As the Protestant half of a mixed marriage of 26 years, I have always found it wise to walk softly when visiting hallowed ground, particularly those spiritual sites where Roman Catholic tradition, belief, teachings and pride commingle.Just keep your head bowed, don't ask stupid questions, accept what you have been told, don't mention Martin Luther, and you'll all be much happier in the end.
Such was the case at the Miraculous Staircase in Santa Fe Thursday. I will present just the facts here, just as I remember them, just as I was told.
Old adobe
The oldest building in the United States is in Santa Fe. It is an adobe church originally built by Indians being told what to do by Franciscan priests in 1610. That's a long time ago. The Plymouth Rock, if there really is one, has a date of 1620 on it.
Kathleen and I visited the oldest building, and we went inside the nearby basilica (I can't remember its name, but it is really imporant, it is on a short list of prominent Catholic places) where the oldest Madonna in the country is displayed. I got a picture of that (take your hat off, no flash photography allowed) for you. Meanwhile, Kathleen signed the guest register under a picture of the pope.
But it is at the nearby chapel where the Miraculous Staircase can be found. About 200 years ago the workmen from Spain who immigrated here to build the cathedral also built the side chapel. It is compact, but very well made. There is a balcony in the rear, very high, where the choir sang. There was no staircase to it, the all-male choir simply used a ladder to get up there for services.
Eventually the chapel was taken over by an order of nuns. Nuns or novitiates did not or would not climb the tall ladder to the choir loft. They prayed and prayed for a solution, I believe it is called a Novena, where you focus hard on what you want and ask for it again and again. Perhaps today this process would be called "The Secret" and sell millions of CDs, but I digress.On the last day of the Novena, we are told, a carpenter appeared. He went to work on a staircase, a circular staircase with no center pole. A conventional staircase was out, because it would take too much space away from worshipers in the small chapel. He worked for six months with only basic tools, he used no nails or screws. Then he vanished. No one knew his name, or where he came from. Further, there is no record anywhere of any materials being shipped or purchased for the purpose of a staircase.
The nuns were delighted with the staircase and were now able to get to the choir loft to sing praises. It was a fearsome trip up the staircase because the mystery carpenter didn't build a hand railing. Many years later a railing was added by a known designer. Faith is a wonderful thing and these nuns certainly had it, but there is, after all, a practical limit. (just my thoughts, sorry)
There is a super-computer over at the nearby Los Alamos laboratory where they designed the atomic bomb. Some skeptic put all the particulars of the staircase into it and crunched the numbers. The super-computer said that the staircase should not be standing. But stand it does.There are photographs taken as recently as 1959 with dozens of singing nuns, standing toe to toe, or habit to habit, on it. The workmanship is out of this world. (See detail) The lumber is not from around here. There are no plans, no drawings, no architect. But the staircase still stands today in mute testament to the faith of those who prayed that it be here -- and to some very capable, unnamed, hardworking, talented carpenter I like to call Joseph.
So there you have it. The story of the Miraculous Staircase. You decide.By the way, the Vienna Boys Choir is coming to sing in Santa Fe in March. No word on whether they'll be using a ladder or a staircase.
