In 1858, near Lourdes in southern France, Our Lady appeared 18 times to a young peasant girl named, Bernadette Soubirous.

This beautiful Lady, dressed in white with a blue sash around her waist, revealed herself as the Immaculate Conception. She asked that a chapel be built at the location that she appears and told Bernadette to drink from a fountain in the grotto.

Although no fountain was to be seen, Bernadette dug at the area where Our Lady appeared, and a spring began to flow. The spring has no curative property, but water continues to flow in this spring today and has shown remarkable healing power. Lourdes has become the most famous modern shrine of Our Lady.

Our Lady of Lourdes Church was established when many French families came to live and work in Milltown at the Michelin Tire Company. They were Roman Catholics and needed a place to worship. The first Mass was offered in the French School House on July 12, 1912. As the population grew, a larger church was needed and was built with the help of the Michelin Company in 1921.