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About the Shrine
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Explore the ShrineA safe place for people of diverse background, cultures and ages. -
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As you explore the Marian Shrine you will see that the beautiful grounds are marked with a variety of devotional statues and reminders of ways people can communicate with God. You may choose to visit for a leisurely walk, stop into the Shrine Chapel or plan a day to stay for Mass, go to confession or say the rosary. Maybe a day, weekend, or extended retreat are in your plans for your group, parish, school, or organization. In addition to retreats, the Shrine hosts presentations for faculty, staff, and parish personnel as well as Bible study programs and pilgrimages.
There are many possibilities! The Salesians of Don Bosco and the Marian Shrine team have the experience to help you arrange your event. We welcome you to use the appropriate area with your own presenters to make your experience spiritual and comfortable.
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Mary Help of Christians
Chapel
The Shrine Chapel is dedicated to Mary Help of Christians. Built on the site of the original pavilion chapel used for religious services, the Shrine Chapel was built in 2007. It accommodates 450 people comfortably. It is enhanced with reconciliation rooms and a conference room. The Chapel is used year-round for daily and Sunday Masses, Eucharistic Adoration, memorial services and special events. These are enhanced by a wonderful sound system, a magnificent Bösendorfer grand piano, and our bell tower which rings the Angelus and other events daily. The chapel is fully air conditioned during the summer, making it comfortable for all worshippers. -
Don Bosco Retreat CenterThe Don Bosco Retreat Center offers an opportunity for people to spend some time in developing their relationship with God through the various retreat programs that we offer. The Retreat Center offers seasonal day retreats (eg. Advent, Lent), retreats for women and men as well as specialized retreats on a variety of themes. Groups are also welcome to run their own programs or use the Don Bosco Retreat Center team to facilitate the experience. -
Gift Shop & BookstoreThe Marian Shrine Gift Shop carries a wide variety of religious articles, books and gifts that will help your own personal spiritual growth and prayer life, as well as religious items celebrating Sacramental occasions, personal milestones, special devotions and worship aids. The Gift Shop also carries various liturgical appointments for churches and chapels. -
St. Dominic Savio
Youth CenterThe Youth Center named after St. Dominic Savio, a student of Don Bosco canonized in 1954, boasts a large full-sized gymnasium, two dormitories with adjacent bathrooms and showers, a variety of breakout rooms for small group discussions, the Don Bosco Chapel accommodating 200 people, a Reconciliation suite with seven private confession rooms as well as a primary presentation room. The Dominic Savio Youth Center is a separate facility catering to youth retreats, young adult outreach, specialized programs seating up to 500 as well as the site for healthy recreation. -
The Outdoor AltarThe Outdoor Altar, built in 1954 for the Marian Year, is beautifully designed with a bronze cupola covering the devotional altar and the bas relief in marble of Mary, Help of Christians at the center flanked by St. John Bosco and St. Dominic Savio on the left side and St. Mary Dominica Mazzarello, the co-foundress of the Salesian Sisters with Blessed Laura Vicuna on the right side. Large pilgrim groups utilize this worship area for Masses, Eucharistic Adoration, spiritual events and concerts. The benches surrounding Outdoor Altar accommodate groups up to 1000, while the Great Lawn surrounding the area has welcomed up to 5,000 worshippers on pilgrimage. -
Our Lady of the Rosary ParkWork on the famous Rosary Way began during the Marian Year in 1954. Lifesized statues of Italian marble carved by the Italian artist Enrico Arrighini of Pietrasanta, Italy, were laid on a shamrock-shaped pathway carved through the wooded area at the Marian Shrine. The statues depicting the mysteries of the rosary were mounted on stone pedestals and each had scripture verse about the scene carved onto a white marble plaque beneath each station. The large bronze statue of Our Lady of the Rosary, popularly known as the Rosary Madonna, was erected on the front lawn of the Shrine in September 1977. At a height of 48 feet and weighing 6½ tons, it is mounted on a pedestal of Vermont stone with a star-shaped base like the one beneath the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. Designed by Martin Lumen Winer of New Rochelle, N.Y., it was cast in bronze in Pistoia, Italy, in 1959 and blessed by Pope John XXIII. -
Lee HallA banquet hall, built adjacent to the shrine chapel, is dedicated to the memory of Fr. Tae-Seok John Lee, SDB, a Salesian missionary and medical doctor from South Korea, who died in 2010 after a long battle with cancer. Funding was secured by members of the Korean Community of the Reborn Young Christ Center at the Marian Shrine. With a seating capacity of 220, it is used for special celebrations and spiritual retreat programs. -
Devotional Areas and Picturesque GroundsVisitors can stroll the Marian Shrine grounds and find a series of beautifully appointed outdoor statues and devotional areas. The Our Lady of Fatima Garden and Fountain, the Our Lady of Lourdes statue, and the Garden of Gethsemene Garden are located in a scenic grove near the Queenship of Mary Gate which leads to a meditative pathway through the woods. Statues of St. Michael, St. John Bosco, St. Padre Pio, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Joseph, and St. Maria Goretti are placed throughout the grounds to help visitors in their private prayer and reflection. The Hope Monument, dedicated in 2018, is a bronze sculpture presenting the preciousness of life from conception to natural death symbolically linked to the small newborn baby. Many find hope when encountering this moving tableau whether one is with a child or one has suffered the loss. A pavilion and picnic grove near the Shrine Chapel provides space for time for a meal or refreshment. -
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We are waiting for you!
Explore our Website, come by and see us, visit our Gift Shop, fill out our Event Planner or Retreat Inquiry and Contact Us for more information and next steps.
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