Click to enlarge (390k, jpg).
I get a lot of emails here at BikePortland.org headquarters — but yesterday was the first time I ever got one from a Deacon.
It was a personal invitation from Deacon Thomas Gornick, Director of Evangelization for the Archdiocese of Portland, to attend “the Blessing of the Bikes to be held at the Cathedral on Sunday, June 8, 2008 at 2 PM.”
According to Deacon Gornick, his parish is located near important bike crossings in the Northwest and the Pearl District and he, “wants to celebrate and acknowledge the cyclist contribution to our community.”
A press release that accompanied the invite noted that (emphasis mine),
“The parish, which is located at the corner of NW 18th and Couch in the heart of Northwest Portland and bordered by the Everett Street bike lane, values and raises up the contribution that cyclists make to the community and environment. Portland biking is the platinum standard, and the cyclists bring a special life to our neighborhood and city whether they ride for recreation, commuting or competition.
The Cathedral parish will welcome everyone to celebrate and recognize our biking community. In addition, the service will pray for those injured and will especially remember those who have died in bike accidents in 2007. “Cyclists are members of the parish and staff,” says Father George Wolf, Pastor of the Cathedral, “many of our neighbors regularly ride by our church. We invite everyone to bring their bikes and celebrate the many miles ridden each day.“
There will also be special blessings performed for bikes — something that Deacon Gornick says they discovered has already been going on in other communities, like New York City.
The Deacon says “All are welcome”, so I assume that means people of all faith — as long as you believe in the bicycle.
Event Details:
-
Blessing of the Bikes
Cathedral of Immaculate Conception
St. Mary’s (NW 18th and Couch)
Sunday, June 8th – 2-2:30pm
Contact: Deacon Thomsas W. Gornick, Director of the Department of Evangelization
(503) 228-4397
— All are Welcome —
For more on how local religious communities are embracing the bicycle, see these previous articles on BikePortland.org:
Thanks for reading.
BikePortland has served this community with independent community journalism since 2005. We rely on subscriptions from readers like you to survive. Your financial support is vital in keeping this valuable resource alive and well.
Please subscribe today to strengthen and expand our work.
This is a great contribution to our Portland community based on the Patron Saint of Cycling, Madonna del Ghisallo.
I know there are days, moments, where I am either feeling blessed that I came back from a ride unscathed, or blessed that I got an amazing ride in at all. Mornings when I cross the Broadway bridge into downtown and see the sun bathe the west hills and I know there is some hope in the world.
Thanks to Deacon Thomas for putting together this service and giving the community a chance to remember our fallen friends. Though I am not religious, I have great faith– especially in my bicycle.
This is completely wonderful!
In Seattle, they have the annual blessing of the fishing fleet. Pomp and circumstance. It\’s like having a little spirital insurance.
Cheers,
I dig. I dig.
Wow, I actually saw this in an episode of Law & Order: SVU a few months back and thought to myself – I wonder how this would go over in Portland? I\’m not Catholic but I might just take my bike to this as I ride by that church everyday.
In the press release, it says that Deacon Gornick is also a bike commuter. Good for him!
\”As long as you believe in the bicycle\”
That\’s genius! 🙂 Cycling as a way to connect all faiths. 🙂 It is a moving meditation, after all.
This is really cool.
Note that this event will happen on Couch Street…which has a relatively low traffic bridge over I-405. Maybe its time to make Couch from Naito to NW the defacto \”bike boulevard\” since Sam bailed on Flanders.
Something smells sour. Looks like the good ol\’ Archdiocese of Portland is looking to score some PR points in wake if its wonderful handling of sex-abuse by priests.
I\’m staying far away form this one.
I heard they\’re trying to score PR points by offering people free wine and bread, too!
🙂
But seriously, the Catholic Church has been blessing all sorts of things for far longer than there\’s been a sex abuse scandal.
