Blessing of The Bicycles: Wednesday at St. Stephens

Photo from the 2010 Blessing of the Bicycles

This Wednesday is the annual Blessing of The Bicycles at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Home of the Portland Bike Shrine.

St. Stephen's has a corner of their sanctuary set aside as a bicycle shrine, where bicyclists can come in and meditate whenever the building is open. There are a few icons and artifacts there, including the ghost bike that commemorated PNCA student Tracey Sparling's fatal crash location.

You'll want to come a bit early to this event. Come right on inside, with your bike (use the wheelchair ramp on the north side). Then you can mix and mingle, enjoy the harp music, and wait for the very short service to begin.

The service consists of
* the prelude music (usually by Halley the Harper -- Portland's own Bicycling Street Harpist),
* a short reading by Deacon Ken and others, praising the bicycles and the hardy people that ride them,
* a blessing of each bicycle in the sanctuary with holy water and a few words,
* then a short closing statement, and
* socializing with punch and cookies.

5:30 - 5:45 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 2, at the parish, 1432 S.W. 13th Ave (SW 13th at Clay).

Note that the event only lasts 15 minutes. If you're schedule challenged like me, plan to arrive by 5:15 at the latest.

Yours in The Faith,
Pasture Ted

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More info:

* St. Stephens web page here and Bike Shrine page here. (no mention of the blessing, maybe their web guru is out for the month)

* Portland Tribune story on the service Here.

* St. Stephens also blesses pets -- here's a Facebook link to their "Celebrity All-Star Pet Bless-O-Rama EXTRAVAGANZA!"