National Shrine of the Infant Jesus of Prague
The Catholic Church at Prague, in the southeast corner of Lincoln County, actually began at the settlement of Keokuk Falls, about six miles south in Pottaw- atomie County. This was an early center of Polish and Bohemian (Czech) farmers. A post office was opened at Prague in 1901. Vincent Martinek donated some acreage located about 1 1/2 miles from the present town, on which was built a small church surrounded by a cemetery. This seems to have happened around 1899. In 1947 Father George Johnson was appointed pastor; he brought with him a small statue of the Infant of Prague which he had been given by some nuns in California. The story goes that, as he pondered the need for a new church, he turned to the statue and asked casually, "Why don't you do something?" Before long, donations of cash, building materials, labor and talent began arriving. The building went up with the help of the parishioners and even the largely non-Catholic townspeople as well.

By this time, the great city of Prague in Czechoslovakia was behind the Iron Curtain, and the idea came to Father Johnson of putting a shrine to the Infant of Prague in the new church. Bishop McGuinness suggested that the church become a national shrine. On the day St. Wenceslaus Church was dedicated, February 22, 1949, the National Shrine of the Infant Jesus of Prague was inaugurated as well.

              Saint Francis of Assisi Shrine, Oklahoma City
When Bishop Kelley arrived in 1924, he settled into the Bishops house on the northwest side. This area was rapidly filling up with urban development and city dwellers, a few of them Catholic. There was a small chapel in the bishop's residence, and these parishioners without a parish attended Mass there. By August 1925 their numbers had grown to the point that Bishop Kelley appointed a pastor for them. By 1927 this was Father John Van den Hende, and he built the first structure to serve the new parish, a small chapel attached to the residence. He also built a school.

In 1936 a larger brick chapel was built. Because of the close association of the Dominicans with devotion to the Rosary, the school became known as Rosary School. Father Everard Vander Grinten became pastor in 1933. In 1941 he announced plans for a new school. As soon as the war ended, the parish began work on a new church. This was completed and dedicated on May 22, 1947 as a shrine to Saint Francis. The stained-glass windows depict the life of Saint Francis.

                    Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Bison
Bison lies along the Rock Island line between Hennessey and Enid. The parish was comprised mainly of Czech farmers, and it was a Czech-speaking priest from Hennessey, Father Joseph Sinkmajer, who first visited them in 1904. Father Sinkmajer did not remain long in the Oklahoma Territory, however; another Czech-speaking priest, Father Joseph Lusar, the pastor at Yukon, also paid visits to the Catholics around Bison, and it was he, in 1908, that obtained the first pledges toward a church. The church was constructed the next year on donated land, and Bishop Meerschaert presided at its dedication to St. Joseph on October 14, 1909. A school and a rectory soon followed, and in 1912, Father Hector Schaubroeck became the first resident pastor. Sisters of Divine Providence operated the school until 1934, when they were succeeded by Sisters Adorers of the Most Precious Blood. The school closed in 1967.

Father Andrew Thomas was in the parish only briefly, but he was responsible for obtaining for St. Joseph's the diocesan shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, dedicated in 1951. The Fatima movement was strong among American Catholics for many years, and many parishes sent annual pilgrimages to Bison. The shrine was destroyed by an electrical fire resulting from a storm in 1992, but it was rebuilt and Archbishop Beltran dedicated it on October 30, 1994.

                 Shrine of Saint Therese, Collinsville
Father Theophile Van Hulse of Tulsa said Mass in Collinsville as early as 1902. In 1913, P.J. Duffy, a parishioner and a local contractor, began construction of a brick church on the corner of 13th and Main. Many in the congregation were Poles employed in the zinc smelters; hence, the church was dedicated to St. Stanislaus

During the heyday of the Ku Klux Klan, Catholics in Collinsville were made to leave the town. The church closed, though it continued to stand until Mr. Duffy s death in 1934. In 1945, under the leadership of Father Ben Forner of Skiatook, the parishioners built another church. Bishop McGuinness dedicated it to Saint Therese of the Little Flower on December 29, 1945. In 1958 Collinsville became an independent parish and property was purchased for an expanded parish facility on North 19th. A rectory and a parish hall were constructed there, and a large new church was dedicated on the site on October 1, 2000.

            Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Tulsa
This replica of the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was brought to Tulsa by Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera of the Archdiocese of Mexico City on Aug. 1, 2004, when Bishop Edward J. Slattery of the Diocese of Tulsa proclaimed St. Francis Xavier Church a shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe. The image now hangs above the altar at the church and Marian shrine, located at 2434 E. Admiral Blvd., which also has been proclaimed an Expiatory Temple.