Shrine of the Sorrowful Mother

The Shrine of the Sorrowful Mother is located at 274 West Main Street, in Norwalk. It is often called "the other Sorrowful Mother Shrine" because it is sometimes confused with the more famous Sorrowful Mother Shrine in Bellevue, Ohio.

Margaret (Theisen) Fisher, wife of Lawrence Fisher, made a generous gift to St. Paul Catholic Church to build a shrine in memory of her parents. The Shrine of the Sorrowful Mother was built in 1928 and still stands on the original site of St. Peter's Church, the first Catholic church in Norwalk.  St. Peter's Cemetery is at the rear of the shrine.

Lawrence and Margaret Fisher were the parents of eleven children, seven sons and four daughters. The sons were notable for starting Fisher Body, an automobile body company, in Detroit in the early 1900s, which was very successful. The families moved from Norwalk to Detroit and became quite wealthy.  However, they never forgot their Norwalk roots and, over the years, were generous to both St. Paul Catholic Church and the city of Norwalk.

The story of the Fisher brothers and their contributions were described in the Spring 2013 issue of Flyer Pride, when they were inducted into the St. Paul High School Hall of Fame.

The Shrine is available for small Catholic weddings (seats about 30 comfortably).  Contact the parish office at 419-668-6044 for more information.