Affiliation Roman Catholic Status active Length 4.57 m Year consecrated 1876 (July 25) | State Indiana Opened 1876 Width 4.57 m | |
Location Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana Ecclesiastical or organizational status Chapel of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods Heritage designation Part of the Council of Independent Colleges Historic Campus Architecture program District Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis Similar Shell Chapel, Church of the Immacula, Blessed Sacrament Chapel, Basilica of the National, Lourdes grotto | ||
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.
Contents
History
In November 1843, congregation foundress Saint Mother Theodore Guerin and Sister Mary Cecilia Bailly 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.
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 shells 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.