Auriesville in October

I had the opportunity yesterday of returning to the “Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs” in Auriesville, New York. Unlike all my recent experiences of the shrine, no pilgrimage or other event was occupying my attention. And the weather, in contrast to the glorious fall days both before and after that Saturday, was more typical of Upper New York State this time of year: overcast, chilly, and raining off and on into the evening. But this sombre and silent ambience had its own advantages. The weather and the stillness created a more reflective and prayerful mood. Without the distraction of crowds, we had the opportunity of exploring the grounds and the shrine buildings at our leisure. The main “guide” to the shrine today is a 1963 coloring book still reprinted and sold at the shrine book store.

Towards the Ravine – the most sacred part of the shrine. This is where St Rene Goupil was buried.

On the way – the Madonna della Strada.

The statue of Rene Goupil in the Ravine: A hushed stillness seems always to prevail here.

(Above) This shrine of the entombed Christ is said to be where St. Isaac Jogues buried St. Rene.

(Above) Mute testimony to the lack of pilgrims nowadays to the shrine. Only one tour bus from a school was visible that morning – besides a few other vehicles. The shrine has faced increased financial difficulty in recent years.

“(A)ttendance dropped by more than 50 percent during the shrine’s 2013 season. Collections brought in less than $100,000.” 1)

The Jesuit retreat house and about 90 acres of land were sold to the Buddhists a few years ago (the shrine grounds had over 600 acres). By 2013 the dilapidated state of the buildings was so dire that closing was talked of. The shrine launched a $1,000,000 fundraising drive which, I believe, has reached about half its goal. Repairs are already underway starting just now on the main shrine structure- the “coliseum.” The shrine management believes the threat of immediate closure has passed. They have even extended an invitation to Pope Francis to come to Auriesville on his 2015 American visit (Wishful thinking? But after all the shrine is administered by the Jesuits and see the altar below.) 2)

(above) Cardinal Cushing preaching in 1959 to a “full house” – the “Coliseum” can seat over 6000.

The coliseum today

The centrally located sanctuary includes statues of the martyrs – Jogues, Lalande and Goupil – as well as of Kateri Tekakwitha who was born here in 1656 and grew up here and in nearby Fonda.

Recently some of the altars seem to have “repurposed” as displays for images and devotions. Most notably, images of John XXIII and John Paul II are now prominently on view.

The “Santo Subito” of John Paul II was nothing – Pope Francis has already been raised to the altars here!

Reliquaries and items associated with the saints are on view. (Above) A reliquary of Kateri Tekakwitha. (Below) A statue from a roadside shrine near the Jesuit novitiate in Rouen, France where three of the North American Martyrs studied: Sts Isaac Jogues, Jean de Brebeuf and Antoine Daniel. They may well have prayed before this Madonna.

The reliquary of the martyrs of Auriesville. It was fashioned by Fernand Py, an artist of the Catholic “other modern” (M. Alderman).

Statues abound on the grounds of the shrine of saints and devotions familiar and not-so-familiar. (Above) St. Theresa. (Below) The “Madonna della Libera.”

This sacred site has been attracting Traditional Catholics for many years now. For how many other places are there in the United States so closely linked with the foundation of Christianity in this region – and with martyrdom and the saints? To wander the grounds of the shrine is to discover a veritable encyclopedia of Traditional Catholic devotion – regardless of the current state of liturgical practice here. The “Pilgrimage for the Restoration” is now in its 19th year. The FSSPSX had been organizing a pilgrimage for just as long. We regret to say, however, that under its current management the shrine is not welcoming to traditionalists. (The same is true of the shrine to Kateri Tekakwitha in Fonda, but that is under different (Franciscan) direction.). The concluding mass for the “Pilgrimage of the Restoration” no longer takes place in the coliseum. As for the FSSPX pilgrimage, which now is substantially larger than the “Pilgrimage for the Restoration”, they had (always?) been excluded from the coliseum. In the last few years, however, they have been barred from the rest of shrine grounds as well. This year they were told they could not even park their cars at the shrine parting lot – creating quite an uproar, for at the head of the FSSPX pilgrimage was one Msgr Bernard Fellay….3)

An altarpiece of the North American Martyrs (from where?) on a wall of the coliseum.

To visit the shrine of the North American Martyrs is a journey well worth making. One need not travel to all kinds of pilgrimage sites all over Europe when such a holy place is on our own backyard. And despite the symptoms of the decline of the Church so evident at this shrine, we can only rejoice that such a precious heritage of earliest days of Catholicism in our land still is with us. The spirit of the martyrs still teaches us how to confront our own seemingly insurmountable difficulties.

(above) A thing now of the past? – Solemn High Mass at the Shrine in 2010.

The shrine WEBSITE.

1) “Auriesville Shrine tries to save Itself,” The Evangelist, 4/3/14 http://www.evangelist.org/main.asp?SectionID=3&SubSectionID=28&ArticleID=24493

2) Minor, Kerry, “Work Underway at the Shrine”,Leader Herald, 9/19/14 (at http://www.martyrshrine.org/?p=559

#) “Rome will hear of This,” SSPX.org, 6/13/14 http://sspx.org/en/news-events/news/auriesville-injustice-rome-will-hear-4213