Shrine of St. Anthony, Ellicott City, Maryland - Outdoor Stations of the Cross on Waymarking.com

The Stations of the Cross at the Shrine of St. Anthony are but one of the many jewels at the Shrine. These Stations were dedicated in the spring of 2011 and were a gift from a generous benefactor in memory of his wife. These Stations replaced aging wooden Stations located in the same area of the Shrine.

The coordinates shown are for the First Station - Jesus is Condemned to Death.

Detailed information and photographs of the Shrine may be found at the website noted below.

The remainder of this description is largely based on information found on the Shrine website.

The Franciscan Friars invite you to journey as pilgrims to the Shrine of St. Anthony.

The Shrine offers spiritual wholeness and healing through Eucharist, Reconciliation, quiet reflection and counsel. The Shrine is an ideal oasis for all types of retreats, conferences, days of reflection, and much more.

Enter and experience the peace of holy ground where Our Lord awaits and offers the opportunity to deepen your prayerful relationship with Him. A visit to this sacred place, true to its Catholic presence in the Archdiocese of Baltimore with all its uniqueness and rich history will call you back again and again.

The Shrine is located on land once owned by Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the only Catholic to sign the Declaration of Independence. This land was a portion of Doughoregan Manor (itself a waymark in the National Register of Historic Places category). The Manor House on the property was a gift from Carroll, the richest man in America, to his favorite granddaughter Emily.

The Franciscan Friars purchased the property on which the Shrine is located in 1928 to be used by the Friars as their novitiate. As grand as it was, Folly Quarter was too small for the growing community from the start. One of the Friars, an architect, Fr. Benedict Przemielewski was commissioned to design a new novitiate. Fr. Benedict chose to miniature the “Sacro Convento,” the original Friary built in Assisi, Italy, in the 13th century where St. Francs is buried.

The Shrine building today retains its original beauty and splendor though it has been renovated to meet the demands of ministry in the 21st century. Some of the many features of the Shrine itself and the surrounding grounds are discussed below.

Courtyard

Entering through the Shrine’s black wrought iron gates, one is struck by the magnificent courtyard with a slate walk and a limestone fountain. The fountain which is at the center of the courtyard has many levels of meaning. The first is its biblical significance in that Jesus refers to himself as the fountain of salvation. The second meaning is it reminds us of the day of our own baptism when we were washed and cleansed of our sins and shared in Christ's victory over sin and death. As water is also a symbol of quenching one's thirst, the third meaning is to remind us that our thirsts are quenched by Christ when we allow him into our hearts and lives.

As one looks more closely at the fountain one cannot help but see several lion's paws in the middle of the fountain structure. The lion's paws are a biblical reference to the Lion of Judah. Within Judaism, the Biblical Tribe of Judah traditionally was symbolized by a lion. In Christian tradition the lion of Judah represents Jesus. This phrase appears in the book of Revelation where we read: Do not weep. The lion of the Tribe of Judah, has triumphed, enabling him to open the scroll with its seven seals. In short, the fountain at the center of the courtyard reminds us we need to make God the source and center of our life so he can be for us our strength, who is there to provide for us in time of need with his many graces and gifts.

Lifting one's eyes toward the top of the shrine building, the pilgrim comes in contact with two crossed hands and a cross surrounded by the sun's rays. These two crossed hands depict the wounds of the crucifixion. One is depicted as a bare arm, that is the hand of Christ, who hand was pierced with the nail. The other, which depicts an arm covered by a sleeve, is the hand of Francis, who received the wounds of Christ, The Stigmata on Mount La Verna in 1224, two years before his death. The stigmata of St. Francis is an important fact of the saint’s life: it shows us that anyone wishing to call oneself a follower of Christ must be willing to suffer, to take up one's cross and follow Jesus. For it is in dying to oneself that we are born to eternal life.

The main corridor of the Shrine holds 13 murals depicting the life of St. Anthony. The Shrine murals are copies of a series painted by Tiberio Licini that were given to the Shrine by the friars at the Basilica of St. Anthony in Padua, Italy. These life experiences of St. Anthony are used during the thirteen weeks of the Novena the friars say every Tuesday. A short reflection on each of Anthony's significant life experiences and a prayer are part of the weekly novena. A pilgrim could spend a whole day just reading, reflecting and meditating on these life experiences of St. Anthony and how they in turn can follow and imitate his example and life of prayer.

Chapel of St. Anthony: The Jewel of the Shrine

The jewel of the Shrine, and its most important room, is the Chapel. Upon entering the Chapel itself, one should pause, realizing that this is "sacred space" and "holy ground" – where an atmosphere of holy silenceprevails, creating an oasis of peace for the Divine Presence within.

