different from other American cities that I have been. I did not see many
skyscrapers there. And the native architects were constructed by adobe-a
mixture of mud and straw that dried very hard and provided remarkable
insulation. Most of the roofs are flat. The new buildings in core
districts all conform to the traditional styles which contribute to Santa
Fe's timeless and special appearance.
There are so many museums and art galleries there. You can explore every
type of art under the sun while you stroll the city's historic streets: from
ancient Indiana artifacts to the world most innovative art.
What impressed me most there was Loretto Chapel. This elegant Gothic
Revival chapel, built for the Sisters of Loretto, houses a world-famous"
miraculous staircase", constructed with no nails or visible support. It was
told that this staircase was built by a mysterious carpenter. I bought two
scrolls in the gift shop near the chapel which I like very much. One scroll
is about Serenity Prayer. Another one is about Love.
Serenity Prayer
God...
Grant me the serenity
to accept the things
I cannot change...
courage to change
the things I can...
and wisdom to know
the difference.
Love
Love is always patient and kind; it is never jealous.
Love is never boastful or conceited; it is never rude or selfish.
Love does not take offense, and it is never resentful.
Love takes no pleasure in other people's sins but delights in the truth.
Love is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, and to endure whatever
comes love does not come to an end.
REF:IST CORINTHIANS 13
Well, so much about my trip to Santa Fe.
Rebecca Lin 2006 Summer In USA
.................................................
拉瑞多（ Loretto）教堂的魔梯 （转载）
到圣大非（新墨西哥州 Santa Fe）旅游的人，一定会去参观拉瑞多（ Loretto）教堂，去参观教堂的人一定会看一看世界有名的魔梯（Miracle Stairs)，看了魔梯一定要知道魔梯的故事。
140年前，圣大非只是一个小镇，居民大都是印地安和墨西哥人，那时天主教在美国势力已很强大，驻圣大非的主教请了5个修女，从美国东部千里迢迢到圣大非工作。
她们5月出发，第2年9月才到，途中主持修女已不幸病逝。 4位多病的修女住在临时改建的修道院，辛苦工作，赢得了主教的嘉许。
1873年主教从法国和义大利请了建筑师和工人，开始为她们建立一所歌德式的小教堂，25尺宽，75尺长，85尺高；是美国密西西比河西岸唯一的歌德式教堂。
快要完工的时候，却发现唱诗班的阁楼高高在上，没有与教堂通行的楼梯，要下来只能用普通梯子或者把教堂拆了重建。
唱诗班的人既不愿爬梯子，修女们也不愿拆了教堂，她们只有日夜祈祷，直到有一天，有位白发老木匠，牵了它的驴子，带了个大工具箱，来见修女，并自告奋勇建楼梯，
6个月后，楼梯完成。
完工后，这位老人悄然离去，不留一点痕迹，修女们赶到当地木材商付钱，才发现这位老人从未买材料。
所以到今天，楼梯的建筑仍是个谜，仍是个奇迹。
楼梯是双螺旋形，260度一转，由阁楼到教堂地板共转2次，直上直下，没有中轴支持，没有用一根铁钉，所有载重，全依赖双螺旋的扶手；121年了，成千成百的唱诗班歌者，上上下下，到今天，楼梯依然如新。
所有来参观的建筑师认为这样的造型，地心引力已不胜负荷了，不可能载半个人。
木材专家们鉴定，所用材料可能是长叶黄松木，但当地并不产这种树，而能把扶手弯成这样优美的曲线，
更是不可思议……。
每个人看了魔梯，知道了关于魔梯的故事，都会有不同的反应；我的第一个印象，却认为此梯简直就象双螺旋的DNA分子结构，当天，买了张明信片寄给在台湾的一位生物学界朋友，写着∶「你看这象不象华特森和克立克的DNA 构造？」
120多年前，那一个善良的老木匠，用绝顶的聪明，替修道院做了一桩善事，没有名，也不为利，想不到百年之后却成了教会的财源。
我去参观的那一天，大摆长龙阵，2张进门票好象3元，我买了4张明信片(7角5分1张)，又用2元买了4页的介绍单，不到1小时，共花了8块钱，
当然每人花钱不一，8块钱如果是平均数，每天1000人就收入8000元。
History of the Loretto Chapel （转载）
The history of the Loretto Chapel began when Bishop Jean Baptisite Lamy was appointed by the Church to the New Mexico Territory in1850. As part of his mission to build churches and educational facilities, Lamy asked the Sisters of Loretto (a teaching order) to leave their home in Kentucky and establish a school for girls in the frontier city of Santa Fe.
The Sisters arrived in Santa Fe in 1852 and opened the Academy of Our Lady of Light (Loretto) in 1853. Despite the challenges of the territory (smallpox, tuberculosis, leaky mud roofs and even a brush with the rowdy Confederate Texans during the Civil War), the boarding and day school expanded and flourished.
It was decided that the school needed a chapel. Property was purchased and in 1873 work began on the Loretto Chapel.
Undoubtedly influenced by the French clergy in Santa Fe, the Gothic Revival-style chapel was patterned after King Louis IX's Sainte-Chapelle in Paris; a striking contrast to the adobe churches already in the area.
Stone for the Chapel was quarried from locations around Santa Fe including Cerro Colorado, about 20 miles from Santa Fe near the town of Lamy. The sandstone for the walls and the porous volcanic stone used for the ceiling were hauled to town by wagon.
The ornate stained glass in the Loretto Chapel also made part of its journey to Santa Fe via wagon. Purchased in 1876 from the DuBois Studio in Paris, the glass was first sent from Paris to New Orleans by sailing ship and then by paddle boat to St. Louis, MO. where it was taken by covered wagon over the Old Santa Fe Trail to the Chapel.
The Chapel was completed in 1878 and has since seen many additions and renovations such as the introduction of the Stations of the Cross, the Gothic altar and the frescos during the 1890s.
The Miraculous Staircase, which legend says was constructed or inspired by St. Joseph the Carpenter, was built sometime between 1877 and 1881. It took at least six months to build, and has two 360 degree turns with no visible means of support.
The Loretto Academy was closed in 1968, and the property was put up for sale. At the time of sale in 1971, Our Lady of Light Chapel was informally deconsecrated as a Catholic Chapel.
Loretto Chapel is now a private museum operated and maintained, in part, for the preservation of the Miraculous Staircase and the Chapel itself.
