This morning, I stopped by Our Lady of Peace, also known as Our Lady of Pines, in Pine Bluffs, Wyoming.
A little taller than 30 feet, the marble-cement statue is both one of the largest statues of Mary and one of the largest concrete statues in the U.S. Here’s a picture with me standing beside it:
It stands in the middle of a circle on an isolated dirt road, less than a mile from the Nebraska border on barely-used US 30. I was there for almost an hour, and no one came by.
Te starkness of the shine really caught my attention, because it lacks the elaborate decoration and extravagance common among Catholic shrines. Instead, it’s just a simple concrete design, surrounded by smaller statues and an old bus stop that houses a guest book and some brochures. I really liked it for that reason – it felt like the work of people who just wanted to do what they could.
And it’s very quiet, except for the hum of I-80 about a mile south. There wasn’t even any movement in the neighboring RV park, which apparently houses angelic souls:
There were other, smaller statues of Mary surrounding the large one, but none had as much attention as Our Lady of Guadalupe, which was covered in beads and flowers:
I’m assuming that’s because there have been a lot of Hispanic immigrants moving into the region recently for farming and maintenance jobs, and this might be an easy shrine for them to get to.
I don’t know what else I can say about the place, but I enjoyed reading the guestbook, which was rain-damaged and filled with colorful scrawls:
One person asked Mary to “please pray for my friends and family – so that they’ll return to the church.” I always feel conflicted when I see people express sentiments like that. On one hand, I think it’s disparaging that they don’t seem to be respecting the choices of others not to belong to a church if they don’t want to, and I know plenty of atheists who would take offense at someone praying for them. On the other hand, they’re doing what they think is best, and if you believe you have the right way, wouldn’t it be a disservice not to pray for other to find it, too?
