More Shrine of Saint Anthony (Outside)

A year and a half ago, I posted about the lovely grounds of the Shrine of Saint Anthony in Ellicott City, Maryland. That trip didn't let us see everything outside. Here is some more of the grounds.

The first picture from last time

The outdoor shrine to Saint Maximilian Kolbe is part of a garden path. The shrine is a simple covering for a statue of the saint.

Start of the short path to the shrine

The shrine

Inside the shrine

Saint Maximilian was born in 1894 and joined the Conventual Franciscans. He had a special devotion to the Immaculate Virgin Mary and promoted that devotion. He founded monasteries in Japan and India but was forced to return to his native Poland in 1936 because of illness. The Germans invaded and eventually sent him to Auschwitz. There he volunteered to take the place of a family man who was selected to die of starvation. Maximilian died on August 14, 1941.

Further along the garden path is a recreation of the grotto where Our Lady appeared to Bernadette Soubrious at Lourdes.

Lourdes grotto

Our Lady

Bernadette

As a fourteen-year-old child, Bernadette went out with her sister to gather firewood. They came to a small cave where she had a vision of a lady dressed in blue and white. The apparitions continued for about two weeks and caused quite a stir in the town. A spring began flowing at the spot and is now a popular pilgrim destination. Bernadette did not like all the attention focused on her and joined the Sisters of Charity in Nevers. She worked as an infirmary assistant and a sacristan. She died in 1879.

The driveway has a large statue of Saint Anthony and a donkey. The story goes Saint Anthony went to a town where a heretic denied that Christ is present in the Eucharist. Anthony told the man (who was a farmer) not to feed his donkey for a week. After the week, the farmer came back with the donkey and a basket of feed. Saint Anthony had the Blessed Sacrament with him and the donkey walked past the basket and knelt down before the Eucharist. Anthony told the farmer if a donkey could understand than he could too!

Donkey acknowledges God

Reverse view

Donkey's view

Near the main building is a statue of an unidentified saint. I thought it looked cool, so I took a photo.

Maybe more sombre than cool, what with the skull and cross