A Reflective Walk in the National Sanctuary of Our Sorrowful Mother (Portland, Oregon)
If you’ve been following along in my Portland travel/nature series, we’ve now reached the end of the road. After four jam-packed days at the conference, Powell’s Books, off-site readings, and a variety of wonderful restaurants and ice-cream shops, the final day arrived. Most of my fellow MSU students had already left the city, but my flight didn’t depart until midnight (I know—I should’ve learned after that red-eye bus trip from hell in Scotland), so I wanted to make the most of my time left in Portland by hitting a nature spot a little further off the beaten path.
The National Sanctuary of Our Sorrowful Mother, or the Grotto, traces its history all the way back to Canada at the end of the 19th century. A young boy made a promise to God that he would dedicate his life to a great work for the church if his sick mother and sister were kept alive. Friar Ambrose Mayer never forgot that promise, joining the Servite Order (one of the five original Catholic mendicant orders, like the Franciscans and Dominicans, who take on a life of poverty and penance) as a young man and eventually following that calling to Oregon, becoming the first Servite pastor in the Archdiocese of Portland in 1918. Ambrose spent many years searching for a suitable place to build a tribute to Mary (the order believes in sanctification of its members by meditation on the Passion of Jesus and the Sorrows of Mary) and came across a former rock quarry that, to him, was a natural cathedral. In 1924, three thousand people gathered for the first mass and dedication of the Sanctuary of Our Sorrowful Mother. At the blessing, Archbishop Alexander Christie offered this prayer:
“Let this be a sanctuary of peace for all peoples of the earth and surely in this day a sanctuary is needed. Torn with differences, strife, and grief, the world needs sanctuary where the human spirit can seek peace and consolation.”
It seems apt to seek refuge in a place like this in 2019—where they “welcome people from around the world, people of all faiths and no faith,” where it’s easy to rest in the dappled light of sunlight through tree canopy, the joy found in a botanical sanctuary in the city.
My friends and I began our time at the Grotto at the gift shop (which unsurprisingly reminded me of all the little Vatican gift shops in Rome), where we needed to buy our $7.50 tickets to the Upper Gardens. On the way up to the gardens, we passed the cave where they held that first mass, carved out of the 110-foot basalt cliffside, and stone altar where a replica of Michelangelo’s Pietà hangs. After a quick elevator ride, we were on the grounds, a meandering maze of paths designed to lead the mind into gentle contemplation.
There are several statues installed throughout the gardens, including one of Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals and ecology, and someone had placed flowers in his hand and on the animals’ heads (fun fact: apparently, he’s also the patron saint against dying alone). In addition to the statues, there were also several shrines dedicated to different countries or communities, including a Lithuanian Wayside Shrine dedicated to those fighting for freedom in the midst of WWII, an Our Lady of Czestochowa Polish Shrine containing a replica of the Black Madonna, a Filipino Faith Shrine (Dambana) with a roof shaped like a salakot and walls made of capiz (a flat seashell), an Our Lady of Lavang Shrine dedicated to faithful Vietnamese Catholics as they hid in the jungle during the final years of the 18th century to avoid persecution, and a Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe telling the story of Mary’s appearance to Juan Diego, an Aztec Indian.
The Grotto also has a monastery, built in 1936, tucked in the Upper Gardens. It can accommodate up to twelve priests and brothers, and they even have their own private path through the forested trails so visitors can’t disturb their meditations.
And amidst the religious iconography, sculptures, shrines, and plaques, there are also thousands of tree and flower species. I decided to go to the Grotto with no knowledge of its Catholic history and function—I actually chose it because of its designation as a botanical garden (sorry to my friends whom I did not adequately prepare for the Sunday they unexpectedly spent in an outdoor church, I hope you don’t regret it!). Portland continually astounded me with its natural beauty, and the trails through the Grotto were no exception.
Our last stop that morning in the Upper Gardens was the Meditation Chapel, a huge glass-windowed structure built into the cliffside overlooking the city. It was completely silent inside, so out of respect for the others there, I didn’t want to pull out my DSLR and disrupt their reflections with the sound of the shutter, so all I have is a crappy iPhone photo. However, the chapel provided breathtaking views of the mountains, including the white peak of Mount St. Helen’s, which I had somehow not seen (or not noticed) until then.
While in the Meditation Chapel, we sat awhile watching a hawk dive and soar, and it reminded me of this poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins, aptly dedicated, “To Christ Our Lord.”
The Windhover—
I caught this morning morning's minion, king-
dom of daylight's dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding
Of the rolling level underneath him steady air, and striding
High there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing
In his ecstasy! then off, off forth on swing,
As a skate's heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend: the hurl and gliding
Rebuffed the big wind. My heart in hiding
Stirred for a bird, – the achieve of, the mastery of the thing!
Brute beauty and valour and act, oh, air, pride, plume, here
Buckle! AND the fire that breaks from thee then, a billion
Times told lovelier, more dangerous, O my chevalier!
No wonder of it: shéer plód makes plough down sillion
Shine, and blue-bleak embers, ah my dear,
Fall, gall themselves, and gash gold-vermilion.
I hope to travel to Portland again soon (and see more of the Pacific Northwest while there). If you have suggestions on what hikes I should check out next time, let me know in the comments!
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