Loretto Chapel and the mysterious staircase

My husband and I had the opportunity to travel to Santa Fe last week and we stayed in The Inn at Loretto. Next door to the hotel is the Loretto Chapel. The Loretto Chapel is surrounded by the legend of the mysterious staircase. The chapel was built in 1872 and designed by a French architect Antione Mouly in the Gothic Revival style. In those days, it was common not to have a staircase that lead to the loft, because, the patrons would use a ladder, but because this chapel was going to used by nuns, and they wear long habits, they did not feel comfortable climbing a ladder. The solution was to build a staircase………

The Nuns prayed to St. Joseph for an intercession for nine days. At the end of those nine days, and shady looking stranger appeared. He told the nuns that he would build the staircase. He disappeared within the chapel for three months, and using a few very primitive tools, he constructed a spiral staircase for the nuns, and then he vanished. The original staircase did not have railings!! The nuns were so frightened that they had to descend from the loft on their hands and knees. It is also rumored, that because the staircase construction resembled a spring, it indeed acted like a spring when people climbed up and down! adding to the frightening experience of using the staircase. The railings were added a later date.