St. Anne Shrine near Lake Wales stands as a shadow of what it once was -— its weathered stone grotto and tile-laden altar among the few aging remnants of its hallowed past.

Yet those shadows impart a miraculous story.
They harken to a century ago when a group of Catholics from Canada ventured to Florida in 1920 to escape the harsh winters of their homeland. Recalling Canada's devotion to St. Anne de Beaupre, they chose to build a shrine to St. Anne, mother of the Virgin Mary, at their winter retreat on State Road 60, six miles east of Lake Wales.
And through the leadership and generosity of Canadian native and winter resident Napoleon Pelletier, the Shrine to St. Anne des Lacs, or St. Anne of the Lakes, began to take form. The intimate white chapel, the towering grotto mirroring the site where the Virgin Mary appeared at Lourdes in France, the pedestal bearing a statue of Jesus Christ and the tiered monument to Saint Theresa emerged near the southern shore of the Saint Anne Lake, according to records at the Catholic Diocese of St. Augustine.
The faithful built a moat around their grotto, with an arched stone bridge crafted from native Florida rock.
And in 1926, a French artist, Francies Marsollier, traveled to the shrine with his young son, who was dying of tuberculosis. He promised to dedicate his life and talent to beautifying the shrine if his son could be saved, and as his son's wounds began to heal, Marsollier made good on his pledge. He painted dramatic murals throughout the chapel and chiseled elaborate sculptures for the church and grounds.
And the people came.
They flocked to Lake Wales for the first pilgrimage in 1928, and continued coming by the thousands to celebrate the anniversary of the Virgin Mary's apparition at Lourdes each February and St. Anne's feast day each July, Diocese records show.
In July 1930, a Catholic bishop traveled to Lake Wales to bless the ornate repository of the True Cross, designed by Marsollier.
In time, international attention and support brought a lakeside monument to St. Christopher and a fountain dedicated to St. Anne to the burgeoning shrine. When others reported healings in the lake's waters, the throngs of pilgrims grew even greater.
But as the world fell into the grip of World War II, the Canadians pilgrims stayed behind in their snow-covered homes  during the long winters. Interest in the shrine began to wane.
Residents of the little St. Anne community were expressing concern that the shrine was becoming too commercial, and the crowds of visitors began to thin.
By the early 1960s, the Catholic Diocese of Orlando perceived the shrine as obsolete, prompting church leaders to desanctify the church and tear it down. Only the front steps remain, leading to nowhere.
Ever so slowly, the shrine began to disappear. The Diocese, which still owns the property, has all but lost interest. Some of the statues that once adorned its adorned the church now have found a new home at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Lake Wales. The Diocese has lost track of others, officials there say.
When a priest from that church attempted to sell the site so a house could be built there about 1980, neighbors rose up and scuttled the deal, saving the remains of their beloved shrine.
Rick Smith has lived within a stone's throw of the shrine for 20 years, and he says he often seeks out the peace and serenity he finds there.
“I'm a converted Catholic,” he says, “and it's nice that some of the early Lake Wales Catholic history is right there in my neighborhood. I can walk over, and there's a place to pray or meditate. I've done that, just gathered it all in and thought about what it means and what it's there for.”
He says he and other neighbors try to keep the grass and weeds under control throughout the year so visitors don't have to wade through overgrown bushes and thorns. And the Knights of Columbus group at Holy Spirit has built a permanent altar at the shrine, where the Rev. Glenn Charest, the church's parochial administrator, will offer Mass at sunrise on Easter Sunday, as those before him have done.
“To me, this place is peace and tranquility,” Smith says.
David Turner, a Catholic who retired to Lake Wales about 13 years ago, says he stumbled across the shrine and became captivated by its history.
“It was a place for healing, and it's all but forgotten now,” he says, “and that's the frustrating thing about it. It was there because of that lake and the healing powers of the shrine, and it was once worshipped so highly. It's really sad to see what's happened to it. I think it's important that we preserve what is still there.”
Smith says that's his goal, as well.
“It was built so long ago,” he says, “I want my grandchildren to enjoy the monuments that are still there. That's part of my motivation for helping out at the shrine, so others can appreciate and enjoy it.”