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OREGON: Portland church dedicates shrine, space to Our Lady of the Cyclists
A 31-year-old cyclist had been killed in a fatal traffic accident about 2 a.m. that morning, he said in a Nov. 4 telephone interview.
"We'd like to be able to respond, to reach out, to help in any way possible," he said. "When we envisioned this ministry, we thought this might be a piece of what we'd do."
On All Souls Day, Nov. 2, Parker had dedicated a permanent indoor shrine and accompanying mural honoring the Madonna del Ghisallo, the patron saint of cyclists. The church set aside a section of its 80-year-old wood-and-stone sanctuary for bike commuters to contemplate their travels and remember those who have died while cycling, and a whole new community was born.
During the ceremony, Parker also blessed and applied a dab of gear oil to the chains of 35 bicycles and prayed for the safety of their riders, who attended the dedication.
Hearing about yearly blessings of bicycles elsewhere and a breakfast meeting with congregational leaders sparked the idea for the new ministry, Parker recalled. "We realized that we all rode our bikes to the meeting from our homes. Portland is one of the most bike-friendly communities in the nation."
It was also born out of the downtown parish's desire to revision its presence in the community by asking "who was missing at the table ... and how we want to reach out to the neighborhood where we find ourselves."
The congregation already provides regular meals to its neighbors, residents of lower-income and transitional housing, mostly "for the mentally ill as well as homeless and addicted populations," he added. "We just thought how do we reach out to others who are here but who we may be missing."
Creating the shrine has done just that. It opened "our eyes to a whole new area of life in the city and we are seeing more and more what the needs of that community are," Parker added.
Portland ranks first among the nation's 30 largest cities for bicycle commuters, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's yearly American Community Survey. In 2008, about 6.4 percent, or 17,365 of Portland residents rode their bicycles to work, up from 10,987 the previous year, according to survey results.
Yet, there is a surprising amount "of hostility and unspoken animosity between those biking and driving in the community," Parker said. "We thought this idea of blessing the bicycles and the shrine could help reconcile some of that."
After some research, he discovered the Madonna del Ghisallo, previously the saint of vulnerable travelers, those at greater risk for centuries. In 1949, she became recognized as the saint of cyclists because of stories and legends crediting her with miraculous interventions in which cyclists were kept safe from harm.
Thousands of cyclists make a pilgrimage to the small Madonna del Ghisallo Church and shrine for bicyclists located on a hill above Italy's Lake Como. Parker said he was unable to find another church shrine dedicated to bicyclists or the saint.
The 3-foot-by-3-foot mural, by local commercial artist Martin Wolfe, depicts "the Madonna holding the Christ child in her arms. Her veil stretches the full length of the portrait and drapes around and protects a riderless bicycle at the center of the painting," Parker said.
Accompanying votive lights are designed to be "part memorial, part meditative" and to invite reflection. They are an effort "to reach out to a part of the community in our city that has not really been reached out to from the spirituality community," Parker said.
Wolfe told the Oregonian that Portland cyclists "need a place that respects their often-dangerous individual journeys."
Parker said it was also intended as "a place where people could be if they wanted to come in out of the cold or wet."
The shrine is open to everyone during normal business hours.
St. Stephen's is also about to embark on another creative outreach venture, to hold a Taizé-style service at a coffeehouse in a recently developed Williamette Riverfront district "where there are no churches and where there is no spiritual presence," Parker said.
It isn't the first time the congregation, which has had a Portland presence since 1863, has re-envisioned ministry, Parker added. "For the most part, people have been really open to looking at new ways of reaching out to the city. We open the doors and God gives us the opportunity and we have to figure out how we minister with that community."
Mark Reber, an avid cyclist who attended the dedication of the shrine, told the Oregonian that the bicycle shrine was "quite appropriate for the church. No matter who you are or how you get there, there's a place for you."
After the dedication, the Rev. Brian Heron, pastor of northeast Portland's Eastminster Presbyterian Church, said a prayer for all commuters, asking that they share the road.
According to local news reports, the Nov. 4 death of the 31-year-old cyclist brought to four the number of cyclist fatalities on Portland streets so far this year. There were none the previous year, but 2007 was considered one of the deadliest on record, with six cycling deaths.
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