Many years ago, I went to visit a friend that lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She took me to see the fabulous staircase at the Loretto Chapel. Back in 1878, a French architect designed the chapel but died before he had finished the plan for the staircase to the choir loft 22 feet above the floor. He hadn’t told anyone how he had planned to fit this into his design. No other architects could figure it out because of how narrow the chapel was. To build regular stairs would have taken away valuable seating space.
The nuns went on a prayer vigil — on the last day, there was a knock at the door. It was a carpenter, looking for work. He showed them his idea for the spiral staircase and they agreed to let him build it. He always worked alone in the quiet. No one even knew his name. Three to six months later, the anonymous carpenter had completed the miraculous staircase.
The physics of the construction cannot be explained, even by professional engineers. It has no central column or support beams. All the weight is self-supporting at the base. The carpenter didn’t use any nails, glue, or screws. He only used wooden pegs to secure the steps.
The type of wood he used to build the staircase is not native to the Santa Fe area, and he did not obtain it from the local lumber yard. The lumber yard had no records that he had purchased any material or supplies while he was building the staircase. It is believed that the closest possible source for wood of this type would’ve been somewhere in Alaska. He had no way of getting it to the chapel without anyone noticing.
When he completed the staircase, the mysterious carpenter simply went on his way without being paid. No one knew his name, and because the carpenter wanted no recognition for himself, people through the years have given glory to God for the wondrous spiral staircase in Loretto Chapel. God had answered the nuns prayers by sending this man to build the miraculous staircase without nails, glue, or screws, and with wood no one knew where it actually came from. One hundred and forty-seven years later, engineers are still baffled about the physics of this construction. That’s why they call it the miraculous staircase.
The railings were added later because the nuns continued to have anxiety about falling as they ascended and descended the choir loft.
I am pleased that I was able to see it and touch it myself. I am deeply thankful that my dear friend took me to see it. God works in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform. God’s ways are far beyond what our limited human mind can understand. Human logic will do no good to understand the ways of God, it must be discerned with an open heart. The prophet Isaiah says that the ways of God are as high as heaven is from the earth.
He can and does turn any situation from impossible to miraculous, if we believe. Those nuns prayed about an impossible situation and on the final day of the prayer vigil, their miracle knocked on the door.
#lorettochapel
