Places to Pray: Holy Sites in Catholic Missouri, (Paperback)

From the grand basilicas of Missouri's big cities to small churches in every corner of the state, the stories of generations of Catholics immigrants are set in stone. Built as places to ask for blessings and pray for survival in a foreign land, these churches endure today as monuments to the struggles and the faith of those new Americans and their descendants. Places to Pray takes readers to Catholic churches, shrines, convents, and monasteries throughout Missouri. Author Patrick Murphy tells their stories and captures their beauty in a rich collection of photographs. Readers will explore the architectural marvels of the cathedrals of St. Louis and Kansas City and visit neighborhood parishes that proudly hold on to the ethnic flavors of their founders. There's a story of a shrine built from thousands of stones by a monk who died at his task. Cloistered sisters committed to lives of prayer and silence open their doors to us, and monks in a Trappist monastery in the Ozarks show off their world-famous fruitcakes. Churches range from European, African, and Hispanic parishes to a congregation in southwest Missouri that holds the largest annual gathering of Vietnamese pilgrims in the world. In addition to visiting holy sites, the book offers chapters on a range of topics unique to Catholicism, which are often misunderstood, even by Catholics. They include the veneration of Mary and the saints, the Rosary, holy relics, Stations of the Cross, Imaginative Prayer, Eucharistic Adoration, the Infant of Prague, and miracles. The Catholic Church has long understood the importance of creating places where people may remove themselves from the common distractions of the world to contemplate the infinite, the eternal, and the mysterious. Places to Pray is intended for readers of all faiths and walks of life who are tempted to venture into some of these places to experience realms beyond those offered by daily life.