Even that free wine and bread. 😉
Lenny, the problem is that Couch is slated to become a one-way street in the Burnside-Couch couplet. Secondly, Couch only runs up to 19th or so, which creates a problem for true connectivity. Lastly, Couch has some rather awkward intersections, but it\’s probably the best option for families right now. The couplet is supposed to include increased bicycle and pedestrian facilities, but I\’m always leery of how good one-way streets are for bikes due to the, often, increased speeds. NW 18th and 19th are good examples of areas where the speeds don\’t get too bad, because the streets are primarily one-lane. The two-lane one-way streets tend to get a little worse, and three-lane one-way streets (ex. Broadway) get really bad, as they are fairly difficult, for less experienced cyclists, to traverse to make left-hand or right-hand turns.
Not only that, but Couch is probably the least safe crossing for cyclists and peds, due to the 405 on ramp.
We should ask this parish to refuse blessing SUVs – didn\’t the pope create new sins regarding destroying the environment. So…
chuckle… nice one Diogo…
sounds like an interesting event to me. Events that bring us all together are generally good, in my book.
Blessings…
Gosh… Normally this pagan tree-hugger is allergic to Christianity in all forms. But I\’m really touched. I might even go.
Well, probably not. 😉 But I do appreciate the gesture.
And I would like to add… Goddess bless the cynics, for they do keep us rational.
😀
That is wonderful!
The flyer is made with graphics from Sheldon Brown\’s wheelbuilding page. Sheldon was not a fan of religion, so I doubt he\’d have been especially pleased with the homage.
Well, E, one could make the argument that the Madonna del Ghisallo is simply an aspect of the Great Goddess of the pagan faith. While I certainly can\’t be considered much of a Catholic anymore, I will take all the help I can get out there. Kind of a nice beginning to Pedalpalooza…
A little bit about Our Lady of Ghisallo:
Medieval legend says that Count Ghisallo was travelling near the village of Magréglio when he was attacked by highway bandits. Spotting a image of the Virgin Mary in a roadside shrine, he broke away from his attackers and ran to it. There he took refuge, pled for Our Lady\’s protection – and was miraculously saved from the robbers. As the story spread, the Madonna del Ghisallo became known as patroness of local travellers. In more recent times, cyclists would often stop to rest and pray at the chapel, which is a local landmark, and is at the top of a steep hill. After World War II, Father Ermelindo Vigano, pastor at the shrine, proposed Ghisallo as the site of an Italian shrine for bicyclists, and she was given as patroness of cyclists on 13 October 1949 by Pope Pius XII. The chapel has become equal part religious shrine, part cycling museum, with artifacts and photos from the sport. There is an eternal flame that burns there in memory of the cyclists of are no longer with us, and services each Christmas Eve and the Feast of All Souls commemorate them.
My research says that the Madonna was a pre-Roman mountain deity that was so loved locally that her shrine was still maintained all the way into the Christian era, and the Count called the shrine Marian to protect it from the more militant churhc leaders in Rome. Hence we have our deity of the bicycle, Ghisallo.
That\’s my story and I\’m sticking to it.
Well, then we have something for everyone here. 🙂
OMG. I\’m atheist, but that sounds like fun. I might go.
That was a very nice service. Everyone was very friendly and kind and I got the impression that the parish and clergy simply wish us well out there. They even blessed the people who build our roads and bike infrastructure. I\’m not particularly religious anymore, but I enjoyed the fellowship and appreciated all the positive thoughts projected in our direction.
I hope they do it next year and that more people check it out. It may not help, but it also couldn\’t hurt.
Two-wheeled miracle
Fast, free, beautiful
Under the thumb
Conspiracy of petroleum
Ozone Angels
The religious pedalers
Who risk life and limb
To share a communion
Of rubber and steel
With heart and feet
Where being meets machine
And we all careen
Unified in the battle
For swift, safe travel
______________________
i am not catholic, but i\’ll go to any bike blessing.
It\’d be nice to see other churches, synagogues, buddhist temples, et. al. copy this local catholic precedent.