Nestled inside the foothills of the Rocky Mountains (30 to 40 min outside Denver), the Mother Cabrini Shrine is a place for peaceful prayer and pilgrimage. It was established by St. Frances Xavier Cabrini for the purpose of spreading the gospel and providing a peaceful summer atmosphere for orphan children. St. Frances Cabrini (aka Mother Cabrini) founded 67 hospitals, orphanages, and schools worldwide--one for every year of her life (wow). In 1909 she purchased the land in the foothills for a summer retreat/orphanage. At the time this was an area that had barren to water and nobody really wanted anything to do with it. As the story goes, Mother Cabrini trusted in God and found the exact place to dig that yielded a "cool miraculous spring" which has produced water to this day. At the top of a hill at the shrine there is an arrangement of large white stones in the shape of a heart, surrounded by a smaller stone cross and a crown of thorns that Mother Cabrini made. Also at the top of this hill is a giant statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (22 feet). Leading up the hill from the base (where the Grotto & orphanage are all located) are 373 steps that are adorned by stations of the cross, the mysteries of the rosary, and the Ten Commandments. The Queen of Heaven orphanage used the Stone House at the Mother Cabrini retreat during the summers until it was closed in 1967. Once it was closed it became a year round retreat facility, open to the public. The Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart who worked at the shrine resided in the Stone House until their convent was built on the property in 1970. Mass is held every day (Mon-Sun) at the shrine in the chapel at 7:30am and a second mass is held on Sundays at 11am. If you would like to read more about the Mother Cabrini Shrine, click here.
Today was the perfect day to go the shrine this weekend since tomorrow it is supposed to rain & snow, and John has to work in the afternoon. However, warm in Denver was not followed through at the shrine, which is up in the foothills. It was windy, very windy, and downright cold. When we first arrived at the shrine (after driving up a steep narrow dirt road) we were struck by two things: how brown everything was (because it is fall, not spring)--it looked a lot like Central WA--and all of the trees whipping around violently. We had accidentally forgotten John's coat at home (re: I set the coat by the door for John & he forgot to grab it), so he was pretty much cold the entire time. I just had my Northface fleece jacket & Johnny was still cold even with his coat and blanket. The windiness grew exponentially the farther we climbed up the steps leading to the hill with the statue, which didn't help. A couple of times I lost my balance because a gust of wind shoved me from the side. Luckily John was carrying Johnny in the backpack carrier so Johnny wasn't attempting to walk up the stairs--he might have been blown away! The views were spectacular from the hill though; we could even see the flatness of Denver and the plains. :) The hill was very steep so we got a good workout, but it was a little difficult for me to breathe with the cold wind. We really enjoyed looking at all of the statues and views, but we wish it was a little less windy so we could have spent more time looking at things on the steps and at the top of the hill (we only spent a couple of minutes on the hill since it was SO windy it was painful).
(he was excited at first)
(I really liked this one--this was a plaque found along the Meditation Walk)
(another favorite plaque along the Meditation Walk at the base of the hill)
(a chapel area where you can light Prayer Candles)
(They built a structure over the miraculous spring Mother Cabrini discovered & it now has spouts on it so they can control when the water flows and doesn't--they had cups where you could drink some of the water)
(In front of a crucifix outside the Grotto)
(A crucifix at the base of the steps leading up the hill)
(one of the 14 stations of the cross leading up the steps on the hill)
(one of the mysteries of the rosary--also leading up the steps of the hill)
(the original stone heart that Mother Cabrini made--protected in a glass barrier)
(the Sacred Heart of Jesus statue at the top of the hill--it was a HUGE hill that we hiked up)
(me in front of the statue--this is only half of the statue which puts how huge it is into perspective)
(one of the Ten Commandments that surrounded the top of the hill)
(statue of Mary at the top of the hill)
(a picture of my rosary as we hiked back down the steep hill)
(One of the views from the shrine--those buildings way off in the distance are the big buildings of downtown Denver)
We really enjoyed visiting the shrine and we hope to be able to go back in the spring and visit and maybe go to Mass at the chapel there. :) If you're ever in the Denver area and want to do something a little more on the spiritual side, then check out the Mother Cabrini Shrine--it is open & free to the public every day of the year.
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