Stockbridge retains the look, if not the spirit, of
the Congregational churchgoers who first established this as a settlement on
the western frontier of colonial Massachusetts.
The Rev. John Sergeant’s Mission House still stands on Main Street, as
does the First Congregational Church itself.
Given those physical reminders, nearly 20 years ago, in rushing to get to another
institution in town, I was startled to see street signs for the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy.
Rev. Sergeant and his successor, the controversial Rev. Jonathan Edwards, would
have been aghast that a group they scorned as “papists” could
have a foothold in this community they viewed as an outpost of Dissenting
Protestantism.
But, when I was on vacation in this
Berkshire town this past week, I saw the shrine as a haven for peaceful
contemplation. Even its physical positioning seemed to drive home the point:
350 acres looming over the town center, on a landscape known as Eden Hill.
The shrine is a ministry of the Marian Fathers of
the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who advocate for the
message of Divine Mercy. The property was acquired by the Marian Fathers in
the 1940s, with construction beginning in 1950.
Antonio Guerrieri, a 74-year-old Italian immigrant
who had become a resident of Stockbridge, had just completed the restoration of
St. Joseph's Church in town when the Marians called him to build their new shrine.
Amazingly enough, Guerrieri, a highly esteemed master furniture maker and wood
carver, did not create any formal architectural plans, but kept the overall
concept in his head throughout. Ten after the initial ground-breaking, the
shrine was dedicated. Each year, it continues to attract thousands of visitors,
lured by the desire for spiritual serenity.
