ALTON, IL (KMOX) - It may simply be a statue of Mary to some people, but Our Lady of the Rivers Shrine near St. Louis has now become a focal point for prayer during the coronavirus pandemic.
Flooding in 1951 could have been catastrophic for the town of Portage des Sioux, Mo. as the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers rose, "the priest there, the pastor of the parish there in Portage des Sioux began to pray the rosary and ask Our Lady to intervene to preven this from happening to protect his parish and his town and the surrounding area," explains Father Jeremy Paulin, pastor of St. Mary's Parish in neighboring Alton, Ill. "The waters were rising and Portage des Sioux as a town was spared. It wasn't flooded. It's really a miraculous occurrence there because the prayer of the priest and the invitation of the people to pray."
A statue of Our Lady of the Rivers was erected several years later.
One of the priests at St. Mary's created a prayer and the local community of Oblates of the Virgin Mary are leading those prayers of intercession that the riverbend area would not be overcome by the rising coronavirus pandemic.
Paulin says when the crisis is over, he plans to lead a pilgrimage to the shrine, intending to walk the 10 miles.
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