FEATURE image: The shrine of Saint Swithun (or Swithin) in Winchester Cathedral in England, The official name of the old minster or mynster ( from monasterium) is the Cathedral Church of Holy Trinity, Saint Peter, Saint Paul, and Saint Swithun. Since July 15, 971 the shrine at the grave of St. Swithun has been inside Winchester Cathedral. “St Swithun’s Shrine” by Lawrence OP is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
St. Swithun (c. 800–c. 863), whose Old English name means “Strong Bear Cub,” served as a leading churchman in the royal city of Winchester during the late ninth century. History preserves only a handful of firm details about him: he was appointed Winchester’s eighteenth bishop in 852, and before that he appears to have been a secular clerk known for his learning and upright character. Yet the sparse record is balanced by what survives—relics, early medieval artifacts, and a rich body of lore that grew around his memory. Swithun stands at the crossroads of early English history, a figure shaped by the world of Saxons, Angles, Vikings, and Jutes who contested southern England in his lifetime.
Winchester Cathedral in the rain. The complete name of Winchester Cathedral is the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, St. Peter, St. Paul, and St. Swithun. “Winchester Cathedral in the Rain” by Spencer Means is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
Swithun, long associated with the West Saxon court, played a formative role in educating Æthelwulf (“Noble Wolf”), the king’s son who would become the father of Alfred the Great (c. 848–899). Alfred’s later reputation for learning, steadiness, and good judgment in a turbulent age reflects the intellectual climate Swithun helped cultivate.
Within the royal household, Swithun is credited with fostering a more civilized court culture—one that valued education, strengthened the legal system, reformed military organization, and improved the daily life of ordinary people. These advances, modest in scale but lasting in influence, helped make Swithun a beloved figure in his own lifetime.
Imagined 1790 profile of Alfred the Great by British painter Samuel Woodforde (1763–1817), portraying the ninth‑century king with neoclassical dignity rather than historical accuracy. Public Domain.
Wessex under Alfred’s leadership emerged as the sole Anglo‑Saxon kingdom to withstand the ninth‑century Danish onslaught, preserving a political and cultural core while neighboring realms fell to Viking and Jutish pressure. In the century that followed, this survival proved decisive: by the 900s, England was unified under the line of Æthelwulf and Alfred, the dynasty whose resilience and statecraft shaped the first truly consolidated English kingdom.
Map of England showing Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms and Danish (Viking/Jutes) Districts, From Cassell’s History of England, Vol. I (Anonymous author, artist), 1909. Public Domain.
An illuminated manuscript of St. Swithun. It is in the Anglo-Saxon Benedictional of St. Æthelwold (10th century) which is the most famous early medieval book of blessings in the world. It is kept in London. Public Domain. https://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=add_ms_49598. Public Domain.
Miracle of Broken Egg Shells.
Bishop Swithun was not only a builder but also one of the early contributors to the Anglo‑Saxon Chronicle, the great collection of Old English annals. Throughout his life—and long after—humble miracles were attributed to him. One of the most charming, still recalled in the modern shrine marker, is the “miracle of the broken eggshells.”
According to the tale, on St. Swithun’s Bridge in Winchester—a crossing over the River Itchen that has existed since around A.D. 500—a woman hurrying to market met the saint and accidentally dropped her basket of eggs, smashing them on the stones. Swithun stooped to help, gathered the fragments, and returned the eggs to her perfectly restored, a small act of compassion that became one of the most beloved stories in his legend.
St. Swithun’s bridge in Winchester. The present bridge is from the 19th century although a bridge has been at this same crossing for over 1500 years. “St. Swithun’s Bridge Winchester” by neilalderney123 is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.
A map showing the places where the various chronicles were written (Winchester, Abingdon, Worcester, Canterbury and Peterborough) and kept today (Oxford, Cambridge, and London). “Anglo-Saxon Chronicle – Locations with Old Way” by Adam37 is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
When Swithun died in 862 or 863, the charismatic personality was buried per his request in the cathedral churchyard. Swithun wanted passers-by to be able to walk over his grave and for the rain to fall upon it. Over 100 years later, on July 15, 971, the remains of St, Swithun, who was regarded as the patron saint of the city of Winchester, were moved to inside the old minster to a magnificent shrine on the high altar.
When Saint Swithun’s remains were moved from their simple outdoor grave to a splendid new shrine inside Winchester Cathedral, legend says the saint was so displeased that torrential rain fell on July 15, 971—and continued for forty days. How Swithun became directly linked to stormy weather is not precisely known, though similar meteorological tales were told of a few earlier French saints. In England, the lore settled firmly on Swithun, inspiring rhymes such as the old ditty:
“If on St. Swithun’s day it really pours,You’re better off to stay indoors.”
and the more famous verse:
“St Swithun’s day if thou dost rainFor forty days it will remain;St Swithun’s day if thou be fairFor forty days ’twill rain na mair.”
One cheerful outcome of this soggy tradition is Swithun’s later role as patron saint of apples, since the fruit begins to appear in abundance during the late summer and early autumn.
The modern shrine marker over the grave of St Swithun in the east end of the cathedral was built in 1962—literally 1000 years after St. Swithun’s death. “St Swithun’s Shrine” by Lawrence OP is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Jane Austen’s final days in Winchester: a dying novelist writes her last poem on St. Swithun before being laid to rest in the cathedral
Three days before her death on July 18, 1817, the forty‑one‑year‑old novelist Jane Austen (1775–1817) wrote what would be her final poem—a brief, witty meditation on Winchester, rainy weather, and St. Swithun’s Day. Composed at 8 College Street, only steps from the cathedral, the verse shows that Austen, who had come to Winchester in May 1817 seeking medical care, understood she was nearing the end of her life even as she maintained her playful tone.
She died just sixteen miles from her home in Chawton, still within her beloved Hampshire. Less than a week after writing the poem, Austen was laid to rest in Winchester Cathedral, the great church whose bells and legends framed her final days.
“When Winchester races first took their beginning It is said the good people forgot their old Saint Not applying at all for the leave of Saint Swithin And that William of Wykeham’s approval was faint.
The races however were fixed and determined The company came and the Weather was charming The Lords and the Ladies were satine’d and ermined And nobody saw any future alarming.–
But when the old Saint was informed of these doings He made but one Spring from his Shrine to the Roof Of the Palace which now lies so sadly in ruins And then he addressed them all standing aloof.
‘Oh! subjects rebellious! Oh Venta depraved When once we are buried you think we are dead But behold me immortal! By vice you’re enslaved You have sinned and must suffer, ten farther he said
These races and revels and dissolute measures With which you’re debasing a neighboring Plain Let them stand–You shall meet with your curse in your pleasures Set off for your course, I’ll pursue with my rain.
Ye cannot but know my command o’er July Henceforward I’ll triumph in shewing my powers Shift your race as you will it shall never be dry The curse upon Venta is July in showers–“
Swithun at St-Swithun-upon-Kingsgate, Winchester. Public Domain.
Swithun’s quiet presence still lingers at Winchester, a reminder of a bishop whose influence far outlasted his ninth‑century lifetime. By every surviving account, Swithun was a deeply charismatic figure, admired by those he served and respected by those who served under him. His humility, learning, and pastoral care left such a vivid impression that, after his death, his simple grave became a place of pilgrimage, drawing the faithful who sought his intercession.
In the years that followed, miracles were attributed to Swithun with striking regularity, reinforcing his reputation as a saint whose holiness expressed itself not in grand gestures but in small acts of compassion and restoration. This enduring devotion—rooted in memory, legend, and lived experience—ensured that Swithun’s legacy would remain woven into the spiritual life of Winchester for more than a millennium.
FEATURE Image: Old Testament prophets window, Mausoleum, Queen of Heaven Cemetery, Hillside, Illinois. This is one of scores of original stained glass and artifacts in the mausoleum in Chicago’s near western suburbs.
The Miraculous Crucifix in Hillside, Illinois.
The crucifix today is located in a southern section of Queen of Heaven cemetery in Hillside, Illinois. The cemetery is almost 500 acres that offers extensive in-ground burials as well as large indoor and outdoor mausoleum complexes where each year there are thousands of new burials. Since 1947, many notable Chicago-area figures from the world of politics, sports, religion, and business, including several gangland figures, are buried in these consecrated precincts. Overall, there are around 125,000 burials in the cemetery.
Queen of Heaven Mausoleum. This building alone houses more than 30,000 burials. St. Teresa of Avila window. Queen of Heaven Mausoleum, Hillside, Illinois.
In the expansive mausoleum is a gallery of stained glass, statuary and carved wood and statuary in marble, bronze and mosaic. The art of the main building was created mostly by DaPrato Studios of Chicago, with an international array of artists and architectural designers.
St. John of God window. Queen of Heaven Mausoleum, Hillside, Illinois. 4.15 mb DSC_0350
The miraculous crucifix’s connection to Medjugorje visionaries.
That there is a “miraculous” crucifix on the grounds of Queen of Heaven cemetery gained noteriety starting around 1990.
