Our Lady of the Underpass

This chapter examines devotional practices around and representations of a Marian apparition site on the north side of Chicago. In 2005, an image formed by salt runoff that resembled the Virgin Mary appeared on the wall of the I-90 and Fullerton Avenue underpass. Since then, devotees have maintained the space below and around the image as a makeshift shrine. Drawing on sources that include news reports, theatrical performances, and my own observations, it explores the story of the apparition against the backdrop of the rapidly changing neighborhood around the underpass. I argue that the site makes certain forms of devotion publicly visible, while also putting immigration, homelessness, and gentrification on display. I approach this site as a place where boundaries are continually negotiated and contested, including those between neighborhoods and nations, the sacred and the profane, and between what is and what is not American religion.