Super sweet and kind. They aren't like most churches I've been too…read more They love you as you are. They don't care what you look like or what you've done. They are truly there to further their relationship with the Lord. They check up on you if you've missed a service or two. They genuinely care about you. They are super welcoming and loving. They usually have dinner together as a church every Wednesday night at 6:15pm in the dining area of the church. Then they have a Bible study at 7pm the same night. The youth (those still in high school and below) usually go to do their own Bible study while the adults have their Bible study in the main sanctuary. On Sundays, they have a Bible study at 9:30am in the dining area. There is usually coffee, water, and some type of breakfast item. After Bible study, they have Service in the main sanctuary at 10:30am. It usually lasts until 12:30pm. Sometimes until 1pm. Later on, on Sundays, they have Prayer. Everyone comes back after l they go get something to eat. Prayer starts at 3:30pm, I believe. They pray for about an hour and 5 minutes. There are topics of prayer around the room. It helps to structure and strengthen your praying. This helps you to understand praying. They oftentimes have community events too!

We came here, the destination, the REASON for our Jubilee 2025 Pilgrimage, of the USA, that my…read morehusband gave ourselves for our 51st Wedding Anniversary, was to be HERE! We made it, finally! I am jumping up and down with joy. We're privileged to complete this dream. We took the tour. We were hoping to attend mass inside the shrine, but it happened, downstairs at the Crypt Church, where Mother Angelica was buried (along with the other Poor Clare Nuns. The shrine was probably like walking in Heaven. We get to join the sisters (on tape) pray the Rosary, and we sat in the front. Attending the Mass there, would have made my trip 1,000% satisfied. So, I'm mostly reviewing of our tour of the shrine. Brother Leo, a Lifetime Brother, gave us the tour. He was also the Altar Server, of the Live ETWN Mass we were at earlier. He was so informative, and answered all the questions I've been wanting to know about the shrine, indoors and outdoors, upper and lower churches, and St. Joseph's Garden, and the surrounding acreage, who lives there, who farms there, who were buried in the crypt, etc. It was something I would come back and explore more of the other tours they have. Maybe, even come back just to attend the mass, at the shrine. That's something to think about, in our next Road Trip. I LOVE THIS PLACE! It reminds me what going to church was like in my youth. If I wasn't married, that was what I wanted to do, live in a convent and be a nun. No joke! I walked and dressed and veiled like a nun, and walked around the garden, carrying my Rosary, and did just that, with a towel pinned to my head.

Most beautiful place to go for prayers and just a place of worship to walk around and feel the…read moreenergy. Sometimes you just need to sit at the shrine higher power.

I have been going to this church for over 6 years. My family and I love it, the worship is powerful…read morethe Holy Spirit dwells there. The staff are amazing, very welcoming, and joyful. I love this church because it is full of all ages and types of people worshiping and serving the Lord together. This church has many small groups where life long connections are made. They have outreach teams that serve their community regularly. Overall this is my home church, the community of believers there helped me and encouraged me when I was struggling with my mental health.

Wonderful people. Love the music and preachers.Went there until my husband got dementia and un able…read moreto get out.

This place is underrated . Drove past many times and never stopped til today . Went to a lovely…read moremass this morning in a beautiful church on Divine Mercy Sunday . After we toured the grounds . Much bigger . It has a college attached .grave yard , grotto . Need at least an hour here . Spent 2.5 hours including mass .

You really should visit Ava Maria Grotto in Cullman, or "little Jerusalem" as we called it when we…read morewere growing up. Admission is $10.00 per adult, Teens (13-17): $8; Children (5-12): $7; Seniors/AAA/AARP: $8; Military/Veterans/1st Responders: $7; Children 4 and under: Free. There have been Groupon offers in the past, also. The stone and concrete models are the work of Brother Joseph Zoettl, a Benedictine monk of St. Bernard Abbey, who devoted ~50 years to reproducing/replicating architectures and things like Noah's ark, the colosseum in Rome, Spanish missions, and other historic Christian buildings and displays and secular recreations including the Alamo, the leaning tour of Pisa, German castles, South African shrines, Hansel and Gretel's Temple of the Fairies (complete with a "caged" dragon). Having not visited most, if not all of the actual sites, himself, Br. Zoettl used 300 postcards he owned and I imagine, books, as points of reference for his designs. The film, "Brother Joseph and the Grotto," was released in 2013. Plan to spend from 45 minutes to 1.5 hours including spending time in the gift shop. I can't give 5 stars because the grotto is not wheelchair accessible, and I think that is a sad shame!