The story is told about Joe Reinholtz, a retired railroad worker from neighboring Westchester, Illinois, who had lost his sight in the early 1980’s. Reinholtz, according to a report in the Chicago Tribune published in July 1991 (see – https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1991-07-24-9103220302-story.html), claimed to have been directed to the 15-foot-tall crucifix by one of the Medjugorje visionaries when he visited the Catholic pilgrimage site in Bosnia on two occasions in the late 1980’s.
After being directed by the Medjugorje visionary to pray before the crucifix in Queen of Heaven, Reinholtz (who died in 1996) and others reported that the figure of Christ on the cross bled. When more visitors reported that they too had seen the crucifix bleed, the cemetery staff investigated. They reported that they found nothing out of the ordinary at the crucifix site.
Cures and signs.
At the same time that the crucifix was seen to bleed, Joe Reinholtz was healed of his blindness. He also reported having seen the Blessed Virgin Mary who appeared at the crucifix site, accompanied by angels, including St. Michael the Archangel.
More of these many kinds of appearances continued to take place in the late 1980s and early 1990s. These were accompanied by other miraculous signs, many defying ready explanations. For example, some claimed the beads of ordinary rosaries had turned to gold after they prayed with them at the site.
Despite an incident of vandalism in 1994 where the feet of Jesus were broken off, inexplicable occurrences continued to be reported regularly at the crucifix into the mid1990s when they slacked off.
Sunday afternoon at Queen of Heaven cemetery in Hillside, Illinois, in October 2016.
Into the first quarter of the 21st century, people still slowly drive past the crucifix, while others are found at the foot of the crucifix sometimes alone, or with family or friend, or in larger groups. Many look to be praying at the “miraculous” crucifix, some certainly looking for a healing miracle like Joe Reinholtz experienced there in 1986.
FEATURE IMAGE: Dedicated by Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I. on October 11, 2004, the three sacred bronze doors – East, West, and Central – at the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii in Chicago, IL, are by Italian artist Biagio Governali, native of Corleone, Italy, and depict the mysteries of the Rosary.CENTRAL Bronze Door: Sorrowful Mysteries panel (detail), The Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii, Chicago. 12/2013 1.55 mb
INTRODUCTION.
Our Lady of Pompeii was originally established in Chicago in 1911 as an Italian national parish. The present church building at 1224 West Lexington Street in Chicago’s westside University Village/Little Italy neighborhood was constructed in 1923 and dedicated to Mary, Queen of the Rosary in 1924. The parish began under the Scalabrinian Missionaries, a religious institute founded in Italy in 1887 to aid and serve the Italian immigrants to America.
In 1994 Joseph Cardinal Bernardin proclaimed Our Lady of Pompeii church a Shrine, dedicated to honor Mary, the Mother of God and Queen of the Holy Rosary. Ten years later practically to the day, Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I. dedicated the Shrine’s bronze doors. On that same October day in 2004, Bishop Carlo Liberati, Pontifical Delegate to the Shrine of The Blessed Virgin of The Holy Rosary in Pompeii, Italy, established “a most fervent and fraternal link of communion” between the shrine in Pompeii, Italy, and that of Our Lady of Pompeii in Chicago.
Inspired by the main gate (“Porta del Paradiso”) of the Baptistry of Florence made by Florentine goldsmith and sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti (1378-1455) between 1425 and 1452 and located in front of Florence’s cathedral, the bronze doors in Chicago were made by Biagio Governali, native of Corleone, Italy. The artist modeled each panel in wax which were then sent to Verona, Italy, to be cast in bronze and polished. These Veronese craftsmen came to Chicago on two occasions to mount and position the doors before they were dedicated and blessed by Cardinal George in 2004.
WEST Bronze Door: JOYFUL Mysteries.
WEST Bronze Door. Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary. The Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii, Chicago. 12/2013 6.72 mb
The West Bronze Door, dedicated in 2004, depicts the five Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary at the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii (1923), 1224 West Lexington Street in Chicago. Clockwise from top left, the Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38), the Visitation (Luke 1:39-56), the Nativity of Jesus (Luke 2:1-20; Matthew 1:18-2:23), the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2:22-40) and Christ among the Doctors (Finding in the Temple) (Luke 2:41-52). The shrine is the oldest continuous Italian-American Catholic Church in Chicago and is today a place to pray for peace that embraces pilgrims of all faiths.
1. The Annunciation (top, left)
“In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.” (Luke 1:26-27).
2. The Visitation (top, right)
“In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!”‘ (Luke 1:39-42).
3. The Nativity of Jesus (center)
“In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. This was the first enrolment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be enrolled, each to his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to be delivered. And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” (Luke 2:1-7).
Upper portion of WEST Bronze Door depicting Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary. The Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38); Visitation (Luke 1: 39-56), and Nativity (Luke 2:1-20; Matthew 1:18-2:23). The Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii, Chicago. 12/2013 4.42 mb
4. The Presentation in the Temple (bottom, left)
“And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. And when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, ‘Every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord’) and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, ‘a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”‘ (Luke 2:21-24).
5. The Finding of Jesus in the Temple (bottom, right)
“Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom; and when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it … After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions; and all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.” (Luke 2:41-47).
The exterior doors of the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii in Chicago visually narrate the twenty mysteries of the Rosary. These are the Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious and Luminous mysteries. The faithful can use each door panel as a meditation to pray each decade of the Rosary.
In Europe, most of the complete works of art that have survived undamaged and unrestored from the Middle Ages and Renaissance to today are bronze doors, most of which are in Italy.
Even when the Shrine doors are closed, the sanctuary calls to all passersby to look, ponder, and personally experience the Gospel that these doors present in its fine artwork of the mysteries of the Rosary.
CENTRAL Bronze Door:SORROWFUL and GLORIOUS Mysteries.
The exterior doors of the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii in Chicago visually narrate the twenty mysteries of the Rosary – the Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious and Luminous mysteries. The faithful can use each door panel as a meditation to pray each decade of the Rosary. In Europe, complete works of art that have survived undamaged and unrestored from the Middle Ages and Renaissance to today are bronze doors, with most in Italy. The Shrine doors are closed but the sanctuary calls to passersby to look and ponder on the Gospel that these doors present on the mysteries of the Rosary.
Sorrowful Mysteries.
1. The Agony in the Garden (top, left)
“Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, ‘Sit here, while I go yonder and pray.’ And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, ‘My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.’ And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.’” (Matthew 26:36-39).
2. The Scourging at the Pillar (top, right)
“Pilate released Barabbas to them, but after he had Jesus scourged, he handed him over to be crucified.” (Matthew 27:26).
3. The Crowning With Thorns (center, left)
“Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the praetorium, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe upon him, and plaiting a crown of thorns they put it on his head, and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him they mocked him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’” (Matthew 27:27-29).
4. The Carrying of the Cross (center, right)
“And they compelled a passer-by, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull).” (Mark 15:21-22).
5. The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus with Mary and John (center)
“And when they came to the place which is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on the right and one on the left. And Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do’ …It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun’s light failed; and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!’ And having said this he breathed his last” (Luke 23:33-46).
Upper portion of Central Bronze Door of Sorrowful Mysteries (left panel) and Glorious Mysteries (right panel) of the Rosary.
Glorious Mysteries.
1. The Resurrection of Jesus (center)
“But at daybreak on the first day of the week they took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2They found the stone rolled away from the tomb; 3but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4While they were puzzling over this, behold, two men in dazzling garments appeared to them. 5They were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground. They said to them, “Why do you seek the living one among the dead? 6He is not here, but he has been raised. Remember what he said to you while he was still in Galilee, 7that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners and be crucified, and rise on the third day.” 8And they remembered his words. 9 Then they returned from the tomb and announced all these things to the eleven and to all the others. 10The women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James; the others who accompanied them also told this to the apostles, 11but their story seemed like nonsense and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb, bent down, and saw the burial cloths alone; then he went home amazed at what had happened.” (Luke 24: 1-12).
2. The Ascension of Our Lord into Heaven (top, left)
“So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.” (Mark 16:19).
3. TheHoly Spirit comes upon Mary and the Apostles (top, right)
“When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts of the Apostles 2:1-4).
4. TheAssumption of Mary into Heaven (bottom, left)
“Henceforth all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me.” (Luke 1:48-49).
5. TheCoronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven (bottom, right)
“And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” (Revelation12:1).
CENTRAL Bronze Door -Sorrowful Mysteries panel (detail), The Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii, Chicago. 12/2013 1.55 mb
At the bottom of the Sorrowful Mysteries bronze door, the angels hold a tablet emblazoned with Latin text that contains statements on the rosary by two post-Vatican II modern popes. A translation of the text reveals the importance of the rosary to Pope Paul VI (1897-1978) and John Paul II (1920-2005), both canonized saints. Pope Paul VI: “Without contemplation, the Rosary is a body without a soul.” Pope John Paul II: “To meditate on the mysteries of the Rosary is to look into the face of Christ.”
EAST Bronze Door:LUMINOUS Mysteries.
EAST Bronze Door (complete exterior), Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary. The Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii, Chicago. 12/2013 6.89 mb
Pope Saint John Paul II (1920-2005) established the Luminous Mysteries near the end of his almost 27-year pontificate in 2002. About the entire rosary itself the pope said, “To meditate on the mysteries of the Rosary is to look into the face of Christ.”
