Who is Mercedes Piper from Fall on Your Knees: A Novel and what is their importance? Fall_on_Your_Knees English & Literature Mercedes Piper | Fall on Your Knees: A Novel

Mercedes Piper is the second daughter born to James and Materia. While Materia could not love or bond with Kathleen, she discovers that she is able to love Mercedes without even trying.

Mercedes is similar to her mother in her devotion to Catholicism. She prays and says her rosary often, even using other objects as a way to say the rosary. As a young woman, her faith is tested by Frances' wild phase and subsequent pregnancy. At times she seems to trust in God more than her own common sense, as evidenced by her deception of Frances when she has her son. She believes she is doing the right thing by God, Frances, and by the child. Later she is provided with divine guidance to legitimately bring Anthony, Frances' son, into the Piper family. Her faith also leads her to believe that Lily may be a saint, as she finds Lily's experiences and stories to be rather miraculous. She saves money so that Lily can go to Lourdes and be cured of her withered leg. When Lily rejects her plan to go to Lourdes, Mercedes declares that Lily is selfish. Later she realizes it is her own despair and loss of hope that has led her to have such high expectations of other people.