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The Bells |
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St. Anne's Chapel
33013 County Road 358
Lawton, Michigan, 49065
(269) 624-1805
Mass Schedule DRIVING DIRECTIONS
More Photographs of the Chapel
Sancta Anna, Ora Pro Nobis!
Saint Anne, Pray For Us!
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| Statue of St. Anne, Mary and Jesus above the altar in St. Anne's Chapel |
Crafted in the mountains of southern Poland in 2003, using the traditional style of architecture that has been employed in that region since the Middle Ages, the chapel dedicated to St. Anne was reassembled the same year at the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius retreat center in Lawton, Michigan. The walls of this chapel are made from spruce native to Poland and joined at all of the corners with an elaborate method of notching that does not require the use of any nails.
In 2001, the Dietz family donated to the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius 96 acres of farmland in Lawton, which will be the site of a future retreat center and possible novitiate house. Already the land is home to St. Anne’s Chapel, which was completed in 2003. The parents of the Dietz family were named Anne and Thaddeus. In their honor the chapel was dedicated to St. Anne and a statue of each of their patron saints has been enshrined in the chapel.
| Crafted in the mountains of southern Poland in 2003, using the traditional style of architecture that has been employed in that region since the Middle Ages, the chapel dedicated to St. Anne was reassembled the same year at the Society of St John Cantius retreat center in Lawton, Michigan. The walls of this chapel are made from spruce native to Poland and joined at all of the corners with an elaborate method of notching that does not required the use of any nails |
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Recently installed outside the
entrance to St. Anne’s Chapel is a set of five church bells
custom-designed for the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius by Ludwisarnia
Felczynskich, the oldest bell-making foundry in central Europe. These bell
makers, whose operation is based in southern Poland, have been in business
since 1820.The bells produced at this foundry are all handcrafted according to
a centuries-old tradition of bell making. Each of the five bells in the set at
St. Anne’s Chapel is named for one of the luminous mysteries, and the
bells are arranged according to size and mystery (the largest bell at the
bottom represents the last mystery, the institution of the Holy Eucharist at
the Last Supper). The bells were dedicated to Pope John Paul II in 2003, the
twenty-fifth year of his pontificate and the Year of the Rosary.
Also outside the entrance of the
chapel one finds a large bronze sculpture of a 15-foot crucifix and the figures
of Saints John and Mary standing on either side. This awe inspiring sculpture
was designed by Michal Batkiewicz who was also the architect for St. Anne's
Chapel. The monument stands as one of the first memorials in Michigan dedicated
to the victims of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
