Throughout time, religion has been the inspiration for countless works of art that come in the form of breathtaking architecture. Even though I am not religious, I find myself coming across many of these works across the country and am always left astounded by the beauty of these buildings. Today, I had the joy of visiting another one of these churches at St John’s in Collegeville MN.
St John’s is hidden among the fields of Minnesota, surrounded by farms. A prominent men’s university outside of St. Cloud, it is home to one of the most magnificent abbeys I have had the pleasure of going to. The building towers overhead as you drive up, dwarfing everything else around it. As you enter, the echoing explosion of silence is overwhelming. A small fountain greets you in the foyer, and a small set of doors begs you to enter the next room.
All of a sudden you enter a vast cathedral with walls of stained glass. Pews cover the room and an alter sits in the middle of the room where the priest sits. The church is amazingly beautiful, and I can imagine the room filling up with the sounds of a choir during Sunday service. Just the thought gives me goosebumps.
While you are at St John’s, you have to stop at the museum next door to the abbey where there is a hand written bible in Aramaic. An entire exhibit is dedicated to this amazing feat, exploring the process of writing, translating, error correcting, everything you could want to know about the process from start to finish.
Closest Supercharger Clearwater MN 24 mi
950 MN-24, Clearwater, MN 55320
St Johns Abby
2900 Abbey Plaza, Collegeville, MN 56321