According to The Catholic Encyclopedia (“The Rosary,” Herbert Thurston and Andrew Shipman, volume 13, Robert Appleton Company), the structure of the rosary including its 15 mysteries (five each for Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious) had been officially unchanged for 500 years – from the 16th to 20th centuries.
In 2002, Pope John Paul II instituted the five Luminous Mysteries. In his Apostolic Letter, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, published on October 16, 2002, the pope marked out 4 broad areas as reasons to pray the rosary:
1. The rosary aids in contemplating Christ with Mary;
2. The rosary aids in contemplating the mysteries of Mary;
3. The rosary is a way of assimilating the mystery of “It is no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20); and,
4. The rosary is a way of praying for, and arriving at, peace in one’s life, family, neighborhood, and in the world.
In the same letter (Chapter 3), the pope observed that icons and other religious visual images can assist the human imagination to meditate and contemplate upon the mysteries of the Christian faith, particularly those of the rosary. Appealing to the Church’s traditional spirituality as well as that of St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) in The Spiritual Exercises, the pope’s exhortation to artistic representations as aiding mental prayer imbues Chicago’s great bronze portals depicting the mysteries of the rosary with the authenticity of standing at the threshold between time and eternity and the sacred and profane.
The pope acknowledged that although all the rosary’s 20 mysteries can be termed “luminous” – that is, pertaining to mysteries of light – the five new Luminous mysteries fill the gap between the infancy and hidden life of Christ (i.e., Joyful) and Holy Week from Palm Sunday to Resurrection Day (i.e., Sorrowful and Glorious).
“And when Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and alighting on him; and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased.”‘ (Matthew 3:16-17).
2. The Wedding Feast of Cana (top, right)
“On the third day there was a marriage at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; Jesus also was invited to the marriage, with his disciples. When the wine failed, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.”‘ (John 2:1-5).
5. The Institution of the Eucharist (center)
“Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, ‘Take, eat; this is my body.”‘ (Matthew 26:26).
EAST Bronze Door (detail, top), The Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii, Chicago. Upper panels of East Bronze Door depict the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary at the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii in Chicago’s Little Italy. The sculptor is Biagio Governali who was born in Palermo, Sicily, and is an award-winning artist active in Italy and internationally, participating in many art exhibitions. 12/2013 4 mb12/2013 3.60 mb
3. The Proclamation of the Kingdom of God (bottom, left)
“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15).
4. The Transfiguration (bottom, right)
“And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain apart. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became white as light.” (Matthew 17:1-2).
EAST Bronze Door (detail, bottom), The Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii, Chicago.12/2013 3.48 mb
FEATURE image: 16th century/Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), The Daoist Immortal Lü Dongbin (detail), artist unknown, China. Philadelphia Museum of Art. Public Domain.
The Secret of the Golden Flower is a Chinese Taoist book about Neiden, or inner alchemy. It provides an array of physical, mental, and spiritual practices that Taoist initiates use to prolong life. The text is attributed to Chinese scholar and poet Lü Dongbin (796 -1016) of the late Tang dynasty which ruled from 618 to 907. The Daoist Immortal Lü Dongbin (detail), artist unknown, China, 16th century/Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Philadelphia Museum of Art. Public Domain.
A spiritual master and the “Sage of Herat,” Abdullah Ansari of Herat (1006-1088) was a Muslim Sufi saint. Public Domain.
Gustave Moreau (1826-1898), Song of Songs (Cantique des Cantiques, Ohara Museum, Japan. The Song of Solomon (Song of Songs) or Canticle of Canticles is a book of the Old Testament. The Song of Songs is unique within the Hebrew Bible:. It shows no interest in Law or Covenant or the God of Israel, nor does it teach or explore wisdom but celebrates sexual love, giving “the voices of two lovers, praising each other, yearning for each other, proffering invitations to enjoy.” The two are in harmony, each desiring the other and rejoicing in sexual intimacy. The women of Jerusalem form a chorus to the lovers, functioning as an audience whose participation in the lovers’ erotic encounters facilitates the participation of the reader. Jewish tradition reads it at Passover as an allegory of the relationship between God and Israel. Christianity interprets it as an allegory of Christ and the Church, his bride.
Ramana Maharshi (1879-1950) was an Indian Hindu sage and jivanmukta (liberated being). Photo G.G. Welling. Public Domain.
Giovanni Boccaccio by Andrea del Castagno, c. 1450, Uffizi, Florence. Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375) together with Dante Alighieri (c. 1265–1321) and Petrarch (1304- 1374) is part of the so-called “Three Crowns” of Italian literature of the fourteenth century. He was a versatile writer who put together different literary genres and trends and making them into original works. His creative activity was characterized by experimentation. Boccaccio’s most notable work is The Decameron, a collection of short stories or tales begun in 1349 and completed in 1353. Ranging from the tragic to erotic, the 100 tales are told during the Black Death by a group of three young men and seven young women who are sheltering in a villa outside Florence to escape it. Boccaccio revised The Decameron in the early 1570’s, after likely having conceived the series of novellas after an epidemic in 1348. The Amorosa Visione was a fifty-canto allegorical poem.
Allan Ginsburg (1926-1997) was a poet and writer. Starting in the 1940’s, Ginsburg was a member of the Beat Generation along with Jack Kerouac (1922-1969) and William S. Burroughs (1914-1997). Ginsburg opposed militarism, capitalism, and sexual repression. His views on drugs, hostility to the government, and an openness to Far Eastern religions and philosophy were countercultural. Ginsburg’s Indian Journals: March 1962 – May 1963 is a travel journal during Ginsberg’s journey in India with partner Peter Orlovsky. This file is made available under the Creative CommonsCC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.
Tikunei haZohar is a main text of the Kabbalah which is a method, discipline, and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. Shiv’im Tikunei ha-Zohar by Tzvi Hirsch ben Rachmiel Chotsh, Amsterdam, 1706. Public Domain. https://cja.huji.ac.il/gross/browser.php?mode=set&id=35354
Angelus Silesius (1624-1677) was born Johann Scheffler in Breslau, the capital of Silesia. Raised a Lutheran, he changed his name when he became a Catholic in 1653. He became a Franciscan Catholic priest in 1661. During this time, Silesius began publishing polemical essays against Protestantism as well as religious mystical poetry. Angelus Silesius, 1677, Wrocław, Poland. Public Domain.
Richard of Saint-Victor (d. 1173) was one of the founders of medieval Christian mysticism. A Scottish philosopher and theologian, Richard was a member of a religious order called a “canon regular.” From 1162 to 1173 he was the superior of the famous Augustinian Abbey of Saint Victor in Paris, a richly endowed monastery and school. The abbey and school of Saint Victor was an international center of piety and learning. During the first (though less famous) Renaissance of the 12th century, the monastery and school attracted many famous scholars, students, and retreatants, such as Peter Abelard (1079-1142), Hugh of St. Victor (1096-1141), Peter Lombard (1096-1160), Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) and Thomas Becket (1119-1170). Miniature of Hugo of Saint Victor (1096-1141) teaching young canons of whom Richard of Saint-Victor was one. Public Domain.
Barry Lopez (1945-2020) was an American writer of both fiction and nonfiction. His extensive nature writing is known for its humanitarian and environmental concerns. Lopez won the National Book Award for Nonfiction for Artic Dreams (1986) and Of Wolves and Men (1978) was a National Book Award finalist. “Barry Lopez at the Vancouver Writers Festival, Granville Island Stage” by roaming-the-planet is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Joseph Auslander (1897-1965), 1927, was an American poet who was appointed as the first Poet Laureate to the Library of Congress in 1937 and served until 1943. Public Domain.
I’d like to know what it is that catches the imagination like a strange touch on the very heart, the very spiritual being of prenatal memories, that persist with reference to earth-places, like little streams bordered by willows, like fields of yellow wheat, like hills with the summoning sky above them against which may stand an old corncrib?
Edgar Lee Masters (1868-1950) grew up in Sangamon County in Central Illinois. In Chicago he built a successful law practice, and for eight years he was the partner of Clarence Darrow (1857-1938). At 30 years old, in 1898, Masters published A Book of Verses, his first collection of poetry. His Spoon River Anthology, published in 1915, was a collection of monologues by the dead found in Petersburg, Illinois’ graveyard. It was instantly successful and one of American literature’s most popular books of poetry. Masters was friends with other Illinois poets such as Carl Sandburg (1878-1967) and Vachel Lindsay (1879-1931). I have visited all three of these poets’ homes- in Petersburg, Galesburg, and Springfield, respectively, and have met interesting people who knew these men personally. Masters’ The Sangamon is a book worth reading and re-reading.
One of the sayings of Jesus on trust in God. In talking about the Kingdom of God, Jesus develops it in terms of one’s own death. He keeps its ideal positive and demanding. Detail of Deesis (traditional representation of Christ, the Virgin Mary and Saint John the Baptist), Hagia Sophia, Constantinople, 1261. “Jesus from the Deesis Mosaic” by jakebouma is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
George Santayana (1863-1952) was a Spanish-American philosopher, poet, and humanist who made important contributions to aesthetics, speculative philosophy, and literary criticism. A one-time professor of philosophy at Harvard University, Santayana was well known for his aphorisms. Attributed to Santayana is the famous aphorism: “”Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” In The Philosophy of Travel (published in The Virginia Quarterly Review in Winter 1964), Santayana speculates on the human capacity for locomotion as the source and definition of our intelligence.
