This chapel is in the Romanesque revival style. It is a tiny chapel, but is beautifully made, and has verticality.
A basilica-style porch over the entrance of the church.
Masses can be held outside of the chapel, with an altar and pulpit built into the porch.
According to the Shrine's website, "Blueprints for the new chapel were drawn by Professor Becker of Mainz, Germany, with Mr. John Walchshauser, an architect from St. Louis." Parishioners quarried the stone for this church by hand.
Mosaic of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as Our Lady of Sorrows, on the outdoor altar. She was a poor widow who had to witness her only child being unjustly and cruelly executed as a criminal. Click here for the seven sorrows of Our Lady.
Archbishop Kain was here. This was in the Archdiocese of Saint Louis until the Diocese of Jefferson City was founded in 1956.
The outdoor pulpit, along with the grave of August Mitsch, a sacristan, who founded the shrine.
IN GLORIAM DEI
IN HONOREM MATRIS DEI
TEMPLUM HOC
ERECTUM EST
A.D. 1908 - 1910.
✠
IN HONOREM MATRIS DEI
TEMPLUM HOC
ERECTUM EST
A.D. 1908 - 1910.
✠
BEATUS HOMO QUI VIGILAT AD FORES MEAS QUOTIDE
ET OBSERVAT AD POSTES OSTII MEI! PROV. 8. 34.
Blessed is the man that heareth me, and that watcheth daily at my gates, and waiteth at the posts of my doors. Proverbs 8:34
The interior nave of the church, although small, soars to a great height, which is a great symbol for the raising up of the soul heavenward.
The main altar. Mass was held here just before these photos were taken.
The side of the sanctuary has this unusual balcony; perhaps this is the pulpit?
Painting above the sanctuary.
Altar to the Infant Jesus.
The tabernacle in a side-altar, underneath a statue of Mary holding the dead body of her son Jesus.
Old discarded crutches.
Banner with Mary.
Virgo prudentissima Ora pro nobis
Virgin most prudent, Pray for us
The shrine has numerous plaques giving thanks for prayers answered, dating from the the early days, up to the present time.
Stained glass window of the finding of the child Jesus in the Jewish temple.
And it came to pass, that, after three days, they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his wisdom and his answers. Luke 2:46-47
Most unusually, the stations of the cross in the chapel are stained glass windows. This small chapel is remarkably designed.
Rose window.
This small log chapel, dating from the late 1880s, served as the shrine before the construction of the stone chapel. A statue of Mary, the "White Lady" was housed here for veneration by pilgrims. Note the hinges: can the front of the chapel be opened up?
The interior of this chapel is bathed in blue light from a stained glass window above the door. The chapel is only large enough for perhaps two people. The windows, as well as the statue (now in the new chapel), came from Germany.
Map of the shrine. It also has an outdoor Way of the Cross, an underground grotto of the sepulcher, and a well to which water from Lourdes is added.
Click here for a map of Starkenburg, Missouri.
