St. Anne Shell Chapel
Encyclopedia
The St. Anne Shell Chapel at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana is on the motherhouse grounds of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods
. Its primary function is as a chapel and shrine in honor of St. Anne.
were returning from France with three French postulants after a fundraising trip. Sailing on the Nashville, the sisters encountered a fierce storm that threatened to sink the craft. The sisters prayed to the Blessed Virgin Mary and to St. Anne for safety. (Guerin originally hailed from Brittany, France, where St. Anne is honored as patron of sailors.)
Upon returning safely to Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Guerin had a small log chapel built in honor of St. Anne on a small knoll in the forest of the motherhouse grounds. This chapel was completed in 1844.
After several decades, the logs in this structure began to give way. Under the leadership of General Superior Mother Mary Ephrem Glenn
, a sturdier stone chapel was built on the same site with the same 15' by 15' dimensions. This new chapel, called the Shrine of St. Anne but more commonly known as the Shell Chapel, was consecrated on July 25, 1876 with a blessing by a Father Chasse.
Every July 25 since 1844, on the eve of the Feast of St. Anne, the sisters gather for a solemn procession to the chapel in honor of the saint. This procession includes songs and prayers. At its height, when nearly all Sisters of Providence spent the summers at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, this procession may have included over 1,000 habited nuns.
from the nearby Wabash River
. Shells were collected, mainly by sister novices, from a sandbar at Durkee's Ferry in the river. Le Fer did much of the shell placing herself, setting the shells in soft plaster on the walls.
Several mosaic designs, originally drawn by Guerin and preserved by Le Fer, decorate the walls. These designs include a depiction of the Nashville, a map of Indiana showing mission established up to 1876, and an illustration of the all-seeing Eye of God
. A built-in altar, also covered in shells, holds a statue of St. Anne that Guerin brought from France.
Two narrow stained glass windows
, one on either side wall, include designs of shell and coral
. The floor is tiled with sea green and coral-colored floral patterns, and a painted nautilus
border trims the top of the walls.
Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods
The Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods are an apostolic congregation of Catholic women founded by Saint Theodora Guerin at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana, in 1840...
. Its primary function is as a chapel and shrine in honor of St. Anne.
History
In November 1843, congregation foundress Saint Mother Theodore Guerin and Sister Mary Cecilia BaillyMary Cecilia Bailly
Mother Mary Cecilia Bailly, S.P., was the Superior General of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana from 1856-1868, directly succeeding the congregation's foundress Saint Mother Theodore Guerin...
were returning from France with three French postulants after a fundraising trip. Sailing on the Nashville, the sisters encountered a fierce storm that threatened to sink the craft. The sisters prayed to the Blessed Virgin Mary and to St. Anne for safety. (Guerin originally hailed from Brittany, France, where St. Anne is honored as patron of sailors.)
Upon returning safely to Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Guerin had a small log chapel built in honor of St. Anne on a small knoll in the forest of the motherhouse grounds. This chapel was completed in 1844.
After several decades, the logs in this structure began to give way. Under the leadership of General Superior Mother Mary Ephrem Glenn
Mary Ephrem Glenn
Mother Mary Ephrem Glenn, S.P. , was the Superior General of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana from 1874-83...
, a sturdier stone chapel was built on the same site with the same 15' by 15' dimensions. This new chapel, called the Shrine of St. Anne but more commonly known as the Shell Chapel, was consecrated on July 25, 1876 with a blessing by a Father Chasse.
Every July 25 since 1844, on the eve of the Feast of St. Anne, the sisters gather for a solemn procession to the chapel in honor of the saint. This procession includes songs and prayers. At its height, when nearly all Sisters of Providence spent the summers at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, this procession may have included over 1,000 habited nuns.
Interior and art
As the chapel was being built, Sister Mary Joseph Le Fer de la Motte had the idea to line the walls with iridescent river shellsMollusc shell
The mollusc shell is typically a calcareous exoskeleton which encloses, supports and protects the soft parts of an animal in the phylum Mollusca, which includes snails, clams, tusk shells, and several other classes...
from the nearby Wabash River
Wabash River
The Wabash River is a river in the Midwestern United States that flows southwest from northwest Ohio near Fort Recovery across northern Indiana to southern Illinois, where it forms the Illinois-Indiana border before draining into the Ohio River, of which it is the largest northern tributary...
. Shells were collected, mainly by sister novices, from a sandbar at Durkee's Ferry in the river. Le Fer did much of the shell placing herself, setting the shells in soft plaster on the walls.
Several mosaic designs, originally drawn by Guerin and preserved by Le Fer, decorate the walls. These designs include a depiction of the Nashville, a map of Indiana showing mission established up to 1876, and an illustration of the all-seeing Eye of God
Eye of Providence
The Eye of Providence is a symbol showing an eye often surrounded by rays of light or a glory and usually enclosed by a triangle...
. A built-in altar, also covered in shells, holds a statue of St. Anne that Guerin brought from France.
Two narrow stained glass windows
Stained Glass Windows
Stained Glass Windows was an early broadcast television program, broadcast on early Sunday evenings on the ABC network. The program was a religious broadcast, hosted by the Reverend Everett Parker....
, one on either side wall, include designs of shell and coral
Coral
Corals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...
. The floor is tiled with sea green and coral-colored floral patterns, and a painted nautilus
Nautilus
Nautilus is the common name of marine creatures of cephalopod family Nautilidae, the sole extant family of the superfamily Nautilaceae and of its smaller but near equal suborder, Nautilina. It comprises six living species in two genera, the type of which is the genus Nautilus...
border trims the top of the walls.