According to certain scholars Ezekiel (6th-century BCE) is the “first fanatic in the Bible” and whose motto was “for the greater glory of God” (R.H. Pfeiffer, Introd., 543). Ezekiel’s visions and actions are strange, prompting many in modern scholarship to interpret them as symbolic. Ezekiel prophesied starting about the year 600 BCE and whose oral tradition was written down later by others. Traditionally, Ezekiel is understood as being the major prophet of the Babylonian Exile and whose major theme is the condemnation of idolatry as the source of evil befalling humankind. “Cappella Sistina, Prophet Ezekiel” by f_snarfel is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.
Shmuel Hanagid (993-1056) was a medieval Sephardic Jewish Talmudic scholar, grammarian, philologist, soldier, merchant, politician, and influential poet who lived in Iberia (the Spanish peninsula) at the time of the Moorish rule.
FEATURE image: Marc Chagall, Moses Blesses Joshua, Lithograph on paper, 1966.
Introduction by John P. Walsh.
Begins Israel’s story of the conquest of Canaan (1405 BCE)
The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible. It is the same for Christians in the Old Testament. It is the first book of the Deuteronomistic history or the story of Israel from the conquest of Canaan (1404 BCE) to the Babylonian exile (586 BCE).
Types of writings in the Book of Joshua
Joshua contains many different kinds of highly synthesized and edited literary materials. These include battle narratives and various etiologies (explanations of customs, institutions, landmarks, etc.). From a literary perspective, these materials are thereby complex.
The Book of Joshua relates the military campaigns of the Israelites in central, southern and northern Canaan. It tells of the destruction of their enemies and the division of the land among the Twelve Tribes. These developments are conveyed by two set-pieces—the first by God commanding the conquest of the land (Chapter 1) and, the second, by Joshua exhorting the people to a faithful observance of the Law revealed to Moses (Chapter 23).
Joshua with Moses, stained glass panel, 15th century, Church of St. Lawrence, Nuremberg, Germany.
Completed in the 6th century BCE, the Book of Joshua relates historical and religious events from 800 years before
Is the Book of Joshua of historical value? Clearly historical, the Israelites gained control of Canaan—and the book relates that it was accomplished by a series of battle victories which is not unreasonable to presume. The book’s broad narrative is generally to be founded on history.
Myth and folklore do not substitute for historical fact
The Book of Joshua is not historically indisputable in its details presented as fact since it also contains many creations of the popular imagination or folklore. Literary criticism has revealed that when a meagerness of materials is present, the ancient compilers and editors did not elaborate based on simple or broad textual statements but moderated descriptions to available details.
Today’s modern archaeology, while able to provide insight into human activity in Canaan throughout this time period (13th century BCE and later), the historical quest to establish a clear, concrete connection to episodes mentioned in the Book of Joshua by such science can be hard to support.
Joshua is the book’s protagonist
The figure of Joshua in the role of significant military leader is integral to the narrative and found in the most ancient, original text (i.e., his role in the formation of the 12-tribe league at Shecham, Chapter 24), among other examples. All factors point to Joshua’s significant role in the conquest.
Primitive religious ideas such as “holy war” and collective guilt
In terms of the Book of Joshua’s religious aspects there are several layers of religious tradition that are held in common but with singular or special emphases. The book relates the conquest as an act of God. For man, the act of conquest or “holy war” was closely associated to an act of worship though that idea was based on an older, primitive religious practice that was not practiced at least by the time the Book of Joshua was completed in the mid6th century BCE. The Book of Joshua also conveys another religiously primitive idea–that of collective guilt (Chapter 7).
Primacy of Law and Covenant
Religious tradition is expressed in the ideas of God’s covenant and that morality is based on obedience to the Law as part of their close personal relationship to God. In chapters 13 to 21 which were added later, the book expresses God’s fidelity to the Israelites to the point of restoration of total possession of the land although while in exile that idea would be a dream. The idea of a future Israel that is restored was further embellished religiously—such as the 12 tribes gathered to worship at the sanctuary and providing carefully for its tribal priests (Chapter 22).
Joshua’s speech ends the book with a warning about the future (Chapter 23) though the following and last chapter added later ends differently. In that last chapter the people of Israel proclaim their choice to serve God (Joshua 24:24) and that the choice of Israel to be in relationship with God is a free one (24:15). The narrative of the Book of Joshua closes with Joshua’s death at the age of 110 years old and his burial among the heritage of the descendants of Joseph (24: 29, 32).
SOURCES: The Jerome Biblical Commentary, edited by Raymond E. Brown, S.S., Joseph A Fitzmeyer, S.J., and Roland E. Murphy, O. Carm., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968. The New American Bible, Catholic Book Publishing Corp, New York, 1993.
Chapter 1.
Joshua 1: 2-3.
1 [T]he LORD said to Moses’ aide Joshua, son of Nun: 2 Moses my servant is dead. So now, you and the whole people with you, prepare to cross the Jordan to the land that I will give the Israelites. 3 Every place where you set foot I have given you, as I promised Moses. Joshua 1: 2-3.
Joshua 1: 6-7.
6 [The LORD said…]Be strong and steadfast, so that you may give this people possession of the land I swore to their ancestors that I would give them. 7 Only be strong and steadfast, being careful to observe the entire law which Moses my servant enjoined on you. Do not swerve from it either to the right or to the left, that you may succeed wherever you go. Joshua 1:6-7.
Joshua 1: 9.
9 [The LORD said…] I command you: be strong and steadfast! Do not fear nor be dismayed, for the LORD, your God, is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1: 9.
Chapter 2.
Joshua 2: 10-11.
10 For we have heard how the LORD dried up the waters of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt,and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites beyond the Jordan, whom you destroyed under the ban. 11 We heard, and our hearts melted within us; everyone is utterly dispirited because of you, since the LORD, your God, is God in heaven above and on earth below.Joshua 2:10-11.
Joshua 2: 23-24.
23 Then the two [spies sent by Joshua] came back down from the hills, crossed the Jordan to Joshua, son of Nun, and told him all that had happened to them. 24 They assured Joshua, “The LORD has given all this land into our power; indeed, all the inhabitants of the land tremble with fear because of us.” Joshua 2: 23-24.
Chapter 3.
Joshua 3:5.
5 Joshua also said to the people, “Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will perform wonders among you.” Joshua 3:5.
Joshua 3:7.
7 Then the LORD said to Joshua: Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. Joshua 3:7.
Joshua 3:10.
10 He continued: “By this you will know that there is a living God in your midst: he will certainly dispossess before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites. Joshua 3:10.
Joshua 3:11, 13.
11 The ark of the covenant of the Lord of the whole earth will cross the Jordan before you….13 When the soles of the feet of the priests carrying the ark of the LORD, the Lord of the whole earth, touch the waters of the Jordan, it will cease to flow; the water flowing down from upstream will halt in a single heap.” Joshua 3:11,13.
Joshua 3: 14, 16.
14 The people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan, with the priests carrying the ark of the covenant ahead of them….16 Thus the people crossed over opposite Jericho. Joshua 3: 14, 16.
Chapter 4.
Joshua 4:5-7.
5 Joshua said to them: “Go to the Jordan riverbed in front of the ark of the LORD, your God; lift to your shoulders one stone apiece, so that they will equal in number the tribes of the Israelites. 6 In the future, these are to be a sign among you. When your children ask you,‘What do these stones mean to you?’ 7 you shall answer them, ‘The waters of the Jordan ceased to flow before the ark of the covenant of the LORD when it crossed the Jordan.’d Thus these stones are to serve as a perpetual memorial to the Israelites.” Joshua 4: 5-7.
Joshua 4: 11-13.
11 When all the people had completed the crossing, the ark of the LORD also crossed; and the priests were now in front of them. 12 The Reubenites, Gadites, and half-tribe of Manasseh, armed, marched in the vanguard of the Israelites, as Moses had ordered. 13 About forty thousand troops, equipped for battle, crossed over before the LORD to the plains of Jericho for war. Joshua 4: 11-13.
Joshua 4: 14.
14 That day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and so during his whole life they feared him as they had feared Moses. Joshua 4: 14.
Joshua 4: 17-19.
17 Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up from the Jordan,” 18 and when the priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD had come up from the Jordan riverbed, as the soles of their feet regained the dry ground, the waters of the Jordan resumed their course and as before overflowed all its banks. 19 The people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and camped in Gilgal on the eastern limits of Jericho. Joshua 4: 17-19.
Joshua 4:22-24.
22 ‘Israel crossed the Jordan here on dry ground.’ 23 For the LORD, your God, dried up the waters of the Jordan in front of you until you crossed over, just as the LORD, your God, had done at the Red Sea, drying it up in front of us until we crossed over, 24 in order that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, and that you may fear the LORD, your God, forever.” Joshua 4: 22-24.
