Patron saint of bicycles shrine in Portland OR

The Oregonian reports on the nation's first shrine to the patron saint of bicycles and memorializing those who have died in bicycle accidents:

Reflections of blinking white bike lights danced up and down the organ pipes inside St. Stephen's Episcopal Parish on Monday night. On the north wall, Lady Madonna had 35 bicyclists at her feet. Pushing their bikes inside the church, the riders had escaped the autumn chill of downtown Portland. They had come to watch the Rev. Dennis Parker bless the nation's first known church shrine honoring the Madonna del Ghisallo – patron saint of cyclists.

According to the latest U.S. Census data, 6.4 percent of Portland residents commuted to work in 2008, making the city No. 1 in the country for bicycle commuting.

h/t to Newsline.

See photo below:


Photo from The Oregonian, Frederick D. Joe, click on image to enlarge:

BikeShrine.jpg

Image courtesy of Martin Wolfe

Posted by Ann Fontaine on November 3, 2009 5:00 PM | |
Comments (3)

We publish a lot of stories about the good work being done at Episcopal churches, so I am not certain why this one strikes me as especially moving, but it does. Three cheers for St. Stephen's.

Posted by Jim Naughton [TypeKey Profile Page] | November 3, 2009 5:26 PM

Thanks for the post. I'm the reporter who wrote the story (and an Episcopalian). Just wanted to mention that the image you posted is actually courtesy of Martin Wolfe. Fredrick Joe's brilliant photos, as well as the full story, are at this link:
http://blog.oregonlive.com/commuting/2009/11/lady_madonna_cyclists_at_your.html

Best,
Joseph Rose

Posted by Joseph Rose [TypeKey Profile Page] | November 3, 2009 8:04 PM

Beautiful story. My daughter attends college in downtown Portland and rides her bicycle every day to class. I'm glad to know there's a patron saint watching out for her.

Posted by Sally Peel [TypeKey Profile Page] | November 12, 2009 1:38 PM

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