The Loretto Chapel: Land of Enchantment

Piercing blue skies and a sprawling desert landscape awarded the state of New Mexico with the moniker "The Land of Enchantment."  And justly so—with every visit, I find countless opportunities for enchantment.

A recent visit in December brought a flood of familiar pleasures:  luminarias lined every path and wall; adobe homes glistened with fresh snow; the fragrance of pinion firewood was piped from every horno and chiminea.   

The distinctiveness of New Mexican culture is unmistakable—bred from Native American, Mexican, and Spanish founding fathers, the state’s lineage is all but traditional. The traditions of each culture have permeated those of the next, birthing an original language of beliefs, rituals and celebrations. Perhaps the richest—and undoubtedly the most fascinating—is the legacy of faith and superstition.  

In effort to engage such superstition, I trekked to the heart of Santa Fe (The City of “Holy Faith”) to the famed Loretto Chapel.  The gothic structure was built in the late 1800’s to mirror King Louis IX’s Sainte-Chapelle in Paris but lacked one crucial feature: a staircase.  Legend has it that Sisters of Loretto, desperate to access their choir loft, prayed relentlessly to St. Joseph, Patron Saint of Carpentry. 

After nine consecutive days of prayer, a craftsman arrived and agreed to build them a staircase.  His craft remains unrivaled—the stair makes over two complete 360-degree turns, stands 20' tall, has no center support, and was built without nails. Immediately following the completion of the stair, the craftsman disappeared and was never again seen.

The complexity of the stair, coupled with the disappearance of its builder was fertile ground for native superstition.  Many continue to believe that St. Joseph himself constructed the stair.

Having spent the last year observing our skilled craftsmen challenge gravity and physics without divine intercession, my impression of the stair was not without bias.  I did, however, garner two profound truths from my visit:

1) A truly magnificent staircase has the power to transcend function and inspire the realms of art, myth and religion

2)  Hiring a master stair builder at the start of your new construction or remodeling project prevents costly design flaws (or in this case, nine consecutive days of prayer)

Mary Anne Carter

Assistant Director of Marketing