Chapter 5.
Joshua 5: 2-3.
2 On this occasion the LORD said to Joshua: Make flint knives and circumcise Israel for the second time. 3 So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites at Gibeath-haaraloth. Joshua 5:2-3.
Joshua 5: 5; 7-8.
5 Though all the men who came out [of Egypt] were circumcised, none of those born in the wilderness during the journey after the departure from Egypt were circumcised….7 It was the children God raised up in their stead whom Joshua circumcised, for these were yet with foreskins, not having been circumcised on the journey. 8 When the circumcision of the entire nation was complete, they remained in camp where they were, until they recovered. Joshua 5: 5; 7-8.
Joshua 5: 10, 12.
10 While the Israelites were encamped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, they celebrated the Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month….12 [A]fter they ate of the produce of the land, the manna ceased. No longer was there manna for the Israelites, who that year ate of the yield of the land of Canaan. Joshua 5: 10,12.
Joshua 5: 13-14.
13 While Joshua was near Jericho, he raised his eyes and saw one who stood facing him, drawn sword in hand.h Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you one of us or one of our enemies?” 14 He replied, “Neither. I am the commander* of the army of the LORD: now I have come.” Then Joshua fell down to the ground in worship, and said to him, “What has my lord to say to his servant?” Joshua 5: 13-14.
Joshua 5: 15.
15 The commander of the army of the LORD replied to Joshua, “Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so. Joshua 5: 15.
Chapter 6.
Joshua 6: 2-5.
2 And to Joshua the LORD said: I have delivered Jericho, its king, and its warriors into your power. 3 Have all the soldiers circle the city, marching once around it. Do this for six days, 4 with seven priests carrying ram’s horns ahead of the ark. On the seventh day march around the city seven times, and have the priests blow the horns. 5 When they give a long blast on the ram’s horns and you hear the sound of the horn, all the people shall shout aloud. The wall of the city will collapse, and the people shall attack straight ahead. Joshua 6: 2-5.
Joshua 6: 16-17.
16 The seventh time around, the priests blew the horns and Joshua said to the people, “Now shout, for the LORD has given you the city. 17 The city and everything in it is under the ban. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are in the house with her are to live, because she hid the messengers we sent. Joshua 6: 16-17.
Joshua 6: 20-21.
20 As the horns blew, the people began to shout. When they heard the sound of the horn, they raised a tremendous shout. The wall collapsed, and the people attacked the city straight ahead and took it. 21 They observed the ban by putting to the sword all living creaturese in the city: men and women, young and old, as well as oxen, sheep and donkeys. Joshua 6: 20-21.
Joshua 6: 24-25.
24 The city itself they burned with all that was in it; but the silver, gold, and articles of bronze and iron they placed in the treasury of the house of the LORD. 25 Because Rahab the prostitute had hidden the messengers whom Joshua had sent to reconnoiter Jericho, Joshua let her live, along with her father’s house and all her family, who dwell in the midst of Israel to this day. Joshua 6: 24-25.
Frederick Richard Pickersgill (English, 1820-1900), 1897. Two Israelite spies sent by Joshua to Jericho saved by Rahab the harlot. Joshua. Chapter 2. Rahab promised the Israelites that she would not reveal their whereabouts to their enemies and they promised her that after their victory at the battle of Jericho she and her family would be spared. Public Domain.
Chapter 7.
Joshua 7:1.
1 But the Israelites acted treacherously with regard to the ban; Achan, son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah of the tribe of Judah, took goods that were under the ban, and the anger of the LORD flared up against the Israelites. Joshua 7:1.
Joshua 7: 2,4.
2 Joshua next sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven and east of Bethel…4 About three thousand of the people made the attack, but they fled before the army at Ai…
Joshua 7: 7,8.
7 “Alas, Lord GOD,” Joshua prayed, “why did you ever allow this people to cross over the Jordan, delivering us into the power of the Amorites, that they might destroy us? Would that we had been content to dwell on the other side of the Jordan. 8 Please, Lord, what can I say, now that Israel has turned its back to its enemies?
Joshua 7:10.
10 The LORD replied to Joshua: Stand up. Why are you lying there? Joshua 7:10.
Joshua 7:13.
13 Get up, sanctify the people. Tell them, “Sanctify yourselves before tomorrow, for thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: That which is banned is in your midst, Israel. You cannot stand up to your enemies until you remove it from among you.
Joshua 7: 20-21.
20 Achan answered Joshua, “I have indeed sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel. This is what I have done: 21 Among the spoils, I saw a beautiful Babylonian mantle, two hundred shekels of silver, and a bar of gold fifty shekels in weight; I coveted them and I took them. They are now hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.” Joshua 7: 20-21.
Joshua 7:25.
25 Joshua said, “What misery have you caused us? May the LORD bring misery upon you today!” And all Israel stoned him to death. They burnt them with fire and they stoned them. Joshua 7.25.
John Trumbull (1756-1843), Joshua at the Battle of Ai Attended By Death, 1839, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut. Public Domain.
Chapter 8.
Joshua 8: 1-2.
1 The LORD then said to Joshua: Do not be afraid or dismayed. Take all the army with you and prepare to attack Ai. I have delivered the king of Ai into your power, with his people, city, and land. 2 Do to Ai and its king what you did to Jericho and its king—except that you may take its spoil and livestock as plunder. Set an ambush behind the city. Joshua 8:1-2.
Joshua 8: 3-4.
3 So Joshua and all the soldiers prepared to attack Ai. Picking out thirty thousand warriors, Joshua sent them off by night 4 with these orders: “See that you ambush the city from the rear…” Joshua 8: 3-4.
Joshua 8:14
14 The king of Ai saw this, and he and all his army came out very early in the morning to engage Israel in battle at the place in front of the Arabah, not knowing that there was an ambush behind the city. Joshua 8:14.
Joshua 8: 18-19.
18 Then the LORD directed Joshua: Stretch out the javelin in your hand toward Ai, for I will deliver it into your power. Joshua stretched out the javelin in his hand toward the city, 19 and as soon as he did so, the men in ambush rose from their post, rushed in, captured the city, and immediately set it on fire. Joshua 8: 18-19.
Joshua 8: 22-23.
22 Since those in the city came out to intercept them, Ai’s army was hemmed in by Israelites on both sides, who cut them down without any fugitives or survivors 23 except the king, whom they took alive and brought to Joshua. Joshua 8: 22-23.
Joshua 8: 25.
25 There fell that day a total of twelve thousand men and women, the entire population of Ai. Joshua 8: 25.
Joshua 8:29.
29 Then Joshua had the king of Ai hanged on a tree until evening; then at sunset Joshua ordered the body removed from the tree and cast at the entrance of the city gate, where a great heap of stones was piled up over it, which remains to the present day. Joshua 8:29.
Joshua 8: 30.
30 Later, on Mount Ebal, Joshua built to the LORD, the God of Israel, an altar Joshua 8:30.
Chapter 9.
Joshua 9: 1-2.
1 When the news reached all the kings west of the Jordan, in the mountain regions and in the Shephelah, and all along the coast of the Great Sea as far as the Lebanon: Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, 2 they gathered together to form an alliance against Joshua and Israel. Joshua 9: 1-2.
Joshua 9: 22, 24.
22 Joshua summoned the Gibeonites and said to them, “Why did you deceive us and say, ‘We live far off from you’?—You live among us!…24 They answered Joshua, “Your servants were fully informed of how the LORD, your God, commanded Moses his servant that you be given the entire land and that all its inhabitants be destroyed before you. Since, therefore, at your advance, we were in great fear for our lives, we acted as we did. Joshua 9: 22, 24.
Joshua 9: 25-27.
25 And now that we are in your power, do with us what is good and right in your eyes.”
26 Joshua did what he had decided: while he saved them from being killed by the Israelites,
27 on that day he made them, as they still are, hewers of wood and drawers of water for the community and for the altar of the LORD, in the place the LORD would choose. Joshua 9: 25-27.
Chapter 9, Book of Joshua. Joshua and the Gibeonites. Illustration, 1890. Public Domain.
Chapter 10.
Joshua 10: 3-4.
3 So Adonizedek, king of Jerusalem, sent to Hoham, king of Hebron, Piram, king of Jarmuth, Japhia, king of Lachish, and Debir, king of Eglon, with this message:
4 “Come and help me attack Gibeon, for it has made peace with Joshua and the Israelites.” Joshua 10: 3-4.
Joshua 10: 5-6.
5 The five Amorite kings, of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon,* gathered with all their forces, and marched against Gibeon to make war on it.
6 Thereupon, the Gibeonites sent an appeal to Joshua in his camp at Gilgal: “Do not abandon your servants. Come up here quickly and save us. Help us, because all the Amorite kings of the mountain country have joined together against us.” Joshua 10: 5-6.
Joshua 10:11.
11 While they fled before Israel along the descent of Beth-horon, the LORD hurled great stones from the heavens above them all the way to Azekah, killing many. More died from these hailstones than the Israelites killed with the sword. Joshua 10:11.
Joshua 10:12-13.
