The Miracle Of Loretto ChapelAugust 26, 2024The New Testament tells us of the many miracles performed by Christ and the Apostles. Down through the centuries there have been phenomena that some think of as supernatural events, while others believe them to be miracles. Our Lady of Lourdes, Fatima, The Shroud of Turin, and the House of the Virgin Mary, are miracles validated and recognized by the Church. The Loretto Chapel of Santa Fe, New Mexico is home to one of the most enduring of miracles, but one shrouded in mystery. The Chapel was originally a Roman Catholic Church but was commissioned by the Sisters of Loretto as a girl’s academy in 1873. The Sisters sought to construct a Chapel for the academy, and at the recommendation of Archbishop Jean Baptiste Lamy, employed the services of French architects Antoine Mouly and his son. The Chapel’s design was based on the Gothic Revival style, with spires, buttresses, and stained glass windows, and was completed and consecrated in 1878. Following the completion, a problem presented itself; there was no access to the choir loft. The Sisters consulted with carpenters and builders, but none could determine a viable solution to build a staircase due to the close confined space. The Sisters, realizing the difficult situation that confronted them, decided to turn to a higher power. They prayed to God but also offered up Novenas to St. Joseph, the patron saint of carpenters. On the last, ninth day of prayer, a mysterious stranger appeared at the chapel. He had heard about the Sisters and the problem they faced and offered to build a Helix-shaped spiral staircase, also called the "Miraculous Stair." The stranger began and worked alone, and when finished disappeared without being paid, and the Sisters never knew his name. The completed staircase was a masterful piece of work. There is some disagreement over the time it took to complete the staircase; some say it was finished after several months, while others say it was completed over one night. What makes the end result, like the builder and all things connected to this miracle, so mysterious and unfathomable is the structural makeup of the staircase. The builder worked alone and used only the most basic of tools - hammer, saw, and chisel, and as for material, only wood. There were no nails or glue or hardware used. When completed the staircase rose 20 feet, made two full turns, but it also defied the laws of physics; it ascends without any means of support as there is no center column. There are 33 steps, the age of Christ at his death. The builder used wooden pegs in the joints to fasten the structure. The wood used was said to be a type of Spruce, but was determined not to be indigenous to New Mexico, nor could scientific investigation place its origin anywhere in the world. Was the builder St.Joseph, as the Sisters believe it was? There have been numerous comments describing the staircase. In a column in the Washington Post, Tim Carter wrote “It's a magnificent work of art that humbles me as a master carpenter. To create a staircase like this using modern tools would be a feat. It's mind-boggling to think about constructing such a marvel with crude hand tools, no electricity and minimal resources.” In his book “Mysterious New Mexico,” Ben Radford quoted a master carpenter “The execution is just incredible. The theory of how to do it, to bend it around in a two-turn spiral, that's some difficult arithmetic there.” The Loretto Chapel staircase is considered to be an impressive masterpiece of carpentry. It became the most famous tourist attraction in Santa Fe. The girl’s academy closed in 1968, and the stairs have been mostly closed to the public since the chapel became a privately-run museum in the 1960s.
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