BLAST FROM THE PAST: The Mater Dei student body assembles for one of the first times around Mary Mater Dei in the Grotto. In 1950, a Catholic women’s organization called the Young Ladies Institute generously donated a statue of Mary, the same statue that blesses the Grotto today. The school quickly adopted Mary as its patroness and gave her a prime position in the center of the Grotto. “There was always a grotto,” Talarico said. “But Mary was in the middle. It was kind of intimate.” (Photo courtesy of Mater Dei High School) 