12 It was then, when the LORD delivered up the Amorites to the Israelites, that Joshua prayed to the LORD, and said in the presence of Israel: Sun, stand still at Gibeon, Moon, in the valley of Aijalon! 13 The sun stood still, the moon stayed, while the nation took vengeance on its foes. Joshua 10:12-13.
Joshua Commanding Sun to Stand Still upon Gibeon, John Martin, 1816, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Public Domain.
In this epic, densely populated work, John Martin depicts the biblical battle at Gibeon, part of the conquest of Canaan. Joshua, as leader of the Israelites, asks God to cause the moon and the sun to stand still so that he and his army might continue fighting by daylight. God further assists Joshua by calling up a powerful storm to bombard the Canaanites with rain and hailstones. The British artist, John Martin (1789-1854), combines the genres of history and landscape painting in this work by giving equal compositional space and artistic attention to both the human narrative and the dramatic natural surroundings.
Joshua Commanding the Sun, Raphael, c.1515, fresco, Rome, Vatican. Public Domain. Joshua 10: 16-19.
16 The five kings who had fled hid in the cave at Makkedah.
17 When Joshua was told, “The five kings have been found, hiding in the cave at Makkedah,”
18 he said, “Roll large stones to the mouth of the cave and post guards over it.
19 But do not remain there yourselves. Pursue your enemies, and harry them in the rear. Joshua 10: 16-19.
Joshua 10: 24-26.
24When they brought the five kings out to Joshua, he summoned all the army of Israel and said to the commanders of the soldiers who had marched with him, “Come forward and put your feet on the necks of these kings.” They came forward and put their feet upon their necks. 25Then Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid or dismayed, be firm and steadfast. This is what the LORD will do to all the enemies against whom you fight.” 26Thereupon Joshua struck and killed the kings, and hanged them on five trees, where they remained hanging until evening. Joshua 10: 24-26.
Joshua 10: 27.
27 At sunset Joshua commanded that they be taken down from the trees and be thrown into the cave where they had hidden; over the mouth of the cave large stones were placed, which remain until this very day. Joshua 10: 27.
Joshua 10:40.
40 Joshua conquered the entire land; the mountain regions, the Negeb, the Shephelah, and the mountain slopes, with all their kings. He left no survivors, but put under the ban every living being, just as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded. Joshua 10:40.
Joshua 10: 42.
42 All these kings and their lands Joshua captured all at once, for the LORD, the God of Israel, fought for Israel. Johua 10:42.
Nicolas Poussin (French, 1594-1665), Joshua’s Victory Over the Amorites, 1625, Puskin Museum, Moscow. Public Domain.
Joshua was successor to Moses, who led the Israelites through the Desert and into the Promised Land. Canaan, however, was inhabited by other tribes. According to the Book of Joshua, the Amorites lived on the east bank of the River Jordan and in the region between the Dead Sea and Hebron. Joshua defeated the Amorites in a series of battles. see – https://www.artbible.info/art/large/139.html
Nicolas Poussin, drawing, The Victory of Joshua over the Amorites.
Chapter 11.
Joshua 11:4-5.
4 [The northern kings] came out with all their troops, an army numerous as the sands on the seashore, and with a multitude of horses and chariots. 5 All these kings made a pact and together they marched to the waters of Merom, where they encamped to fight against Israel. Joshua 11: 4-5.
Joshua 11: 7-8.
7 Joshua with his whole army came upon them suddenly at the waters of Merom and fell upon them. 8 The LORD delivered them into the power of the Israelites, who defeated them and pursued them to Greater Sidon, to Misrephoth-maim,d and eastward to the valley of Mizpeh. They struck them all down, leaving no survivors. Joshua 11:7-8.
Joshua 11:15.
15 As the LORD had commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua, and Joshua acted accordingly. He left nothing undone that the LORD had commanded Moses should be done. Joshua 11:15.
Joshua 11: 18-19.
18 Joshua waged war against all these kings for a long time. 19 With the exception of the Hivites who lived in Gibeon, no city made peace with the Israelites; all were taken in battle. Joshua 11:18-19.
Joshua 11: 23.
23 Thus Joshua took the whole land, just as the LORD had said to Moses. Joshua gave it to Israel as their heritage, apportioning it among the tribes. And the land had rest from war. Joshua 11:23.
Gustave Doré (1832-1883), Northern Canaan Conquered. Public Domain.
Chapter 12.
Joshua 12: 1-3.
1 These are the kings of the land whom the Israelites conquered and whose lands they occupied, east of the Jordan, from the River Arnon to Mount Hermon, including all the eastern section of the Arabah: 2 First, Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon. His domain extended from Aroer, which is on the bank of the Wadi Arnon, to include the wadi itself, and the land northward through half of Gilead to the Wadi Jabbok at the border with the Ammonites, 3 as well as the Arabah from the eastern side of the Sea of Chinnereth, as far south as the eastern side of the Salt Sea of the Arabah in the direction of Beth-jeshimoth, southward under the slopes of Pisgah. Joshua 12: 1-3.
Joshua 12:6.
6 It was Moses, the servant of the LORD, and the Israelites who conquered them; Moses, the servant of the LORD, gave possession of their land to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. Joshua 12:6.
Canaan. Public Domain.
Chapter 13.
Joshua 13: 1.
1 When Joshua was old and advanced in years, the LORD said to him: Though now you are old and advanced in years, a very large part of the land still remains to be possessed. Joshua 13:1.
Joshua 13: 7-8.
7 Now, therefore, apportion among the nine tribes and the half-tribe of Manasseh the land which is to be their heritage. 8 Now the other half of the tribe of Manasseh, as well as the Reubenites and Gadites, had taken as their heritage what Moses, the servant of the LORD, had given them east of the Jordan. Joshua 13:7-8.
Joshua 13:14.
14 However, Moses assigned no heritage to the tribe of Levi; the LORD, the God of Israel, is their heritage, as the LORD had promised them. Joshua 13:14.
Chapter 14.
Joshua 14: 1-2.
1 These are the portions which the Israelites received as heritage in the land of Canaan. Eleazar the priest, Joshua, son of Nun, and the heads of families in the tribes of the Israelites determined 2 their heritage by lot, as the LORD had commanded through Moses concerning the remaining nine and a half tribes. Joshua 14: 1-2.
Joshua 14: 6; 10-12.
6 When the Judahites approached Joshua in Gilgal, the Kenizzite Caleb, son of Jephunneh, said to him….10 Now, as he promised, the LORD has preserved me these forty-five years since the LORD spoke thus to Moses while Israel journeyed in the wilderness; and now I am eighty-five years old, 11 but I am still as strong today as I was the day Moses sent me forth, with no less vigor whether it be for war or for any other tasks. 12 Now give me this mountain region which the LORD promised me that day, as you yourself heard. Joshua 14: 6; 10-12.
Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld (German, 1794-1872), Return of the Spies, woodcut for Die Bibel in Bildern, 1860. According to Numbers 13, Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, was one of 12 spies sent by Moses to reconnoiter Canaan. In the aftermath of the conquest, Caleb asks Joshua (Chapter 14) to give him a mountain in property within the land of Judah, and Joshua blesses him as a sign of God’s blessing and approval, giving him Hebron. Public Domain. Joshua 14: 13-14.
13 Joshua blessed Caleb, son of Jephunneh, and gave him Hebron as his heritage. 14 Therefore Hebron remains the heritage of the Kenizzite Caleb, son of Jephunneh, to the present day, because he was completely loyal to the LORD, the God of Israel. Joshua 14: 13-14.
Chapter 15.
Joshua 15: 16-17.
16 Caleb said, “To the man who attacks Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give my daughter Achsah in marriage.” 17 Othniel captured it, the son of Caleb’s brother Kenaz; so Caleb gave him his daughter Achsah in marriage. Joshua 15: 16-17.
Joshia 15: 18-19.
18 When she came to him, she induced him to ask her father for some land. Then, as she alighted from the donkey, Caleb asked her, “What do you want?” 19 She answered, “Give me a present! Since you have assigned to me land in the Negeb, give me also pools of water.” So he gave her the upper and the lower pools. Joshua 15: 18-19.
Joshua 15. Caleb gives his daughter Achsah in marriage. engraving, 1846. Public Domain.
Chapter 16.
Joshua 16:10.
10 [The Josephites] did not dispossess the Canaanites living in Gezer; they live within Ephraim to the present day, though they have been put to forced labor. Joshua 16:10.
Chapter 17.
Joshua 17: 12-13.
12 Since the Manassites were not able to dispossess these cities, the Canaanites continued to inhabit this region. 13 When the Israelites grew stronger they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but they did not dispossess them. Joshua 17: 12-13.
Joshua 17: 14.
14 The descendants of Joseph said to Joshua, “Why have you given us only one lot and one share as our heritage? Our people are too many, because of the extent to which the LORD has blessed us.” Joshua 17: 14.
Joshua 17: 17-18.
17 Joshua therefore said to Ephraim and Manasseh, the house of Joseph, “You are a numerous people and very strong. You shall not have merely one share, 18 for the mountain region which is now forest shall be yours when you clear it. Its adjacent land shall also be yours if, despite their strength and iron chariots, you dispossess the Canaanites.” Joshua 17: 17-18.
