Our Shrine Vacation
By Marcy Stenstrom
Last summer, my husband and I did something rather unconventional for our 8th wedding anniversary. We planned a weekend vacation (without the kids) to La Crosse to camp and hike at Perrot State Park and also visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. We had heard about the Shrine through “Relevant Radio” and it seemed like the perfect small, inexpensive vacation. It turned out to be very relaxing and spiritually renewing. The area of the shrine is much more than a church and/or relics. It’s also a hiking trail, a place of prayer, a place of contemplation with many peaceful gardens and a memorial to life.
When we were driving up to the property, we questioned if we were really going the right way. A country road was taking us farther from the city, around rolling hills and farmland pastures. Soon enough, in the distance from the main road we could see parts of the church architecturally emerging up through the organic treetops. A narrow side road led us to the entrance which felt important, like for VIP’s of a country club. We parked our car and proceeded to the main entrance nestled between little buildings on different hilly levels all looking like Italian villas or resorts. Inside we picked up a map of the grounds. There was a paved trail to hike on foot or for those unable to make the walk, golf cart tours to escort anyone of any age.
Our first stop was at the Votive Chapel which is a small quaint building nestled into the hillside among towering trees. Inside, a wave of heat and the aroma of candle wax pummeled our senses into quiet holiness. The heat and smell is from a giant pyramid of blue glowing cylindrical candles. It’s so tall that a petty boom is needed to lift someone from inside the pyramid to light most of the candles out of reach. The outside sunlight radiates through the
surrounding stained glass windows, splashing us with color. Each window depicts an artful rendition of a Marion apparition. This is a spiritual place.
Continuing our hike up and through the winding forest path, we stopped to observe several bronze statues; one of St. Kateri Tekakwitha and another of St. Joseph the Workman. Farther along, the trail opened up to reveal the stone church on a hill. The architecture and art is fascinating inside and out. We just missed the 11am Mass but we still enjoyed a stroll around the church to learn about the massive oil paintings of various saints and discovered relics and devotional areas.
To complete our hike, we continued past the church to the Memorial to the Unborn. It’s a beautiful English garden with a stone pergola-like structure with many epitaphs to read about life-giving grace from God. We also walked the Stations of the Cross which were little shrines spaced at intervals along the meditation trail. At the end was the Rosary Walk, a small garden for meditation of the rosary where the mysteries were portrayed in beautiful blue marble tiles. We ended our journey with a delicious lunch at the Culina Mariana restaurant and purchased books at the Flores Mariae gift shop. To learn more about the shrine, visit their website at www.guadalupeshrine.org.
It was a wonderful way to spend our anniversary, to share this experience together. But I also think that our children would enjoy the outdoor spirituality of the shrine and get a little faith education at the same time. As our family grows, this is an adventure and pilgrimage in our Catholic faith that we will likely travel again together.