The National Shrine of St. Thérèse overlooks the

Lynn Canal Lynn Canal is an inlet (not an artificial canal) into the mainland of southeast Alaska. Lynn Canal runs about from the inlets of the Chilkat River south to Chatham Strait and Stephens Passage. At over in depth, Lynn Canal is the deepest fjor ...

Juneau Juneau ( ; ), officially the City and Borough of Juneau, is the capital of the U.S. state of Alaska, located along the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle. Juneau was named the capital of Alaska in 1906, when the government of wha ...

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

, US. Situated on 46 acres, the site contains a stone chapel, crypt, labyrinth, columbarium, lodge, cabin, and retreat.

History

In 1925, St. Thérèse of Lisieux was named the patroness of Alaska. In the 1930s, the Jesuit priest, Father William LeVasseur came up with the idea of a retreat center in her name. Bishop

Joseph Raphael John Crimont Joseph Raphael John Crimont (February 2, 1858 – May 20, 1945) was a French-born Catholic bishop and Jesuit missionary. He was the first Vicar Apostolic of Alaska (now the Diocese of Fairbanks), serving from 1917 until his death in 1945. E ...

provided support for its establishment, buying federal land. Thousands of stones were used to construct the chapel and other structures, which were gathered by volunteers. The first mass was held in 1941. In 1945, Bishop Crimont died and was buried at the shrine's crypt. In 1953, Bishop Robert Dermot O'Flanagan started The League of the Little Flower to help make the shrine self-sufficient. The shrine fell into disrepair and stopped holding retreats in the 1960s but underwent renovation under the leadership of Fr. James Manske from 1968 to 1969. For financial reasons, the shrine was forced to close in 1985 but reopened the following year after 25 locals came together to save the shrine. In 1998, the

columbarium A columbarium (; pl. columbaria), also called a cinerarium, is a structure for the reverential and usually public storage of funerary urns holding cremated remains of the dead. The term comes from the Latin ''columba'' (dove) and originally solel ...

was built and is open to all Christians who want their

cremains Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a corpse through Combustion, burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India, Nepal, and ...

placed at the shrine. In 2000, a new cabin was built to commemorate the

Great Jubilee The Great Jubilee in 2000 was a major event in the Catholic Church, held from Christmas Eve (24 December) 1999 to Epiphany (holiday), Epiphany (6 January) 2001. Like previous Jubilee in the Catholic Church, Jubilee years, it was a celebration of ...

, and in 2001, the Merciful Love

Labyrinth In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth () is an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by the h ...

was built. On October 1, 2016, Bishop Edward J. Burns announced that the Shrine of St. Thérèse had been raised to the status of national shrine.

What to see in the Sanctuary

The retreat was closed for a time, but in March 1986, the National Shrine of Saint Teresa was reopened. Thomas Fitterer took over as Director of the Sanctuary and was instrumental in bringing it back from the brink of abandonment. Under his direction, the Shrine added several attractions: the Columbarium (in 1998), the Rosary Walk (in 1999), the Jubilee Hut (in 2000), the Little Flower Hut and the Labyrinth of Merciful Love ( both in 2001).

References

External links

* * {{Coord, 58, 28, 20, N, 134, 47, 14, W, type:landmark_region:US-AK, display=title 1930s architecture in the United States Buildings and structures in Juneau, Alaska Roman Catholic churches completed in 1941 Pre-statehood history of Alaska Roman Catholic national shrines in the United States Tourist attractions in Juneau, Alaska Roman Catholic churches in Alaska 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States