Chapter 18.
Joshua 18: 1.
1 The whole community of the Israelites assembled at Shiloh, where they set up the tent of meeting; and the land was subdued before them. Joshua 18: 1.
Joshua 18: 2-3.
2 There remained seven tribes among the Israelites that had not yet received their heritage. 3 Joshua therefore said to the Israelites, “How much longer will you put off taking steps to possess the land which the LORD, the God of your ancestors, has given you? Joshua 18: 2-3.
Joshua 18: 4-5.
4 Choose three representatives from each of your tribes; I will send them to go throughout the land and describe it for purposes of acquiring their heritage. When they return to me 5 you shall divide it into seven parts. Judah is to retain its territory in the south, and the house of Joseph its territory in the north. Joshua 18: 4-5.
Joshua 18: 6-7.
6 You shall bring to me here the description of the land in seven sections. I will then cast lots for you here before the LORD, our God. 7 For the Levites have no share among you because the priesthood of the LORD is their heritage; while Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have already received the heritage east of the Jordan which Moses, the servant of the LORD, gave them.” Joshua 18: 6-7.
Joshua casting lots for the tribes of Israel, engraving, 1873, unknown artist. Public Domain.
Chapter 19.
Joshua 19: 1-8.
1 The second lot fell to Simeon. The heritage of the tribe of Simeonites by their clans lay within that of the Judahites. 2 For their heritage they received Beer-sheba, Shema, Moladah, 3 Hazar-shual, Balah, Ezem, 4 Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah, 5 Ziklag, Bethmar-caboth, Hazar-susah, 6 Beth-lebaoth, and Sharuhen; thirteen cities and their villages. 7 Also Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan; four cities and their villages, 8 besides all the villages around these cities as far as Baalath-beer (that is, Ramoth-negeb). This was the heritage of the tribe of the Simeonites by their clans. 9 This heritage of the Simeonites was within the confines of the Judahites; for since the portion of the latter was too large for them, the Simeonites obtained their heritage within it. Joshua 19: 1-8.
Joshua 19:10.
10 The third lot fell to the Zebulunites by their clans. The boundary of their heritage was at Sarid. Joshua 19:10.
Joshua 19: 17-23.
17 The fourth lot fell to Issachar. The territory of the Issacharites by their clans 18 included Jezreel, Chesulloth, Shunem, 19 Hapharaim, Shion, Anaharath, 20 Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez, 21 Remeth, En-gannim, En-haddah, and Beth-pazzez. 22 The boundary reached Tabor, Shahazumah, and Beth-shemesh, ending at the Jordan: sixteen cities and their villages. 23 This was the heritage of the Issacharites by their clans, these cities and their villages. Joshua 19: 17-23.
Joshua 19: 24.
24 The fifth lot fell to the Asherites by their clans. Joshua 19: 24.
Joshua 19: 32.
32 The sixth lot fell to the Naphtalites. Joshua 19: 32.
Joshua 19:40.
40 The seventh lot fell to the tribe of Danites by their clans. Joshua 19:40.
Joshua 19: 49-50.
49 When the last of them had received the portions of the land they were to inherit, the Israelites assigned a heritage in their midst to Joshua, son of Nun. 50 According to the command of the LORD, they gave him the city he requested, Timnah-serahf in the mountain region of Ephraim. He rebuilt the city and made it his home. Joshua 19: 49-50.
Chapter 20.
Joshua 20: 4-5.
4 To one of these cities the killer shall flee, and standing at the entrance of the city gate, shall plead his case in the hearing of the elders of the city, who must receive him and assign him a place in which to live among them. 5 Though the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not deliver up to him the one who killed a neighbor unintentionally, when there had been no hatred previously. Joshua 20: 4-5.
Joshua 20: 7-9.
7 So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the mountain region of Naphtali, Shechem in the mountain region of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the mountain region of Judah. 8 And beyond the Jordan east of Jericho they designated Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland in the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead in the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan in the tribe of Manasseh. 9 These are the designated cities to which any Israelite or alien residing among them who had killed a person unintentionally might flee to escape death at the hand of the avenger of blood, until the killer could appear before the community. Joshua 20: 7-9.
Chapter 21.
Joshua 21:1-3.
1 The heads of the Levite families approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua, son of Nun, and the heads of families of the other tribes of the Israelitesa 2 at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, and said to them, “The LORD commanded, through Moses, that cities be given us to dwell in, with pasture lands for our livestock.” 3 Out of their own heritage, according to the command of the LORD, the Israelites gave the Levites the following cities with their pasture lands. Joshua 21:1-3.
Joshua 21: 41-42.
41 Thus the total number of cities within the territory of the Israelites which, with their pasture lands, belonged to the Levites, was forty-eight. 42 With each and every one of these cities went the pasture lands round about it. Joshua 21: 41-42.
Joshua 21: 43-45.
43 And so the LORD gave Israel the entire land he had sworn to their ancestors he would give them.k Once they had taken possession of it, and dwelt in it, 44 the LORD gave them peace on every side, just as he had promised their ancestors. Not one of their enemies could withstand them; the LORD gave all their enemies into their power. 45 Not a single word of the blessingl that the LORD had promised to the house of Israel failed; it all came true. Joshua 21: 43-45.
Chapter 22.
Joshua 22: 4-5.
4 Now that the LORD, your God, has settled your allies as he promised them, you may return to your tents, to your own land, which Moses, the servant of the LORD, gave you, across the Jordan. 5 But be very careful to observe the commandment and the law which Moses, the servant of the LORD, commanded you: love the LORD, your God, follow him in all his ways, keep his commandments, hold fast to him, and serve him with your whole heart and your whole self.” Joshua 22: 4-5.
Joshua 22: 6.
6 Joshua then blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents. Joshua 22: 6.
Commissioning of Joshua, 1853, by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld (German, 1794-1872). Public Domain. Joshua 22:10.
10 When the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh came to the region of the Jordan in the land of Canaan, they built an altar there at the Jordan, an impressively large altar. Joshua 22:10.
Joshua 22: 19.
19 [Thus says the whole community of the LORD:] If you consider the land you now possess unclean, cross over to the land the LORD possesses, where the tabernacle of the LORD stands, and share that with us. But do not rebel against the LORD, nor involve us in rebellion, by building an altar of your own in addition to the altar of the LORD, our God. Joshua 22:19.
Joshua 22:24.
24 [The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh replied to the heads of the Israelite clans:] We did it rather out of our anxious concern lest in the future your children should say to our children: ‘What have you to do with the LORD, the God of Israel? Joshua 22:24.
Joshua 22:31.
31 Phinehas, son of Eleazar the priest, said to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the Manassites, “Today we know that the LORD is in our midst. Since you have not rebelled against the LORD by this act of treachery, you have delivered the Israelites from the hand of the LORD.” Joshua 22: 31.
Phinehas confronts the eastern tribes, Joseph Muldor (1659-1718) and Otto Elliger. Public Domain. The engraving depicts Phinehas confronting the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh over the building of an alleged sacrificial altar. From Historie des Ouden en Nieuwen Testaments, David Martin (1639-1721). Public Domain. Joshua 22: 33-34.
33 The report satisfied the Israelites, who blessed God and decided not to take military action against the Reubenites and Gadites nor to ravage the land where they lived. 34 The Reubenites and the Gadites gave the altar its name as a witness among them that the LORD is God. Joshua 22: 33-34.
Chapter 23.
Joshua 23: 1-3.
1 Many years later…2 [Joshua] summoned all Israel, including their elders, leaders, judges, and officers, and said to them: “I am old and advanced in years. 3 You have seen all that the LORD, your God, has done for you against all these nations; for it has been the LORD, your God, who fought for you. Joshua 23: 1-3.
Joshua 23:4-5.
4 [Joshua said:] See, I have apportioned among your tribes as their heritage the nations that survive, as well as those I destroyed, between the Jordan and the Great Sea in the west. 5 The LORD, your God, will drive them out and dispossess them at your approach, so that you will take possession of their land as the LORD, your God, promised you. Joshua 23:4-5.
Joshua 23: 6-8.
6 Therefore be strong and be careful to observe all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, never turning from it right or left, 7 or mingling with these nations that survive among you. You must not invoke their gods by name, or swear by them, or serve them, or bow down to them, 8 but you must hold fast to the LORD, your God, as you have done up to this day. Joshua 23: 6-8.
Joshua 23: 10-11.
10 One of you puts to flight a thousand, because it is the LORD, your God, himself who fights for you, as he promised you. 11 As for you, take great care to love the LORD, your God. Joshua 23: 10-11.
Chapter 24.
Joshua 24: 15.
15 [Joshua addressed all the people:] If it is displeasing to you to serve the LORD, choose today whom you will serve, the gods your ancestors served beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are dwelling. As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24: 15.
Joshua 24: 29-30.
29 After these events, Joshua, son of Nun, servant of the LORD, died at the age of a hundred and ten, 30 and they buried him within the borders of his heritage at Timnath-serahu in the mountain region of Ephraim north of Mount Gaash. Joshua 24: 29-30.
