The Shrine of Christ's Passion
Saint John, Indiana
In Northwestern Indiana, very close to Chicago, sits a beautiful little town called Saint John, Indiana. In Saint John you can find a beautiful, peaceful spot in honour of the Our Lord's Passion. The Shrine of Christ's Passion is a very peaceful place for Christians of all denominations to reflect on the Passion that Our Lord undertook for all of us.
The Shrine of Christ's Passion is located at 10630 N. Wicker Avenue (U.S. 41) in Saint John, Indiana. U.S. 41 is a road that travels north and south along the Western edge of Indiana before you get to Illinois. You can travel from Terre Haute, Indiana north on U.S. 41 and it will take you straight into Saint John. Travelling from Indianapolis, for example, you can travel north on I-65 like you are going to Chicago and then take the turn off through Lowell, Indiana and go over to 41 where you would turn right (north) on 41 or you can go through Crown Point, Indiana as well and again turn right on 41 and it will take you right to the Shrine.
If you would like to visit the Shrine of Christ's Passion yourself, a good first step would be to visit the official website for the Shrine of Christ's Passion. At this website you can see pictures of the Shrine . . . . find out about their history . . . . find out about upcoming events and news . . . . see their gift shop . . .
To visit their website, please visit the following link:
Immediately as you see the sign for the Shrine, you will see a very large Statue of Our Lady to the right of the parking lot and the gift shop.
This statue of Our Lady is entitled "Our Lady of the New Millennium." The Statue has quite a history as it traveled around various parishes in Chicago and was blessed by Pope John Paul II from what I read.
When you park your car and enter the gift shop, you will soon discover that the gift shop has everything imaginable: everything from Bibles and Rosaries to movies, books, Crucifixes, Crosses, and even a Christmas section on the second floor with all kinds of Christmas decorations, Nativity scenes, etc.
But even though you may be tempted to immediately start shopping in the gift shop, you will want to hold off on your shopping. There will be plenty of time for that later! Go to the back of the gift shop and go out the back door to begin your journey along with Our Blessed Saviour as He carries His Cross.
The Last Supper
After you leave the gift shop and begin walking, the very first place you will encounter is actually the commemoration of the Last Supper. This statue shows Our Lord sitting at a table with stools all around the table. At the table, Christ is shown holding out the Chalice and the Host . . . representing, of course, the Lord offering us His Most Precious Body and Blood.
As you can see, Our Lord is the only statue represented at this table. Pilgrims are invited to sit alongside Our Blessed Saviour and to think about when Our Lord offered His Body and Blood to His disciples at the Last Supper.
Our Lord in the Garden and the Sleeping Disciples
The next stop on your journey is into the "Garden of Gethsemane" where Our Lord is shown praying and the disciples are shown sleeping.
"Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith He unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with Me. And He went a little further, and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt. And He cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." (St Matthew 26:36-41)
In the above photo you can see how the trail goes into the Garden. If you look closely at the right hand side of the above photo, it shows the sleeping St. Peter.
Note St. Peter holding the sword in the above photo.
Below, the other two disciples:
Around the corner from the disciples you will find the statue of Our Blessed Saviour praying in the Garden:
In the photo close up of Our Lord praying in the Garden on the left, you can see the sweat of blood on His forehead.
NOTE: The following points along the path found at the Shrine of Christ's Passion basically follow the "Stations of the Cross"
Jesus is Condemned to Death
(First Station)
"And the whole multitude of them arose, and led Him unto Pilate. And they began to accuse Him, saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ a King. And Pilate asked Him, saying Art Thou the King of the Jews? And He answered him and said, Thou sayest it." Then said Pilate to the chief priests and to the people, I find no fault in this man." (St. Luke 23:1-4)
This next point along the path features Our Blessed Saviour appearing before Pilate. As you can see in the following photographs, it is certainly magnificent.
Jesus is Given His Cross
(Second Station)
Jesus Falls the First Time
(Third Station)
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| As you can see from this photo, at each "station" it tells you where you are at along the journey and also if you press the button you can hear a little meditation describing the event. |
Our Lord Meets His Blessed Mother
(Fourth Station)
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