Pilgrim's Progress: A Look at Two Remarkable St. Louis Shrines

The Pilgrims who landed on Plymouth Rock weren’t really pilgrims. But in honor of the famous inventors of the Thanksgiving holiday, let’s take a look at some genuine pilgrimage sites around the St. Louis region. Long a center of the Roman Catholic Church in America, the city possesses numerous pilgrimage destinations located within a short drive of the city. Two of the more interesting, both in terms of architecture and notoriety, are explored below.

Shrine of St. Joseph, 1220 N. Eleventh Street at Biddle Street

Located on a quiet street amongst 1980s townhouses, just a couple of blocks from bustling Washington Avenue, is the Shrine of St. Joseph. Truly a relic of 19th century St. Louis, the shrine has witnessed the changing environment in the heart of the city. While the area is still residential today, if one could travel back to 1844 when the parish church’s cornerstone was laid, the surrounding blocks would have been packed with thousands of people, living in close proximity to the industry along the river. Even Jefferson Avenue, now deep within the city limits, would have been out in the country when the Jesuits laid the groundwork for St. Joseph’s Parish.

Perhaps the church would have become just another forgotten, demolished fragment of the early history of St. Louis, if not for German immigrant Ignatius Strecker. Injuring himself while at work, Strecker’s wife heard of the miraculous powers of Saint Peter Claver through the preaching of the Jesuit preacher Francis Xavier Weninger. Meeting Weninger the next day at the church, Strecker kissed Peter Claver’s relic; he was cured within a week. Strecker died nearly 20 years later of typhoid fever, surviving the 1866 cholera epidemic as well as his original injury. The original miracle that saved his life in 1864 was officially recognized by the Church in 1887.

The cholera epidemic did not dampen the parish’s resolve, and the priests used the opportunity to rally their congregation to construct one of the most unique churches in St. Louis. Completed in 1866, with the addition of the splendid façade in 1881, the church represents a rare instance of Baroque Revival architecture in the city. The ground plan of the church, with its strong emphasis towards the high altar and lack of transepts, shows in the influence of the Jesuits’ home church in Rome, Il Gesù. The elaborate interior also speaks to the lavish style favored by the Jesuits. The façade of the church, with its striking bell towers, is also influenced by Il Gesù with its subtle articulation of limestone pilasters interspersed among the red brick. The unfortunately truncated towers would have once risen into two elegant cupolas. In a city chock full of Romanesque and Gothic Revival churches, the Shrine of St. Joseph is a welcome respite.

National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows, Belleville, Illinois

Sitting in a valley northwest of downtown Belleville, the Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows represents a fascinating counterpoint to the urban Shrine of St. Joseph. The shrine commemorates a miracle where snow fell on the Esquiline Hill in Rome in the year 358 A.D., when the Virgin Mary appeared to a wealthy couple, ordering the construction of a new church. The snow fell on the location the Virgin desired; the new church, Santa Maria Maggiore, has become one of the most famous pilgrimage churches in Rome.

Dating to 1961, the Belleville shrine represents perhaps some of the most fascinating and successful Modernist ecclesiastical architecture in America. Designed by Richard Cummings, a Washington University graduate, the main building almost defies written description. Sitting at the base of a natural theater, Cummings placed a massive, curved concrete shell topped with a dramatic, almost abstract spire (which actually represents the letter M for Mary). Designed for outdoor masses, the altar sits underneath the lip of the roof. Behind the altar, a giant statue of the Virgin and Christ child floats in a golden enclosure.

Inside the chapel, the visitor is treated to a veritable overload of the senses. Ornate decorations across the spectrum glisten in the light from large windows. On a dark blue field overhead, silvery lights dance across the wall like the Aurora Borealis. All throughout the room, traditional decoration is bent and stretched, creating an ethereal, heavenly atmosphere. Inlaid stone and glass on the walls both reflect and allow light in the various crevices of the individual chapels arranged around the main sanctuary.

Bored Thanksgiving weekend, and want to get away from the in-laws? Perhaps a pilgrimage to one of these two shrines is the perfect break.

Chris Naffziger writes about architecture at St. Louis Patina. Contact him via email at naffziger@gmail.com.