Virgin Suicides Religion Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #10

[. . . T]he girls had created a shrine to their dead sister. Those who attended church said the window resembled the Grotto at St. Paul's Catholic Church on the Lake, but instead of neat ascending rows of votive candles, each alike in size and importance like the souls they pilot-lighted, the girls had engineered a phantasmagoria of beacons. (4.133)

The Church Eugenides refers to here is an actual Catholic church in Grosse Point, Michigan. The grotto is an area filled with candles that devout believers light as part of their prayers. The girls create their own shrine to remember Cecilia, once again taking over their mother's religious custom and making it their own. This is like the Virgin Mary cards; they were knowledgeable about Catholicism but gave it their own meaning. Bonnie was a believer, but it didn't keep her from committing what traditional Catholics like her mother would consider a mortal sin.