Illumination, c. 840, Carolingian. Above – Moses at Sinai receiving the Tablets of the Law from God with Joshua (left) in red tunic; Below – Moses giving the Law to the people with Joshua (left) in red tunic. British Library. Public Domain.
FEATURE image: (detail) Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene, John 20:11-18.
INTRODUCTION
One hour’s drive (about 40 miles) south of downtown Chicago—and 90 minutes drive from the University of Notre Dame near South Bend, Indiana—is The Shrine of Christ’s Passion. Within a 30-acre site whose landscaped rocks, hills, and trees envelop the visitor, the shrine is located on busy U.S. 41 at 10630 Wicker Avenue in St. John, Indiana. A pioneer town settled in 1837, St. John still sits among farm fields though there is increasingly more development only minutes from the Indiana-Illinois state line.
On the historic Wachter family farm, the level terrain is a perfect outdoor setting for an array of multi-media and interactive attractions. Most visitors, whether as individuals or in groups, come to the shrine to traverse the half-mile winding concrete pathway that contain over 40 life-sized bronze sculptures which dramatize the Passion of Jesus Christ in the Bible.
The visit to the shrine begins in the well-stocked gift shop and leads directly outdoors to the dramatization of Jesus at The Last Supper and into the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prays. This is followed by the 14 traditional Stations of the Cross. The visit ends at Jesus’s empty tomb and his appearance to Mary Magdalene. Finally there is the dramatic Ascension of the Risen Jesus into Heaven on Mount Olivet.
The shrine opened in 2011 and added its latest attraction– namely, a re-creation of the rock-filled path up Mount Sinai to where Moses has received the 10 Commandments –in 2017.
The Shrine of Christ’s Passion required a decade of planning and over $10 million dollars to build. Each setting or station for Christ’s passion has an orientation kiosk. Each features the well-known recorded voice of American television journalist Bill Kurtis. A push of a button has Mr. Kurtis’s voice over the kiosks’ speakers provide a clear and brief description in English of the sculptures’ scenes followed by a short meditation.
Along the broad concrete pathway the prayer trail is meditative and its easy progression from station to station lends itself to discovery. Formed hills, planted trees, bushes, and grasses as well as many large boulders, provide a complete landscape far from the outside world. The design creates a terrain that is self-contained and works to evoke the arid climate of the Holy Land where the last days of Christ can become vibrant today.
Upon exiting the gift shop with its walls and shelves of tempting religious articles and other items for purchase — all proceeds apparently go to the upkeep of the shrine– one steps into an outdoor pastoral setting which offers the immediate transition into the world of the Bible and following in the footsteps of Christ during his darkest moments. Visitors share the trail with others from around the nation and world. This is part of what makes each visit to the shrine unique and alive. Yet there is ample space and freedom to enjoy one’s own completely personal experience.
Whenever one may visit the shrine — it is open 361 days a year– the prayer trail has an atmosphere that is quiet and respectful. There is always a place to sit and drink in the sculpture art detailing the greatest story ever told. Among its flora, evocative rock and land formations, and realistically-rendered life-sized sculptures depicting Jesus Christ’s suffering –- one witnesses in a a new way Christ’s mission which triumphed over sin and death.
A large and impressive place, The Shrine of Christ’s Passion retains a human scale along with giving the visitor a sense of being serenely out in nature. Depending on how much time a visitor can spend, a visit to the shrine could possibly be accomplished in as little as 30 minutes though at least an hour should be allowed to see and begin to savor everything it has to offer.
In addition to the main prayer trail and gift shop, the shrine includes more attractions such as the Moses, Mount Sinai, and the 10 Commandments trail; The Sanctity of Life Shrine; and Our Lady of The New Millennium, a monumental three-story (34 feet) tall statue of the Virgin Mary constructed out of over 8,000 pounds of stainless steel.
The Shrine is operated by a non-denominational nonprofit, private foundation. Admission to all attractions at the shrine is free. The Shrine is open daily from 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Thursdays until 8:00 p.m.The Prayer Trail is open year round, weather permitting.
Main Entrance on U.S. 41 at 10630 Wicker Avenue in St. John, Indiana, minutes from the Illinois-Indiana state line. Just 40 minutes from downtown Chicago, there is ample free parking and tour buses are welcome.
The Gift Shoppe.
The Last Supper Luke 22:19
“And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
Garden of Gethsemane Mark 14:34
“My
soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” Jesus said to
them. “Stay here and keep watch.”
THE 14 STATIONS OF THE CROSS AT THE SHRINE OF CHRIST’S PASSION, ST. JOHN, INDIANA.
1. Jesus is condemned to death Matthew 27: 19-26.
“When Pilate saw that he was not succeeding at all, but that a riot was breaking out instead, he took water and washed his hands in the sight of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. Look to it yourselves.”…Pilate had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.”
2. Jesus carries His cross John 19:16-17
“Then Pilate handed him over to be crucified. The soldiers took charge of Jesus, who carried his own cross to a location called “The Place of a Skull,” known in Aramaic as Golgotha.”
3. Jesus falls for the first time Isaiah 53:1-3
“He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.”
4. Jesus meets His mother, Mary Lamentations 1:12
“Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look around and see. Is any suffering like my suffering that was inflicted on me..?”
5. Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry the cross Luke 23:26
“They seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.”
6. Veronica wipes the face of Jesus Psalm 17:15
“As for me, I will be vindicated and will see your face; when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness.”
7. Jesus falls for the second time Isaiah 53:4-6
“Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.”
8. Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem Luke 23:27-31
“A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. 28 Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children.”
9. Jesus falls for the third time Isaiah 53:10-11
“Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand….”
10. Jesus is stripped of His clothes Matthew 27:27-31
“They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him.”
11. Jesus is nailed to the cross Luke 23:33-34
“When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left.”
12. Jesus dies on the cross Luke 23:44-49
“Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.”
13. Jesus is taken down from the cross Mark 15:39
“When the centurion who stood facing him saw how Jesus breathed his last he said, ‘Truly this man was the Son of God!'”
14. Jesus is placed in the tomb Luke 23:50-53
“Going to Pilate, Joseph of Arimathea asked for Jesus’ body. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid.”
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The Resurrection of Jesus.Matthew 28.
1 After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning,* Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.
2 And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, approached, rolled back the stone, and sat upon it.
3 His appearance was like lightning and his clothing was white as snow.
4 The guards were shaken with fear of him and became like dead men.
5 Then the angel said to the women in reply, “Do not be afraid! I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified.
6 He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene John 20:16
“Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned
toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!”
MORE of the Prayer Trail
The Ascension Acts of the Apostles 1:9
“…Jesus was taken up before their very eyes,
and a cloud hid him from their sight.”
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The Ascension of Jesus is described twice in the New Testament, and both accounts come from Luke the Evangelist. The first appears at the end of his Gospel (Luke 24:50–53); the second opens the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 1:6–12).
In Acts, Luke introduces a crucial detail: a forty‑day period (Acts 1:3) during which the risen Jesus appears to the apostles, teaches them, and prepares them for their mission. This time frame is not emphasized in the Gospel account, suggesting that Luke separates the Resurrection and Ascension in Acts not because he inherited two different traditions, but because doing so serves a narrative purpose. Acts uses the forty days to situate the apostles within the larger story of Israel’s covenant history and to frame the early Church as the continuation of God’s saving work.
Once Jesus rises from the dead, the disciples recognize him as the Messiah. It is therefore understandable that, in Acts, they ask whether he will now restore Israel’s political kingdom. Luke, writing for future Christians, places in Jesus’s mouth a deliberately open‑ended reply. The timing of the parousia — the Second Coming — is not for them to know. Their task is different: to wait for the Holy Spirit, whose power will make them witnesses “to the ends of the earth.” Jerusalem, the site of Jesus’s Passion and Resurrection, becomes the starting point of this worldwide mission.
Acts adds further symbolic depth to the Ascension. Jesus is taken from their sight by a cloud, a biblical sign of divine presence and a motif associated with end‑times imagery (Luke 21:27). The event occurs on the Mount of Olives, a location already charged with eschatological expectation. As Jesus is lifted up, two figures in dazzling garments appear — the same angelic type who announced his birth (Luke 2:9) and proclaimed his Resurrection (Luke 24:4–7). Their message links Ascension and Second Coming: the Jesus who is taken up in glory “will return in the same way you saw him go” (Acts 1:11).
Christian tradition understands the mystery of Christ by tracing a single arc from the Incarnation to the Ascension. It begins at the Annunciation (Luke 1:26–38), when the eternal Word — the One who “was with God and…was God” (John 1:1) — takes on human nature in the womb of Mary. In this moment, the divine and human are united in the Person of Jesus.
The Ascension brings this union to its fulfillment. Here, the “new, saved man” enters the very life of the Father, revealing the destiny of redeemed humanity. Christ’s glorified body becomes the perfect expression of what humanity is meant to be in God: a life whose very mode of existence is love, for “God is love” (1 John 4:16). In heaven, the God‑Man embodies this reality completely.
The Ascension is immediately followed by Pentecost, when the apostles receive the Holy Spirit from the risen Christ. From that moment forward, they speak not only of Christ exalted in heaven, but of “Christ in us” — the indwelling presence that makes believers participants in his risen life.
