A hunchbacked, poor man, Brother Joseph Zoettl lived a hard life – due to his living conditions and of course, his physical limitations. At the age of 14, he signed up with St. Bernard Abbey in Cullman, Alabama, in the hopes of escaping his tough life. Nothing much changed for Brother Joseph. He spent 17 hours every day for almost 30 years working at the Abbey’s pump house. Consequently, the same routine became boring but he didn’t have a choice, so he started his own private amusement project – he began constructing miniature grottoes. Soon, tens became hundreds and hundreds became thousands. Brother Joseph kept the larger models at the Abbey and sold the miniature ones to others.
And, soon, it became the Ave Maria Grotto also known as a Jerusalem in Miniature – a four-acre mini-town that was filled with almost 125 famous and religious locations, including a replica of St. Peter’s Basilica, and many churches in Jerusalem where Jesus lived. His last creation, the Basilica in Lourdes, was built in 1958 when Brother Joseph was 80. This video gives you an excellent tour of the whole shrine with grottoes and other monuments, little chapels, etc. The video, though amateur in production, is very clear and gives an overall panoramic view of the Grotto. It's worth a visit - to see what a spiritual journey you can experience, without having to go in person to Alabama.
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