About Our Parish
Our Lady of Lourdes is like a small, quiet park, nestled in the historic Aurora Highlands neighborhood. Enjoy our grounds by having a picnic or tossing a ball on a weekend or when you have free time. We are an easy walk from several great restaurants and shops around 23rd Street and the National Landing and Crystal City areas. We are also walking distance from restaurants and shopping area along Glebe Road, the Four Mile Run hiking trail and the hidden byways and trails of the Arlington Ridge neighborhood.
Feel free anytime to pray or make a mini-retreat in our outdoor Pro-life Memorial Garden, which is a small, quiet grotto nestled in an alcove outside of the church. It has a bench, a statue of Mary, and Stations of the Cross.
Enjoy our Grounds!
Parish History
Our Lady of Lourdes started in 1927 as a mission of St. Rita’s in Alexandria. Fr. Leonard Koster, pastor of St. Rita, celebrated the mission’s Masses in a parishioner’s home. Eventually, Masses were celebrated at the Fire Station on the corner of 23rd and Eads Streets and later in the Mt. Vernon Theater. The original church was dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes in 1939. It is now the lower level of Parish Hall.
Our Lady of Lourdes was established as a parish by Bishop Peter Ireton, of the Diocese of Richmond, on June 9, 1946, with Fr. Robert Beattie as first Pastor. Most of the block was purchased to build a new church. Fr. Charles Comaskey, the second pastor, started plans in 1954 for a new church and rectory. The current church was built in 1963, and its first Mass was celebrated there on Christmas Eve. It was dedicated on March 7, 1964. In 1970, the rectory was built, and the Lourdes Center was completed as the Parish Hall. The stained-glass windows were added by Msgr. Richard Burke in 1987. In 1999, the Pro-Life Memorial Garden with Stations of the Cross was dedicated by Bishop Paul Loverde.
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, 1939
Parish Boundaries
Our Lady of Lourdes is a parish of the Catholic Diocese of Arlington. We are located in Arlington County, VA, and our boundaries cover most of the 22202 zip code.
Our geographical boundaries: Run south along the Potomac River from the Memorial Bridge to Four Mile Run, West along Four Mile Run to I-395, North on I-395 to Columbia Pike and Rte. 27, and North on Rte. 27 to the Memorial Bridge.
Henderson Hall, the Pentagon, the former Navy Annex, the Air Force Memorial, Ronald Reagan National Airport, and Virginia Highlands Park are within the parish boundaries.
Our Lady of Lourdes is walkable from the Crystal City Metro Station and Pentagon City Metro Station.