Loretto Chapel and the Miraculous Staircase

On the weekend of February 17-18, Lamar and Rita traveled to Santa Fe, New Mexico to enjoy the wedding festivities for Lamar's brother, Daniel Hunt, and his bride Toni Munoz.  While they were in Santa Fe, they visited the Loretto Chapel.  The most famous feature of the chapel is the "miraculous staircase," which has a wonderful and interesting history.  When the 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 agreed that the only way to enter the loft would be by a ladder, because the presence of 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.

The stairway's carpenter, whoever he was, built a magnificent structure. The design was innovative for the time and some of the design considerations still perplex experts today.  The staircase has two 360 degree turns and no visible means of support. Also, it is said that the staircase was built without nails—only wooden pegs. Questions also surround the number of stair risers relative to the height of the choir loft and about the types of wood and other materials used in the stairway's construction.  Over the years, thousands have visited Loretto Chapel to see the Miraculous Staircase. The staircase has been the subject of many articles, television specials, and movies.