SOUL & SPIRITUALITY Churches and cemeteries depict the spiritual richness of the region. St. Michael’s Catholic Church's most unique feature, the Lourdes Grotto, was added to the church in the 1870s. The grotto is housed behind the altar and constructed 18 years after the first apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Modeled after the grotto in Lourdes, France, materials used to create it pay homage to the surrounding region. This grotto is made from bagasse, the dry pulpy residue left after juice from sugarcane is extracted. The recessed dome is fashioned out of an overturned sugar kettle, and the altar is covered with small clam shells from the Mississippi River. St. Michael's is also home to the Henry Erben Organ, the oldest working organ of its kind in Louisiana. The organ came to the church by boat in 1857. Explore the grounds of the Kulgar and Kenner cemeteries in the Bonnet Carre Spillway. The graveyards were originally established for the enslaved in the 1800s and later served as the burial grounds for black Civil War Union Army veterans. Religion impacted the lives of African Americans during segregation. Built in 1936, our Lady of Grace Church, now located at Historic Riverlands Christian Center exhibits what life was like for Black people living under Jim Crow laws and emphasizes different music genres created by African American musicians throughout history in it's Soul River Musical Journey.
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