With its beautifully carved gumwood choir stalls, its mosaic Stations of the Cross, and its coffered ceiling, the Chapel is a gem of the early Renaissance.It has four distinct areas: the interior narthex, the nave, the sanctuary, and the apse.

In the narthex is the reliquary of St. Anthony. This gold-leafed bust depicts the Portuguese Franciscan whom the whole world would come to know as the “miracle-worker” and “finder of lost things.”

In the middle of the flame is a precious first-class relic ofthe saint – a smallpiece of petrified flesh removed from his sarcophagus in Padua, Italy, in 1995. The friars in Padua sent the relic to the friars of Ellicott City in 1998. Catholics venerate, orpay respect to, relics as remembrances of a saint whose human body was once a “temple” of the Holy Spirit.

Hundreds of thousands of people each year send the friars petitions for the heavenly intercession of St. Anthony – friend of God and friend to humanity.

The nave of the Chapel consists of the choir stalls facing each other. Here the friars would recite or chant the Divine Office, back and forth across the dark flagstone floor. The original choir stalls numbered 72, after the number of disciples sent out by Jesus in the Gospels. With the additional pews in front, the choir now seats 150.

The nave leads to the sanctuary, where Holy Mass is offered on the central Altar. The Altar was designed to evoke the teaching of Jesus “I am the vine; you are the branches”(John 15:1-8). The ambo (pulpit lectern) in the nave has a matching design, linking the Liturgy of the Word to the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

These chapel furnishings attempt to evoke the spirit of St. Anthony, the friar and priest, who used every opportunity to encourage people to hear the Word of God and to participate in the Holy Eucharist.

The biblical tree motif also reminds people of the fact that St. Anthony, towards the end of his life, spent many hours of prayer in a walnut treehouse which his friend Count Tiso had constructed for him at Camposampiero. It was in that walnut tree that Anthony had his vision of the Christ child.

To the right of the altar is a large walnut Tau Cross. St. Francis of Assisi adopted the Tau as his “signature,” after he heard Pope Innocent III preach about it at the 4th Lateran Council. Depending upon the liturgical season of the year, one of two carved images of Christ hang on the Tau: Christ Crucified or the Resurrected Jesus. The corpus of Christ Crucified was carved at Niepokalanow, Poland, by an artist whose guardian and mentor was St. Maximilian Kolbe. The Resurrected Jesus, like many other chapel furnishings, came to Ellicott City from the former St. Hyacinth College and Seminary in Granby, Massachusetts.

The apse at the far end of the Chapel centers upon the Tabernacle– designed with the biblical tree motif, and depicting the descent of the Holy Spirit with its seven spiritual gifts: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, piety, knowledge, and fear of the Lord.
Persons are welcome to enter the apse for silent prayer and adoration. The sanctuary and apse together form the Shrine’s “oasis of peace,” where Jesus Christ welcomes people of all faiths to experience themselves as infinitely loved by God.

The Papal Room

The dining room of the Shrine of St. Anthony is named after the seven paintings of the Franciscan popes that adorn its walls. The Papal Dining room is yellow with a regal red background for each of the areas that holds a painting. Besides the seven red squares that hold paintings of each past Franciscan pope, the dining room has an eighth empty red square ready to place the painting of the next Franciscan pope!

Besides having portraits of the seven Franciscan popes, the Papal Dining room contains another important painting unique to the Shrine of St. Anthony. Known to the friars of the Shrine as the “First Breakfast,” the painting depicts our Blessed Mother nursing the infant Jesus. This image, while striking, is not the most important detail of the painting. Most important is what the infant Jesus is holding in his hand: an apple. With this apple the artist is showing that Jesus and Mary are the new Adam and Eve, restoring humanity’s relationship with God.

Grounds of St. Anthony Shrine: A Little Assisi in Maryland

Situated on 310 acres of rolling hills and woodlands in the heart of the Baltimore-Washington area, the Shrine of St. Anthony offers a unique opportunity to “come away and rest awhile.” (Mk 6:31) Just as St. Francis used creation as a ladder of “art” to ascend to the “Artist” God, the friars of the Shrine invite all pilgrims to deepen their relationship with God through the experience of creation.

The grounds of the Shrine of St. Anthony include many opportunities to pray. Celebrations at the Shrine often take place out of doors, giving pilgrims an opportunity to experience God’s creation as part of the liturgical celebration. We have a Grotto to our Lady, an outdoors Stations of the Cross, and a new open-air Shrine to St. Maximilian Kolbe, all of which are open year-round. Our many wooded acres have hiking and meditation trails on which one may experience the beauty, goodness, and love of the Creator. There are benches positioned all around the property on which one may read, pray, or just spend quiet time in God’s creation.

Date: Spring 2011 Materials: Brass Website: [Web Link] Artist: Not listed

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