Chapel on the Rock

Travel 2 Minutes

I found this article about the Chapel on the Rock: The St. Catharine of Sienna Chapel in Allenspark, Colorado on the inspiredimperfection.com website. 

Monsignor Joseph Bosetti came across a large rock formation just east of Rocky Mountain National Park in 1916. Inspired by the scripture Matthew 16:18, “Upon this rock I’ll build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it,” Bosetti envisioned a church built on the rock.

He fought for years to not only raise the funds needed to build the church, but to keep the rock intact. Eventually, the land on which Saint Catherine of Siena Chapel stands today was generously donated by Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Malo to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Denver.

Chapel on the Rock was designed by Denver architect Jacques Benedict, and built by the Coulihan Brothers and Charlie Miller from Allenspark. Native stone from the surrounding area was used in the Chapel construction, which was completed in 1936. The chapel was dedicated by Archbishop Urban Vehr in honor of Saint Catherine of Siena.

The stunning, colorful stained-glass window shows St. Catherine holding the body of Christ on the cross. It was designed by the world-renowned Franz Mayer and Sons Glass Works in Munich, Germany and was installed in 1937.

The property was named Camp St. Malo and was used as a boys’ camp led by priests and seminarians until the 1970s when it opened to girl campers as well. In 1984, Camp St. Malo closed temporarily then reopened in 1987 as the St. Malo Religious Retreat and Conference Center.

In 1993, Pope John Paul II prayed at Chapel on the Rock during his visit to Colorado for World Youth Day. During his visit, he blessed the chapel and later hiked the trail on the St. Malo Camp property, which was later renamed the John Paul II Trail.

In 2011, the 60,000 square foot conference and retreat center behind the church was burned to the ground in a fire, but thankfully the Chapel on the Rock survived untouched. Then in 2013, the 100-year rains produced massive flooding and created a devastating 5.0 mile landslide. The mud and rocks slid ferociously down Mount Meeker to the foot of the chapel, destroying the land and the historic Pope John Paul II Trail, but once again sparing the church.

The Archdiocese of Denver is currently working to preserve Chapel on the Rock, restore the Pope Saint John Paul II trail, and build a new visitor and heritage center.

Know Before You Go

Chapel on the Rock is located on the Peak to Peak Scenic Byway at 10758 Colorado Route 7, Allenspark, Colorado 80510 in Boulder County.

The Chapel on the Rock, officially Saint Catherine of Siena Chapel, sits on the grounds of the Saint Malo Retreat, Conference, and Spiritual Center of the Catholic Archdiocese of Denver.

It is open to the public every day from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm weather permitting. It is closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Mass is held at the chapel every Wednesday at 12:00 noon.

There is a small, rough, dirt and gravel parking area outside the chapel. There is also limited parking near Saint William Lodge.

There are no restrooms inside the chapel, but there are restrooms inside Saint William Lodge.

Boulder County designated the Chapel a historic site in 1999.

SOURCE: INSPIREDIMPERFECTION.COM Jennifer Bourn

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Published by pat frederick

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27 thoughts on “Chapel on the Rock”

  1. Morning All!
    our company arrived late evening. we’re not sure if we’re doing the firewood today or not–supposed to rain most of the day.

    they brought us a watermelon, sweet corn and peaches–freshly picked!

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    1. Wonderful! Yummy! Gorgeous chapel! Really chilly this morning at 54 w/clear skies and pink haze low in the sky on all sides – maybe that qualifies as “red sky at morning?” Forecast for the next 10 days is 70’s to low 80’s, with a LOT of sun. Wheezer had his tuna but didn’t wait around this time – he’s off doing his thing.

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  5. This post reminds me of my first summer in Colorado in 1970, when a friend and I lived in her grandparents’ vacation home in Estes Park. I fell in love with Colorado then, learning to ride their horses bareback all over Rocky Mountain National Park.

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    1. Ah, that brings back memories! My first in-laws used to spend part of the summer staying at Estes Park in their silver camper. We went with them one summer and I wanted to go on a trail ride – of course, no-one else wanted to go – they were sophisticated, don’tchaknow, and I was the simple country girl. Pffttt….no need to ask why THAT marriage didn’t last!

