St. John, Indiana: Shrine of Christ's Passion and Millennium Mary

Life-size statues depict the final days of Jesus, accompanied by music and narrated at the push of a button. Next to the parking lot stands Millennium Mary, 34 feet tall, the personal project of former altar boy Carl Demma, who originally had her driven around on a trailer.

Great place to go see The Passion scenes. Bring lots of water as the walking path is not shaded.

The Shrine of Christ's Passion has become the permanent home of Our Lady of the New Millennium. 33 feet tall and made of steel, Millennium Mary was the life-long dream of Carl Demma, who envisioned a giant Madonna that could be trucked to various parishes around Chicago. The statue was completed in 1999, and after more than a decade of dutiful mobility, it's now time to settle down -- until possibly the next millennium.

The man who actually built the statue, Charles Parks, has since gone on to erect his own giant non-mobile steel Marys in New Castle, Delaware, and Santa Clara, California.

The Shrine of Christ's Passion is an impressive outdoor display of 40 life-sized bronze statues depicting the Stations of the Cross. The displays are spaced along a winding half-mile trail of trees, bushes, and boulders, beginning with the Last Supper and ending with the Garden of Gethesemane.

Each setting has a listening station, narrated by Bill Kurtis, which allows visitors to hear a description of that scene.

The Shrine of Christ's Passion is an interactive half-mile pathway that begins with the Last Supper and Garden of Gethsemane. You journey through the Passion of Christ as depicted in the Stations of the Cross. There is continuous background music, and 40 life-size bronze statues, with push-button listening stations and narration and prayer by veteran broadcaster Bill Kurtis.

The pathway is lit for early evening use.