Holy Hill

Pixie and I made a trip up to Wisconsin a couple of weeks ago to visit my folks. While we were there, we shot down to Holy Hill for a quickie pilgrimage. I've been to Holy Hill before, but I didn't take photos. This time I took a bunch of shots, which mostly served to prove that I'm no photographer, but for those who might be interested, here's an abbreviated, seriously truncated documentation of the visit.

View from outside.

Me and my mother at the entrance of the church.

St. John of the Cross - to the right of the sanctuary.

Inside the Shrine chapel - when I visited in 1997 there were canes, crutches and walkers stacked outside the chapel doors, supposedly left by those who had been healed inside. They weren't there this time, probably due to the fact that renovations were just being completed when we visited.

In the Sacred Heart chapel.

This cross, now encased in glass, used to sit on the grounds of Holy Hill. I imagine the Carmelites must have wanted to make it inaccessible to those who couldn't resist carving their initials on it. The earliest engraving I found was from a couple of people who made their mark in 1934. I soothed Pixie's ire by noting solemnly that those particular offenders were most likely dead by now.

One of the Stations of the Cross.

The Stations wind up the hill. They're truly beautiful works of art, and if you're not in the mood for prayer or meditation, they still make for a great - though long - walk.

View from near the bottom of the hill.

My cruddy photos don't do justice to the beauty of Holy Hill. I didn't get useable photos of the Lourdes grotto, but it's quite a sight, featuring a statue of St. Bernadette gazing at Mary, with holy water dispensers on each side of the grotto. If you're ever in Milwaukee, Holy Hill is definitely worth the half hour drive.