This Saturday, my husband and I spent the evening at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel. We ate dinner in the same room where a photo of my parents was taken in the mid 1940's, when they were married. On Sunday morning, we attended Mass at the Shrine of St. Joseph, a restored Catholic church located at 11th and Biddle. The shrine is a precious piece of St. Louis history and is overwhelmingly beautiful. I have traveled to Europe and to Ireland and I think the shrine is every bit as beautiful as any of the European churches I have seen. St. Joseph's was a German church. The cornerstone of the first St. Joseph's church was blessed on April 14, 1844 by Bishop Peter R. Kenrick. St. Joseph's was built on land donated by Mrs. Ann Biddle, daughter of John Mullanphy and widow of Major Thomas Biddle who was killed in a duel with Colonel Pettis on Bloody Island - a long remembered event in early St. Louis history. The church was dedicated in August of 1846, the same year that Ann Biddle died. St. Joseph's Shrine is famous and infamous. It is infamous because ( in the 1990's?) the parish priest (Fr. Phillipine??) was murdered there. The three young perpetrators were caught. Two are dead. One served his time and is free. It is famous because an authenticated miracle took place there. Also, during the last great cholera epidemic in St. Louis, (August and September of 1849) during which an average of 280 deaths took place in St. Louis daily, members of the church gathered and made a vow that if they and their families were spared, they would build a memento of gratitude to St. Joseph. All of them were spared and they built the altar in the church. This altar is definitely impressive. The web page for the shrine is here. It has a virtual tour and represents the shrine well. http://www.shrineofstjoseph.org/ While on the tour of the church, I wrote down the names of the donors of the stained glass windows. Since the church was first built in 1846, I assume the windows could date back that far. Here are the donors' names: Catherine BERGER, Francisca BERGER, LINKOGEL and LANDEZETTEL, Henry ASHOFF, John DUSSOLD, Theo JENNEMANN Family, Mrs. A.B. DIEHL. While on the tour of the rectory, the guide showed us three very old pettipoint needlepoints: The first was done by a ten year old girl in 1873 and depicted King David. The name of the ten year old girl was Theresia HOLMANN. The second was called "Queen of Heaven" and was done by a twelve year old girl named Emma DIEHL in 1882. The third was called "Ishmael's Banishment" and was made by a 14 year old girl named Mary SCHMISSEUR in 1870. I recommend visiting this site to anyone - Catholic and non-Catholic alike. The church carries the scars of the cholera epidemics, the Civil War, and inner city deterioration, but has emerged under the care of the "friends of the Shrine of St. Joseph" to be a very beautiful and awe inspiring piece of St. Louis history. Diane Shaw Antonia, MO