Adsum

February 2003

A Masterpiece of Craftsmanship

By Joannes Heyne

On our way to Phoenix to assist at the dedication of Fr. Ephrem's new church, we had the opportunity to visit the miraculous staircase at Santa Fe, New Mexico, and pray to St. Joseph there. Besides being a very uplifting experience, it was also interesting to learn the story connected to this staircase.

In 1896, when the little Chapel of Our Lady of Light in Santa Fe was almost completed, the architect was murdered. Only then did the people realize that in the plans he had forgotten to include a staircase to the twenty-foot high choir loft. The Sisters of Loretto, for whom the chapel was built, consulted several archi-tects, but all agreed that, since the chapel was so small (only 25 by 60 feet), it would not be possible to use it for group worship if stairs were put in. Faced with this sad situation, the sisters sought refuge in prayer and started a novena to St. Joseph, the patron saint of carpenters.

Just one day after this novena ended, an old man knocked at the door of the convent with a donkey that carried his tools and belongings. Without introducing himself, the old man said he had heard the nuns needed a staircase and that he would like to do the job. But how strange were the conditions under which he wanted to fulfill the task! He asked the sisters who showed him the choir loft that he was to be left alone. He even wanted to lock the chapel, since he didn't need anyone's help. After three months had passed, he called Mother Magdalene to see his work. She was so amazed that she ran to get the other sisters. When they returned to the church together, they found it swept clean and the old man, his donkey and his tools were gone. The Sisters tried to find him because he had not been paid for his work. They asked in the city if any-one had seen an old man with a donkey, and even of-fered a reward for information. But no one had ever seen him, neither three weeks before, nor after. Thus, the question as to who the old man really was will never be answered with certainty. However, if one just looks more closely at the stairs, one can't help but believe that there is something miraculous about them.

The most amazing thing about the staircase is the fact that it has no visible means of support, neither a center pole to wind around, nor a wall to cling to (the connections to the wall, as well as the railing, have been added afterwards for the sake of security). Also, there is no support from underneath, which spiral stair-cases usually require. In addition to that, it is to be noticed that the carpenter did not use a single nail or screw, but attached everything by means of wood dowels. The two stringers attached to the thirty-three steps are perfectly matching spirals, which is all the more difficult since the staircase makes two 360 de-gree turns. If we observe these two stringers a little closer, we can see that they are not just one bent piece of wood, but consist of several sections of wood spliced together. All this the carpenter did having only, according to Mother Magdalene's diary, a couple of hammers, an ancient and unusual looking saw, a t-square and a chisel.

The wood he used was hardwood, not native to New Mexico. But he didn't bring wood with him, nor did he buy it from the lumber supplier in Santa Fe. So, the question as to who this carpenter was can never be satisfactorily answered. The whole story, nevertheless, teaches us that fervent and confident prayer is answered, sometimes even in a very extraordinary way, like in the little chapel in Santa Fe.

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