866 a 12-by-14-foot frame chapel stood on the hill; in 1870 the present sandstone chapel was dedicated, with the rest of the structure completed in 1873. A wooden statue of the Blessed Virgin and Child, carved in Switzerland, has sat above the altar since the 1870 dedication. The January 1871 smallpox novena and the chapel's 2016–2017 restoration are the two defining chapters of its modern history.
- 1854 — Saint Meinrad Archabbey founded by monks from Einsiedeln Abbey, Switzerland
- 1857 — Image of the Immaculate Conception placed on an oak tree on Monte Cassino Hill
- By 1866 — Fr. Isidor Hobi, OSB builds a 12'x14' frame chapel
- Sandstone discovered on Monte Cassino Hill; first stones reserved for a permanent chapel
- May 1, 1870 — Chapel dedicated (sanctuary only); about 2,000 in attendance
- 1873 — Chapel fully completed
- January 5–13, 1871 — Novena credited with ending the smallpox epidemic
- 2016–2017 — Shrine Renewal Project; mural conservation by Conrad Schmitt Studios
- October 1, 2017 — Rededication of the restored shrine
The Smallpox Novena of 1871
During the winter of 1871 a smallpox epidemic struck the village of St. Meinrad; several villagers died and four persons fell ill at Saint Meinrad itself. On January 5, every seminarian who could walk processed up Monte Cassino Hill for a solemn votive Mass and the opening of a nine-day novena to Our Lady. The pilgrimage was repeated on the final day, January 13. After the novena began no further cases were reported, and the date has been commemorated by an annual student pilgrimage ever since. Although other cures have been attributed to Our Lady of Monte Cassino through the years, the monks emphasize that the shrine's holiness rests on the prayer of pilgrims rather than on extraordinary claims.
- First cases of smallpox appeared before Christmas 1870/71
- January 5, 1871 — Seminarians' pilgrimage to Monte Cassino opens the novena
- January 13, 1871 — Final day of the novena; no further cases reported
- Annual student pilgrimage continues on or about January 13
Architecture and Art
The chapel is a single-aisle wayside church built of locally quarried sandstone in a design modeled on the early shrine of Our Lady at Einsiedeln in Switzerland. Its original stained-glass windows were produced by the Emil Frei Studio of St. Louis, Missouri and by the studio of Francis X. Zettler of Munich, Germany. The painted ceiling and wall murals — long hidden under later coats of paint and damaged by humidity — were the focus of the 2016–2017 conservation. A hand-carved wooden statue of the Blessed Virgin and Child from Switzerland has crowned the altar since 1870.
- Sandstone walls quarried from Monte Cassino Hill
- Design based on the Einsiedeln Marian shrine, Saint Meinrad's motherhouse
- Stained glass by Emil Frei (St. Louis) and F.X. Zettler (Munich)
- Swiss-carved wooden statue of the Blessed Virgin and Child above the altar
- Conrad Schmitt Studios led mural conservation in 2016–2017
Shrine Renewal Project (2016–2017)
Funded by a generous benefactor, the multi-phase renewal stabilized the aging sandstone structure, conserved the artwork and improved visitor comfort. In 2016 the exterior was tuck-pointed and the foundation stabilized. In 2017 Conrad Schmitt Studios cleaned and conserved the ceiling and wall murals, in-painting missing passages and applying a barrier varnish to protect original paint; the statue was restored, the altar refinished, and a faux-granite finish used to conceal new HVAC. The votive candle stands, pews and front doors were cleaned or repainted, missing stone finials replaced, and additional lighting installed. A new sandstone piazza with benches, a prayer garden, landscaping, fencing and a stone path reshaped the hilltop grounds.
- Exterior tuck-pointing and foundation stabilization (2016)
- HVAC system installed to protect the artwork (2017)
- Mural and ceiling conservation by Conrad Schmitt Studios
- Votive candle stands, pews and front doors restored
- New sandstone piazza, prayer garden, landscaping, fencing and stone path
- Restored shrine blessed and rededicated October 1, 2017
Mass and Pilgrimage Schedule
The chapel operates as a working pilgrimage site rather than a typical parish. A Benedictine monk of Saint Meinrad Archabbey presides at Mass each Saturday; public rosary pilgrimages are held each Sunday during May and October, the two months traditionally devoted to the Blessed Mother. The shrine itself is open daily for quiet personal prayer, with the sanctuary and prayer garden available to visitors throughout daylight hours.
- Saturday Mass at 7:00 AM Central (May through October)
- Saturday Mass at 8:00 AM Central (November through April)
- Public rosary pilgrimage — Sundays in May and October, beginning at 2:00 PM Central
- Pilgrimage format: opening hymn, short sermon, rosary procession, Litany of the Blessed Virgin, closing hymn (about one hour)
- Shrine open daily from dawn to dusk (reported 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM Central)
- Annual student pilgrimage around January 13
Pilgrimages and Devotions
Monte Cassino is principally a place of Marian pilgrimage and prayer. The May and October Sunday rosary pilgrimages draw visitors who process up the hilltop path to the chapel; the hour-long service includes a short sermon and the Litany of the Blessed Virgin. The January 13 student pilgrimage is a living memory of the 1871 novena against smallpox. Votive candles continue to be burned at the restored stands inside the chapel as offerings of personal petitions.
- May and October Sunday rosary pilgrimages
- January 13 student pilgrimage commemorating the 1871 novena
- Votive candle devotions
- Open daily for personal prayer and reflection
Saint Meinrad Archabbey and the Shrine
Monte Cassino Shrine is maintained by the Benedictine monks of Saint Meinrad Archabbey, the only Benedictine archabbey in the United States alongside Saint Vincent Archabbey in Pennsylvania. The Archabbey was founded in 1854 by monks from Einsiedeln and is the spiritual engine behind both the seminary and the shrine's continuous monastic custody. The Archabbey sits in Harrison Township, which — unlike the rest of Spencer County — falls within the Archdiocese of Indianapolis rather than the Diocese of Evansville.
- Shrine is a mission of the Archabbatial Church of Our Lady of Einsiedeln at Saint Meinrad
- Maintained by the Benedictine monks of Saint Meinrad Archabbey
- Jurisdiction: Archdiocese of Indianapolis
- Current Archabbot: Rt. Rev. Kurt Stasiak, OSB (2016–present)
- Current Prior: Rev. Bede Cisco, OSB (2021–present)
- Shrine custodian: Fr. Luke Waugh, OSB
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Fr. Chrysostom Foffa, OSB
Named the hill 'Monte Cassino' after the Italian abbey of St. Benedict; an early promoter of devotion at the wayside shrine.
- Fr. Isidor Hobi, OSBby 1866
First rector of the seminary; built the 12'x14' frame chapel that preceded the permanent sandstone church on the hill.