New book shares “Monuments, Marvels, and Miracles” of Archdiocese

Summer is road trip season for many Americans who enjoy hitting the open highway and exploring the countless beautiful locations the country has to offer. But this year, instead of visiting the typical tourist destinations, Catholic travelers can easily find sacred places to check out thanks to a new book that lists holy sites throughout the United States — including several within the Archdiocese of Newark.

Marion Amberg’s “Monuments, Marvels, and Miracles: A Traveler’s Guide to Catholic America” collects 507 cathedrals, shrines, statues, and other types of unique locations guaranteed to amaze even the most well-traveled Catholics. Among these destinations are five sacred places in Jersey City, Kearny, Newark, and Summit, which means archdiocesan parishioners do not need to leave their own backyards to reaffirm their faith.

Of course, readers do not have to visit each site to be blown away — the book thoroughly explains the significance of every location featured while offering numerous photos and trivia items. But Amberg hopes people will experience the locations for themselves to appreciate their holiness. At the same time, the author believes it is crucial that American Catholics learn about their country’s rich religious history.

“The sites in the book collectively tell the story of American Catholicism,” said Amberg, an award-winning author and journalist known for her travel and human interest features. “If we don’t keep that history alive, if we don’t remember the sacrifices and the hardships the early Catholics endured to pass the faith on to us, then what do we have? Learning about our faith history deepens our faith and inspires us.”

Researching each destination definitely inspired Amberg. The author said she now prays the Rosary every day after learning about three parishes that did the same during World War II. Each of those parishes had every congregation member serving in the military return home safely, and one Kansas parish also saw all its parishioners survive overseas after praying the Rosary during the Korean and Vietnam wars as well.

New Jersey readers do not need to go as far as Kansas to be astonished, though. Amberg said the Archdiocese of Newark has some of the most breathtaking sacred places and relics she came across during the roughly 15 months it took to research and write the guide. That includes the Miraculous Crucifix within St. Anthony of Padua Church in Jersey City, which was the only item to survive a massive fire that devoured the building’s interior in 1895.

“If that doesn’t speak volumes, I don’t know what does,” Amberg said. “It’s a reaffirmation of the hymn ‘How Great Thou Art.’”

Amberg was also impressed by the story behind the Four Chaplains Monument at St. Stephen’s Church in Kearny, which honors the four chaplains who heroically gave up their lifejackets to save four sailors aboard the German-torpedoed USAT Dorchester on Feb. 3, 1943. That statue portrays the chaplains — Methodist minister George L. Fox, Rabbi Alexander D. Goode, Dutch Reformed minister Clark V. Poling, and St. Stephen’s pastor John P. Washington — praying according to their faith tradition as the ship sank. Visitors can also pay their respects inside the Archdiocesan Sanctuary of the Four Chaplains located inside the church.

Then there is the 400-year-old replica of the Holy Shroud of Turin — the linen cloth Jesus was wrapped in following his crucifixion that miraculously bears his image — which can be found at the Monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary in Summit. After it was commissioned by Cosimo de Medici’s wife in 1624, the replica was placed on top of the actual shroud for a short time. When the replica was removed, a blood stain was found on the replica in the same place it appears on the shroud. Scientists in 1987 confirmed this stain contained the same human blood type as the shroud’s stain, a fact Amberg finds miraculous.

“I hope people visit the shroud and pray before the shroud,” Amberg said of the replica, which is on display more than the real Shroud of Turin in Italy. “They’ll be in the presence of something very, very holy.”

Those who did not know of such sacred destinations in New Jersey should not feel bad, as Amberg said she spent years unaware of a site near her Minnesota hometown where locusts fled after a priest commissioned a chapel dedicated to Maria Hilf (“Mary’s Help” in German) in 1876. That is why she wrote the book — so Catholics will have a central resource to find holy places they never heard of before. And it seems people are already starting to benefit from it, with one reader telling Amberg he plans on using her guide to make detours when he follows the Lewis and Clark Trail in an RV this summer.

Completing such a comprehensive book is a major accomplishment, but Amberg gives all the credit to God. God gave her the ability and inspiration to produce such a guide, she said. In fact, the author said she prayed to the Holy Spirit to inhabit her thoughts and words before she began writing each day.

Now that “Monuments, Marvels, and Miracles” has finally been released, Amberg hopes the book will generate positive interest in the Catholic Church. Though the media often focuses on scandals, Amberg said Catholicism has always been an important part of American history. And she believes it is time to remind everyone about it.

“The American Catholic Church has been through so much, but we need to look at what we do have that is good, that is holy, that is inspiring,” Amberg said, pointing out that many early American Catholics literally built their churches by hand. “The history of American Catholicism is astounding. It’s beautiful.”

Those interested in purchasing a copy of “Monuments, Marvels, and Miracles: A Traveler’s Guide to Catholic America” should visit the publisher’s website here.

Featured image: The view from the altar inside The Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, N.J. (By Jai Agnish/Archdiocese of Newark)