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:
Image courtesy of Martin Wolfe