Faith along Route 66

Traveling Route 66 for the 100th birthday was a bucket list for me. While I enjoyed the quirky sites, love learning about the history.

Dannelle Gay, The Traveling Cheesehead and I loved connecting with our faith along the way.

Illinois

There are most likely other faith-filled stops on Route 66 . The first one on the Illinois leg was at Trinity Lutheran Church in Auburn. The congregation lights the way for Route 66 travelers with a beautiful stained-glass cross. Located along Route 104, the cross replaced one that came down during a past renovation. Curt Diemer, along with other Trinity members, designed the stained-glass section. This was a group effort to share Jesus’ love with travelers along the roadway.

Lady of the Highway

Right off I-55 near Raymond, Illinois is The Lady of the Highways Shrine, also known as the Roadside Madonna. The stop offers a spiritual guardian and reminds travelers to travel safely. The lovely 12-foot-tall Virgin Mary is carved of imported marble from Italy. An inscription at the base reads, “Mary, Loving Mother of Jesus, protect us on the highway”.

This prayer is similar prayer to the one Dannelle and I made every morning. During our journey following my mother’s admonishment, we always remembered her words, “Say a travel prayer”.

New Mexico

At the Tucumcari’s Welcome Center, which was once a hotel, a little alcove with Mary sits among planters.

For those seeking faith stops along the Mother Road, Santa Fe had the most stops.

The Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi is open to the public Tuesday – Friday between 9:30 a.m. and 4:00. p.m.  On Saturday hours are 9:30 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. Built between 1869 -1886, this French Romanesque style church has beautiful architectural touches like the round arches, Corinthian columns and imported French stained-glass windows. Even the doors are stunning. The history is amazing with a portion of the surviving chapel on the north side of the church that was destroyed in 1680.

Outside the church are statues, like the one above of St. Francis of Assisi and a Labyrinth.

A marker shares Labyrinths were built into the floors of medieval Cathedrals . They were walked by pilgrims of that time. 

Constructed in 2003, it is a reminder of Archbishop Lamy who was responsible for construction of the Cathedral. A cross with a bronze Jesus was erected in honor of the original settlers of Santa Fe.

The Miracle

The most stunning find is the Miraculous Staircase in the Loretto Chapel.

The Loretta Chapel is the first gothic building east of the Mississippi River. It was built between 1873 and 1878.

The story I love so much is the staircase built for the nuns who could only get to the loft by a ladder.  They prayed for a staircase. One one day a carpenter showed up. He, built the spiral staircase without center or side support, and no nails, only wooden pegs. Soon he disappeared, but the staircase remained. You can see this faith filled history still standing today.

Another church is San Miguel church. It is the oldest church structure in the US! It was built by the Tlaxcalan Indians from Mexico under the direction of Franciscan Padres circa 1610.

California

Entering into California, Dannelle and I saw Joshua Trees. The trees were named after the prophet Joshua. Morman pioneers thought the trees represented Joshua raising his hands in prayer. The Joshua trees are not really trees, but the largest of the Yuccas. We saw the trees in the Joshua Tree National Forest.

This is just a small portion of the Mother Road, but it shares some of my faith filled finds.