      They didn’t have any groups going up because there was weather in the area and it looked like it might rain/storm. I didn’t care and they agreed to let me go by myself (after signing a waiver, of course) with a slicker rolled up behind the saddle. And off I went….

      We climbed and climbed and climbed – just as we got to the top of the trail, here came the rain, thunder and lightning. I didn’t even have time to get the slicker unrolled – since I was soaked anyway and it wasn’t cold, I just said the heck with it and started back down. I do have to say: seeing all those wet, slick rocks we had to go over, I did have a qualm or two. Then I decided that the horse knew that trail by heart and knew how to move over the rocks so I simply gave him his head and hung on.

      We got down to the bottom with no harm done and I had an experience to remember!!!

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      1. Wow. I remember that summer well enough, but you prompted me to call Tish so she can help spur my memory of more. We got lost in the National Park one day, but found a cabin that housed a native american who fed us fried egg sandwiches. We were famished. It took us until dark to find our way home. We also drove over Trail Ridge Road to Grand Lake for summer theatre, at least a couple of times. We passed Longmont and Meeker peaks, but since she was driving, I wasn’t paying attention to directions from the car.

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      2. I have called Tish since our earlier exchange. She reminded me we had been riding on Trail Ridge Road and stopped at that guy’s trading post, where he fed us lunch. She grew up riding horses in Savannah, but I had minimal experience. I learned a lot that summer, because her grandparents kept about four horses at their cottage. One of our duties was to exercise and feed the horses.

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        1. I worked on the Thoroughbred racetracks here in NE and on a Thoroughbred/Connemara breeding farm in VA – I worked exclusively with the Thoroughbred broodmares and foals, a few of the studs, helped stack/move hay & feed, cleaned stalls, trained the foals to lead, etc. There was one aged stallion who used to race in NE (a NE-bred) who was only used once or twice a year for breeding. When I took over his care, poor guy was so foot-sore he couldn’t even think about trotting. It hurt to watch him walk so I started giving him concentrated attention, treating his feet with mud packs and meds, wrapping them in vet wrap every day, fed him special treats, etc. Within 2 weeks, he would come cantering across the pasture to greet me every day! And what a sweetheart he was! So gentle and loving.

          Before that, I worked on a small farm owned by 2 brothers who happened to be black. Between my Mom and me, we cared for close to 60 horses….from a retired Thoroughbred stud and an appy stud, to mares/foals, weanlings, yearlings, etc., etc. There were about 40 breeding mares out to pasture most of the time, as well as the brothers’ personal horses – gorgeous, huge palominos.

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          1. You might like Alek Mountain’s blog about mules. It fascinated me to watch the video he posted about why mules were used in steep mountain country and in roadless areas to haul timber ( as for railroad ties).
            I mentioned it on Pat’s blog, but she says she is busy this weekend and that you are keeping up with things for now. I’m stuck here. Having trouble keeping up with who is where.

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            1. Pat’s family is visiting this week-end – daughter, SIL & grand-daughter. Marica is in NY visiting her son and new grandchild until Monday. So that leaves me to tend to both blogs in the meantime.

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              1. Thanks, Filly, for the update. That’s even more reason why you might like The Americas Revealed blog, when you get a chance. I’m also looking into Sweet Briar College because of your news updates.

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  6. Just The News: “A federal court in New York on Friday night declined to move former President Donald Trump’s hush money case out of state court, saying the filing was “deficient.” 

    Trump’s legal team filed a request to move the hush money case into federal court on Thursday night, asserting that the move was warranted because the prosecution allegedly violated the former president’s constitutional rights.

    The federal court did not rule on the subject of the request, but stated the filing was “deficient” because Trump’s attorneys failed to attach written permission from New York Judge Juan Merchan, or prosecutors.

    “The filing is deficient for the following reason(s): the PDF attached to the docket entry for the pleading is not correct; the wrong event type was used to file the pleading; Court’s leave has not been granted; the order granting permission to file the pleading was not attached,” the notice reads.

    The notice added that Trump’s legal team can refile the request if it fixes the issues.

    Trump was found guilty earlier this year on 34 felony counts related to the falsification of business records to hide a hush money payment to former porn star Stormy Daniels. Trump is attempting to appeal the verdict, but is currently expected to be sentenced in the case on Sept. 18.” 

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  7. Just The News: “The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday granted an emergency use authorization for the updated Novavax COVID-19 vaccine.

