A beautiful, holy place

The traditional summer vacation is something we all look forward to. Time to get away from our normal routine, spend time with family and friends and all that. Many sites for a getaway come to mind. Sites of great beauty like Yosemite national park. There are sites that celebrate our national history or the arts. Millions flock to Disney and Six Flags parks all over the nation.

Often we are not aware that there are more economical alternatives that also have the benefit of great spiritual significance. There are churches, shrines and basilicas that celebrate our Christian heritage. Some far away and some are quite close. One such treasure of the US northeast is the National Shrine to the Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

Divine Mercy is a Catholic devotion celebrating the limitless grace and mercy available through our saviour Jesus Christ. It commemorates the private revelation of Jesus to a Polish nun, Sister Faustina. The diary of these revelations has many important messages for our times. In those revelations, Jesus conveyed the specifics of an image depicting his divine mercy that was later depicted by an artist like this.

Our church recently made a pilgrimage to this site, and it was a rewarding and refreshing day. I wanted to share a few pictures to encourage you to check out the devotion and site if you get a chance. This shrine has beautiful sculpture, architecture and artwork to honor many other saints as well.

The shrine is set in the beautiful Berkshire mountains.





The shrine itself looks something like this.







The site has an outdoor altar where a special mass is held on Divine Mercy Sunday (the Sunday after Easter) each year.





It has many other areas for quiet devotions including these tributes to Jesus, Mary and Joseph.








You get the idea. I have an album of another 75 or so photos if you are interested - just let me know.

So when you are planning your getaways, be they day trips or extended ones, research the significant spiritual places in the area.  You just may find a little piece of Heaven like Eden Hill.