Read to the end!!! We have a change of plans!
Seeing as we currently live LITERALLY in the middle of nowhere, 45 miles either east or west on Interstate 40 to the nearest town, we took advantage of our day off yesterday to get out and do some sightseeing!
We hadn’t been to Holy Mass since leaving NW Minnesota, and boy oh boy, were we missing it!! The nearest mass is about an hour’s drive away. So yesterday we set off for Santa Fe, New Mexico for 11:00am mass at the Cathedral Basilica of St Francis of Assisi. Either we were really experiencing mass drought or this church offered the most spiritual liturgy we may have ever experienced. Likely, a combination of both! The presider was the Archbishop of Santa Fe, John Wester. The music was, hands down, some of the best we’ve ever heard at a Catholic mass. The church was packed.
After Mass, we toured the grounds of the cathedral and visited the nearby Loretto Chapel. When the Loretto Chapel was completed in 1878, there was no way to access the choir loft twenty-two feet above. Carpenters were called in to address the problem, but they all concluded access to the loft would have to be via ladder as a staircase would interfere with the interior space of the small chapel.
Legend says that to find a solution to the seating problem, the Sisters of the Chapel made a novena to St. Joseph, the patron saint of carpenters. On the ninth and final day of prayer, a man appeared at the Chapel with a donkey and a toolbox looking for work. Months later, the elegant circular staircase was completed, and the carpenter disappeared without pay or thanks. After searching for the man (an ad even ran in the local newspaper) and finding no trace of him, some concluded that he was St. Joseph himself, having come in answer to the sisters’ prayers.
Before leaving town we stopped at the Santa Fe National Cemetery. It is located on a rolling hill and was, as you might expect, beautiful, sad and inspiring all at the same time.
After finding a geocache along the Santa Fe River, we set out further north to “Santuario de Chimayo” in Chimayo, New Mexico. Here there is a “Holy Well of Dirt” that is said to have both emotional and physical healing powers. In the little room where the well is, there are hundreds of canes and crutches, left behind by people who claim to have been healed. More than 300,000 people visit the shrine every year.
Now, keep in mind we haven’t eaten since we had breakfast around 8:30am. So as we left Chimayo, NM and set course for home, we had “finding food” on our minds. We googled and found three places along our route home. Two were permanently closed when we got to them and one had only the chef’s car in the parking lot, so we drove another 40 miles west to the town of Edgewood, NM where we ate at the Pizza Barn. It was nice to have a real pizza (good, but nowhere near as good as a Chicago pizza) instead of our typical frozen “cardboard pizzas”.
Before hitting the interstate, we stopped to see “Camel Rock”, a geologic formation that is supposed to look like a camel, though it really resembled more of a table to us!
All in all, we really enjoyed getting out to see the “local” area. The landscape really changed as we drove north, becoming much more rugged and mountainous than where we are along the interstate. We had a fun, adventurous and enjoyable drive!
Now…We have a BIG announcement to make in our next post!! One that is likely to come as a surprise to you all. It has come as a HUGE surprise for us. It’s something we never thought we would need to do. What do you think the announcement is? Place your guess in the comments!! We will make another post soon with the big reveal!!
Until we chat again, be assured of our prayers and love.
We RVery Blessed
A beautiful mosaic on the wall of the Cathedral Basilica of St Francis of Assisi
The altar and sanctuary at the cathedral.
The front of the Cathedral Basilica of St Francis of Assisi, before mass.
Ken has a thing for church doors. They are the gates to God’s house. They separate a world of chaos, sin, and confusion from peace, love, and calm. They are the opening to forgiveness from sin and offer a space filled with God’s peace and acceptance. Think for a minute how many sinners have passed through these doors.
The cathedra (bishop’s chair) was absolutely beautiful.
Yep…another of the cathedral doors.
The Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
The sanctuary and altar at the Loretto Chapel.
The doors of the Loretto Chapel!!
The handcrafted wooden staircase provides access from the floor of the chapel to the choir loft. There are no support beams and no nails (segments are joined with the use of pegs) used in this staircase. It is an architectural wonder from 1878.
A wide-angle view of the spiral staircase. It makes two full 360* turns!
A pic of the New Mexico scenery.
If you zoom in on this pic, you’ll see a cross memorial.
More of the scenery.
The final resting place for some of the heroes who had served our county at the Santa Fe National Cemetery.
Another shot, but with the flag.
A cove of remembrance at the “Santuario de Chimayo” in Chimayo, New Mexico. There were about seven of these little coves.
Inside one of the chapels at the “Santuario de Chimayo” The paintings on the walls are similar to the alter at the Cathedral Basilica of St Francis of Assisi.
One wall of one of the coves.
A wood carving of “The Last Supper” from a log.
A pic of Ken lighting a candle, lifting you all up in prayer.
One of our favorite saints is St Padre Pio of Pietrelcina. Padre Pio had the stigmata and one of his pieces of spiritual advice is, “Pray, Hope, and Don’t Worry”.
The placement of your candle amongst all the others.
More NM scenery.
A “fish” carving along the Santa Fe River walk.
The tourists!
Where we traveled yesterday (11/24/24).
These snow capped mountains are the “Sangre de Cristo” mountains. Translated into English, the name means, “The Blood of Christ”, named so because, at sunset, the sun shines off the snow in a red hue.
Finally…something to eat!
You can follow the road in this pic for miles!
More scenery!
“Camel Rock” ~ It really looks more like a “Table Rock” to us! After some research, we found that the “nose” of the camel has eroded away over the years.
One of the seven “Days of Creation” arches at the “Santuario de Chimayo”.
Guess who!?!?
The geo-cache was located on the back of this sign.
A small stream that runs through the “Santuario de Chimayo” seven days of creation arches.
