8 Oct

2019

Traditional Mass Returns to the High Altar in Auriesville

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This past Sunday we paid a visit to the Shrine of the North American Martyrs in Auriesville, New York, to attend the Traditional Latin Mass scheduled for 3 pm. It was a pleasant surprise to see that it was celebrated on the main altar of the coliseum, situated high above the other altars in the center of this building. For many years previous to this visit we had seen the Traditional Mass celebrated only at one of the lower altars – that is, when it could be celebrated in the coliseum at all.

The celebrant was Father Jeffrey L’Arche, who, as some of us may remember, in the 1990s regularly celebrated the Latin Mass at Our Lady of Sorrows in Hartford.

Close to 100 attended this Latin Mass, which is celebrated every first Sunday of the month.
Above and below: a photo on display shows a Solemn Mass celebrated at the high altar by Cardinal Cushing in August 1950 before a congregation of 6000.

For a number of years, the Latin Mass was banned from the coliseum. In this 2013 photo, the annual Pilgrimage for the Restoration held Mass in a smaller rustic pavilion on the grounds of the shrine.

A few years ago, a lay organization, Friends of Our Lady of Martyrs Shrine, took over ownership from the Jesuits. The Latin Mass has returned to the coliseum. (Above) This year’s Solemn Mass of the Pilgrimage for Restoration offered on September 29 (photo courtesy of Mark Anthony)

Statue of St. Kateri Tekakwitha, who was born in the village which is now the site of the shrine.
A beautiful reliquary of the martyrs, the work of Fernand Py.

The peaceful grounds of the shrine, the site of the martyrdom of St. Isaac Jogues, now deserted in the advancing Autumn.
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