Unknown to many parishioners, a curving path along ivied slopes winds down behind the church to the secluded grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, where a replica of the statue at Lourdes shelters in an arched niche. The statue, of painted iron, was imported from Paris for Immaculata Academy in Newport and later donated to Saint Thomas. At the grotto's dedication ceremony on February 11, 1939, two second-grade girls unveiled the statue; one had the honor of repeating this task for the grotto's rededication ceremony in 1993. Newly landscaped with perenials and flowing water, the grotto is a refreshing retreat.