    The authorization is for the JN.1 strain of the virus, and has been approved for people 12 years old and over. Doses of the vaccine are expected to be available at the end of next week.

    The FDA has already approved updated vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, which target the KP.2 variant. Neither the JN.1 strain or the KP.2 variants are the dominant strain. KP.3.1.1. Is the most common variant, accounting for 42% of the cases.

    “COVID-19 continues to be a very real risk for many people, and we encourage individuals to consider getting an updated COVID-19 vaccine when eligible,” Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said in a statement. “Today’s authorization provides an additional COVID-19 vaccine option.”

    The authorization comes after COVID-19 hospitalizations increased over the past three months nationwide.”

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  8. Just The News: “Sweet Briar College in Virginia has banned transgender students that identify as female from attending the women’s school next year, citing language in the college’s charter.

    Sweet Briar President Mary Pope Hutson told the college community earlier this month that the school’s charter must be interpreted as it was intended at the time, and therefore applicants need to be biological women who live and identify as female. The 20th century private liberal arts school was founded in 1901. 

    “Sweet Briar College believes that single-sex education is not only our tradition, but also a unique cultural and social resource,”  Hutson told the Associated Press in a story published Friday.

    Hutson’s comments have been met with harsh criticism from the school’s students and faculty, because founder Indiana Fletcher Williams’s will, which serves as the school’s charter, also specified that the students have to be white, which is no longer a requirement. “Williams also wouldn’t have entertained the notion that somebody who was disabled would be a potential student,” John Gregory Brown, one of the school’s professors, said.

    The school’s faculty on Monday also voted to demand the board rescinds the policy. Forty-eight members voted in favor of the demand, four voted against the demand, and one person abstained. The Sweet Briar College Student Government Association has also condemned the policy, claiming it was “alienating, unnecessary, and reflects the rise of transphobia in our country.” One board member has also resigned over the controversy.

    “Many [alumnae] want Sweet Briar to remain a place where women can thrive, and they believe that a broader policy is a slippery slope toward co-education,” Hutson said. “They strongly support this policy.”

    Sweet Briar College is one of just 30 members of the Women’s College Coalition still remaining within the United States, a notable drop from the 1960s, when there were over 200 American female colleges in the coalition.” 

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  9. Oh, my Mom will jump all over this – guaranteed!!! This is diabolical!!!

    Just The News: “A movie about GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump is now scheduled to hit American theaters in October, just one month before the 2024 election. The film is titled “The Apprentice” and it stars Sebastian Stan as a young Donald Trump.

    According to Deadline, the film will debut tonight at 10 p.m. at the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado, but won’t hit theaters until Oct. 11. It was already shown earlier this year at the Cannes Film Festival.

    The film portrays Trump as a powerful businessman who “falls under the sway of the demonic lawyer and power broker Roy Cohn,” according to the film’s description. There is also a scene in the movie showing Trump raping his first wife, Ivana Trump, who is played by Maria Bakalova.

    The former president had threatened to file a lawsuit against the film “to address the blatantly false assertions from these pretend filmmakers,” according to The Associated Press.

    “This ‘film’ is pure malicious defamation, should never see the light of day, and doesn’t even deserve a place in the straight-to-DVD section of a bargain bin at a soon-to-be-closed discount movie store, it belongs in a dumpster fire,” Trump communications director Steven Cheung told The Hill.

    Cheung called the film’s release “election interference by Hollywood elites right before November.”

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  10. “Panhard Dyna Z Pick-Up, 1954. Panhard didn’t market a pick-up version of the Dyna Z until 1958 (the D65); however in 2017, a coachbuilder took a Dyna Z 4-door saloon and converted it into a pick-up with a slide-out tray that Panhard never made.”

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  12. Professional ice climber Will Gadd climbing on the remaining glacial ice on the crater of Mount Kilimanjaro. This ice wall is freestanding and looks like an iceberg emerging from the sand.

    A breathtaking shot of a synchronized swimmer performing a flip outside the water during a cold winter night practice.

    Matt Bush is an incredibly skilled free solo rock climber based in Cape Town, South Africa. In this image he takes his life into his own hands as he scales the Paarl Rock cliff face with no ropes. [NF: He’s also nuts!!!]

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