Catholic Dictionary

Find accurate definitions of over 5,000 Catholic terms and phrases (including abbreviations). Based on Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

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SORROWFUL MOTHER, SANCTUARY OF

This shrine to Mary was founded in 1926 in Portland, Oregon, and is constructed on two terraces, one on street level, another at the top of a high cliff. A marble Crucifixion group dominates the area. On the lower level is a cavern where under the grotto arch stands a white altar framed with flowers and vines. Above on the cliff wall is a replica of Michelangel's Pietà with two bronze angels holding torches. At the western end of the amphitheater is the cross-laden Christ, whose stumbling figure leads the eye to his Mother standing at the very top of the one-hundred-fifty-foot cliff wall. The Stations of the Cross dot the base of the hill, also the praying figure of St. Philip Benizi, founder of the Servites, who are in charge of the shrine.