TRAVELS (and more) WITH CECILIA BRAINARD: Miraculous Stairs of Loretto, Santa Fe, NM

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Miraculous Stairs of Loretto, Santa Fe, NM

The Miraculous Stairs of Loretto, Santa Fe, NM - the stairs have no discernible support and was reportedly built by St. Joseph. (Photo by Cecilia Brainard)

I looked forward to seeing this chapel, having heard it's history, but the minute I walked on it's grounds felt no religiosity whatsoever. There is a fee to enter the church, and there is a huge gift shop, restaurants and other stories nearby; the church butts up against the Loretto hotel. With some research I learned that the Loretto Church had been deconsecrated decades ago.

The San Miguel Mission Church and Basilica Cathedral of St. Francis in Santa Fe "felt" so much better.

Cecilia Manguerra Brainard

Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's official website is ceciliabrainarddotcom. She is the award-winning author and editor of 22 books, including When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, The Newspaper Widow, Magdalena, Selected Stories, Vigan and Other Stories, and more. She edited Growing Up Filipino 1, 2, & 3, Fiction by Filipinos in America, Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, and other books.. Her work has been translated into Finnish and Turkish; and many of her stories and articles have been widely anthologized. Cecilia has received many awards, including a California Arts Council Fellowship in Fiction, a Brody Arts Fund Award, a Special Recognition Award for her work dealing with Asian American youths, as well as a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate, 21st District, and the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines. She has lectured and performed at UCLA, USC, University of Connecticut, University of the Philippines, PEN, Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and many others. She has served in the Board of literary arts groups such as PEN, PAWWA (Pacific Asian American Writers West), among others.