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...Men tilbage til trappen -
Loretto Søstrene, som er tilegnet Sankt Joseph, og som ikke
var tilfredse med udsigten til at skulle klatre op og ned ad en stige
for at komme på korloftet, bad en ni-dages bøn til Sankt
Joseph om en løsning på problemet.
Den niende dag kom en gammel
gråhåret mand op til klostret med et æsel og en
værktøjskasse, og da han blev spurgt, om han kunne bygge
trappen, sagde han ja. Med en hammer, en sav og en vinkel som sit
eneste værktøj, byggede manden over de næste 6-8
måneder en trappe. Trappen er bygget udelukkende af træ,
hestehår og puds, ingen søm.
Da trappen var færdig,
forsvandt manden så pludseligt, som han var kommet, uden at
tage afsked eller bede om betaling. Da nonnerne gik til den lokale
tømmerhandel for i det mindste at betale for materialerne, fik
de at vide, at de intet kendte til sagen. |
...Okay, back to the stairs -
The Sisters of Loretto, who are devoted to Saint Joseph, and who were
not pleased with the prospect of having to scale a ladder to get up
to the choir loft, made a Novena to Saint Joseph for a solution to
their problem.
On the ninth day an old
grey-haired man came up to the convent with a donkey and a toolbox,
and when he was asked, if he could build the staircase, he said yes.
With a hammer, a saw, and a T-square as his only tools, the man built
a staircase over the next six to eight months. The staircase is built
exclusively from wood, horsehair, and plaster, no nails.
When the stairs were finished
the carpenter disappeared as suddenly as he had come, not saying
goodbye, and without seeking payment. When the nuns went to the local
lumber yard to at the very least pay for the wood used on the stairs,
they were told they knew nothing about it. |
Den oprindelige trappe ~ The
original staircase
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Træet, trappen er lavet
af, viser så godt som ingen slid over 100 år efter den er
bygget, og ingen har endnu kunnet sige med sikkerhed, hvad slags
træ, det er. Det eneste man ved med absolut vished er, at det
ikke er træ fra New Mexico.
Trappen, som først fik
gelænder i 1887 af Phillip August Hesch, er en vindeltrappe,
der går hele vejen rundt to gange, og det eneste, der holder
den oppe er det nederste trin, siden der ingen midterstøtte
er. Ifølge alle arkitekter, der har set den, burde trappen
ikke engang kunne holde sin egen vægt oppe, og skulle i hvert
fald falde sammen under al den vægt i det øjeblik, man
går på den. Men i strid med tyngdeloven har trappen til
tider haft 15-20 korpiger stående ned ad den på en gang. |
The wood used to make the stairs
is showing hardly any wear more than 100 years after they were built,
and no one has yet been able to say with certainty what kind of wood
was used. The only thing known for sure is that it's not from New Mexico.
The staircase, which had a
bannister added to it in 1887 by Phillip August Hesch, is a winding
staircase which makes two complete turns and is held up only by the
bottom step, since there is no center support. According to every
architect who has seen it, the staircase should not even be able to
support its own weight, and it should certainly collapse the moment
anyone sets foot on it. But contrary to the laws of physics the
staircase has held as many as 15-20 choir girls at a time. |
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Og som ham selv
siger, man kan jo tydeligt se, det er et mirakel, når manden
gik uden at få betaling.... |
And as himself
says, one can plainly see that this is a miracle, when the man left
without getting paid.... |
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