The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC, is the largest Roman Catholic church in North America and is among the ten largest churches in the world. Designated by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops as a National Sanctuary of Prayer and Pilgrimage, the National Shrine is our nation’s preeminent Marian shrine, dedicated to the patroness of the United States, the Blessed Virgin Mary under her title of the Immaculate Conception. This patronal church is home to over 80 chapels and oratories that honor the Mother of God and represent the peoples, cultures, and traditions that are the fabric of the Catholic faith and mosaic of our nation. Nearly a century in the making, this great Marian shrine, affectionately referred to as America’s Catholic Church, has been a work in progress since the laying of its foundation stone in 1920. Now, as its one hundredth anniversary approaches, a monumental effort is underway to complete this “Hymn in Stone” as envisioned by its founder, Bishop Thomas J. Shahan, with the mosaic ornamentation of the Trinity Dome, its “Crowning Jewel.”