While we were on our St. Louis trip (check out my two other posts about our trip, about the food and visiting the Gateway Arch), after spending time there we made our way to Illinois for a couple nights and went to the Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows.
I was having a hard time in my spiritual life at the time and was not really wanting to go to the Shrine. We got there and I was just struggling. As we went along though, and by the end, I’d say I really enjoyed it!
I was very spiritually inspired.
God was with me and helped me through it. The statues, artwork, and building designs were very neat. The property was so beautiful. I enjoyed being outside, walking around the grounds and stopping at all the cool different areas with my family. I could feel God through a lot of it.
We stopped first at the church which was so beautiful and inspiring. I was able to pray a bit which I think helped the rest of the time. It was nice to be in front of the tabernacle. The church had some neat banners with saints on them, and a big painting of St. Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe. From their holy water fount near the entrance you could hear the sound of running water which was nice.
We also met a nice guy who worked there, the sacristan. He was very friendly and welcoming! We asked if there was anything we should be sure not to miss and he told us about the mosaics of the mysteries of the Rosary and a secret chapel that had the northern lights painted near the ceiling, both on the backside of their big amphitheater. We were going to do our family daily Rosary at some point on the property but when we heard about the mosaics we wanted to do them there! I was not really excited to do the Rosary before but when I heard about that, I was looking forward to them and I could feel God. It felt special that the guy mentioned those to us and they would be a great place to do it.
So we made our way to the big amphitheater.
Wow- it is very neat.
It’s huge, I can only imagine the events they have or could have there! On the backside of it, we found the mosaics of the Glorious mysteries and we found a cool chapel with the Sorrowful mysteries mosaics behind the alter. Then we found the chapel with the northern lights. We decided to do our Rosary there, it was quiet and there was a tabernacle. There would not have been a great place to do it by the mosaics. Later on we found the Joyful mysteries. They were all so beautiful!
Next we started walking around the grounds. We visited the Annunciation Garden and the Mother’s Memorial. Then we saw the Father’s Memorial.
We took a path through the trees and down a hill. We saw these weird bugs! Then we found this neat statue of Jesus in the woods. There was one of those bugs on the statue’s head!
At the end of the path was the Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto. That was really neat. It’s this seating area, alter and it had some memorial stones, behind it being a big rock alcove, with a littler alcove holding a statue of Mary. Another statue of St. Bernadette was in front. It was a cool space!
Then we found the Our Lady of Guadalupe Garden. I really enjoyed that too! They had cactuses along the pathway up, and when you turn the corner you see two beautiful statues of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Juan Diego. There’s also a waterfall behind them! That was a really neat area! With the cactuses, plants and flowers, it fit the vibe!
Next we went through the Resurrection Garden. It was lined with stones engraved with Jesus and different people He was with or scenes from after His resurrection and inscriptions on them, like “Jesus and Thomas”, etc. Then there was this big rock that on the backside you can see that it’s actually hallowed out and it’s a tomb- an empty one! There were some neat parts about that area.
Then one of my favorites was the Agony in the Garden. It was a statue of Jesus praying in Gethsemane. We sat down on the benches around it for a little bit. We eventually went on to the Way of the Cross, a big walkway and road with the Stations of the Cross.
However I also really liked this part because it was almost right at the 3:00 hour, The Hour of Great Mercy. It’s known to be the time around Jesus’s death.
It was cool for me because of some prayers I had been doing around the 3:00 hour. It felt neat for me, being in this area at that time. I enjoyed sitting there looking at the statue of Jesus, and then walking past the Stations of the Cross. They had audio recordings at each station. We listened to the first one and decided to just walk by the rest. We didn’t pray them.
We did it out of order but I like how you come out of the Stations of the Cross, of course it doesn’t end very hopeful, but then there is the Resurrection Garden!
We were definitely looking forward to visiting the gift shop! We walked around it for quite a bit- part of it was because I couldn’t decide what to get. I ended up getting a tiny statue of the image of the Divine Mercy, which I liked how it was bronze but the blood and water rays had slight color tints to them. I also got a little wooden block painting of Mary. My siblings each got things and my mom got a pretty statue of Mary for our house!
Afterward we played on the neat playground they had there. It was themed as God making creation! There was a large statue of Jesus at the entrance, welcoming little children. There was also a big fist you could climb on! Then there were several parts for the God making creation theme. I liked how it was a Catholic playground!
So, overall I really enjoyed it and I’m very glad we went. I came out feeling super inspired by nature, the statues, all the little areas around the grounds, the artwork and the little ways I felt God and connected with Him. This was during the preparation for my Marian Consecration so that’s also special, going to this Marian Shrine.
What’s something you liked about it (and why)? I’m seeing that I enjoy going to Catholic places like this. It’s neat to be immersed in it all and I get very inspired by it. I also like going through Catholic gift shops! Again, it’s cool to be absorbed in this whole Catholic world and it’s easy to be inspired. I could spend a lot of money there! Between medals, statues, books, rosaries, etc.!
What’s something you disliked about it (and why)? It had been raining around the time we were there, and thanks to God that we didn’t have to deal with too much while we were there. But a lot of stuff was wet and damp. Which was okay, God meant for that to be part of the experience. But especially the area by the mosaics and the chapel with the northern lights was not the nicest being damp. I felt certain areas were a little dirty and stuff and the rain didn’t really help with the pleasantness of that. The actual areas were super cool though!
What was your biggest takeaway or lesson? Maybe seeing the value of prayer, like how I prayed in the church in front of the tabernacle at the beginning of our time and how I had a really nice time afterward. But also a takeaway was all the wonder and delight I experienced through the statues, displays, art, all the thoughtfully designed places around this Shrine and how I felt God through a lot of it.
What is something you’re curious to learn more about as a result of this experience? It makes me eager to learn more about our faith! Different devotions to Mary and saints, learning more information about things in our church, about saints and growing closer to God. There was a neat book in the gift shop, basically explaining and sharing how to do a bunch of Catholic practices such as the Stations of the Cross, the Rosary, and more! I’d like to get that some time.
Thank you very much for reading!
Lucy