Histories

Last Saturday we made our way once again to the shrine of the North American martyrs ( more precisely, Our Lady of the Martyrs Shrine ) in Auriesville, New York. In years gone by, we had participated in the “Pilgrimage for the Restoration” which this year celebrated their concluding mass on Sunday. I hope things went very well for the pilgrims –  the weather should have been beautiful. Recently, however, we have been unable to make this pilgrimage.

But as we have written on previous occasions, a visit outside of a pilgrimage to the largely silent and deserted shrine has its own charm. In last Saturday’s beautiful weather, one could savor the almost tangible silence that pervaded of the grounds. One begins to think of the long history connected with this shrine; a whole series of layers of the past that need to be peeled away.

First. of course,  were the actual martyrdoms that took place here in the 1640’s. It is still amazing to contemplate these Jesuits who went out into the wilderness to convert the Indians, suffered agonizing deaths and even, in some cases,  after horrible tortures, went back again. Most of the martyrdoms took place in what is now Canada – I only just noticed that entire group is often referred to as the Canadian Martyrs. Truly it is hard to imagine those times:  the missionaries living in complete isolation so remote from New France to the north in Quebec or even from New Netherlands along the Hudson to the east and south. Subsequently, Auriesville is where Kateri Tekakwitha was born, and she grew up in a village nearby (today, Fonda).

The second history involves the finding of the site and the establishment of the shrine in 1885.  It was part of the discovery by the Catholics of America of their heritage. This was a Jesuit apostolate from the beginning. At first only a small kiosk or pavilion was erected,  followed by a shed-like church in the 1890s. Already in the first year of the shrine’s existence 4000 pilgrims came from the nearby cities in upstate New York. Within 30 years there were many more each year,  from parishes everywhere. And these pilgrims  would often stay the whole day in prayer. The Catholic Encyclopedia of 1907 adds the curious detail that the buildings constructed by that year had to be temporary because Rome had not yet made a determination as to the sanctity of the North American Martyrs. In fact,  going too far with devotions to the martyrs could be detrimental to their cause!  It’s a curious commentary on ultramontanism: what once had been one of the main pieces of evidence for sanctity  – namely, the existence of a popular cult –  now could be even detrimental to canonization! (“Auriesville,” The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. II at 111-12 (New York, Robert Appleton Company, 1907)

Surrounding the “temporary” structures of the shrine (many of which still exist) there sprang up a whole army  of Victorian-era statues of the saints, the martyrs and of Kateri. And the shrine grounds itself grew from a few acres to more than six hundred. 

In 1925 the North American martyrs were beatified and in 1930 they were canonized. This obviously focused attention on Auriesville and of course removed any remaining hesitation in celebrating the cult of the martyrs.. The result was the construction of the huge “Coliseum”  to house large groups of pilgrims. It has a seating capacity of some 6500. It is a utilitarian structure that resembles more a sports venue that a church. There are various statues and devotions and reliquaries of the Martyrs and of Kateri displayed throughout the church, but they’re lost in the huge interior. The Coliseum strangely anticipates ideas on religious architecture that were ascendant later at the time of the Second Vatican Council:  a church understood fundamentally as a shelter to house a congregation that sits in a circle around a central altar. Indeed, when low mass was celebrated the congregation would look down at the sacred actions. A final touch to the complex was added in 1960: a cafeteria and visitor center, surrounded by parking lots. That center is also a monument of its time,  a “modernistic” structure decorated with Indian emblems like tomahawks.

Our third history is that of the post-conciliar era. This 600-acre complex soon fell into relative obscurity. Certainly, growing up in New York and Long Island I had heard much about the North American Martyrs but never anything about Auriesville.  I do get the sense that the facility had become a white elephant for the Jesuit order. By the 2000’s  signs of dilapidation and disrepair were  everywhere. The canonization of Kateri Tekakwitha in 2012 did not help matters. In 2006 the Jesuits had sold off much of the property, including their retreat house, to a Buddhist sect. Then, in 2015,  they vacated the entire premises retaining only a chapel, the Jesuit graveyard, and adjacent properties.  It even seemed for a while that it might be the end of the shrine of the North American martyrs. 

But that fate was avoided. The main part of the shrine including the Coliseum, several other chapels and most of the grounds were taken over by a lay association ( the “Friends of Our Lady of Martyrs Shrine”) which was working with the Diocese of Albany. Even before the Jesuits decamped, independently organized fundraising efforts had started to address the worst structural issues. Since then, the grounds and the buildings have been put into much better shape. Efforts are being  made to make  the pilgrimage site known. In a week, for example, a eucharistic conference will take place in the Coliseum  with some 7000 attendees expected. It may be the largest group to visit the shrine in many decades! The only downside in recent years has been the addition of some inept metal sculptures that can be here and there on the grounds.

Our fourth history is that of the Traditionalist Catholics. A “Pilgrimage for the Restoration” was organized to Auriesville, in conscious imitation of the Chartres “Pilgrimage of Christendom.”  In the early to mid 2000’s a core group of the pilgrims trekking from Lake George were met by a large and enthusiastic crowd on the final day (at that time Saturday). The Colosseum was certainly not even remotely Chartres Cathedral.  And the Pilgrimage for the Restoration lacked the deep historical roots – and impressive national organization – of its French counterpart.  Nevertheless, it was an impressive  public success for American traditionalism.

Yet the subsequent checkered history illustrates the twists and turns of the Roman Catholic Church regarding the traditionalist movement and  the continuing hatreds and animosities on the part of the establishment and religious orders. Some of the changes in direction were attributable to the Pilgrimage for the Restoration itself. Over the years it focused more and more on those pilgrims who made the entire journey from Lake George. This of necessity would be a much more limited number. But conflicts also emerged with the Jesuits. For several years the pilgrims were banned from the Coliseum and had to use the smaller, older chapel from the 1890s for their final Mass. This was better, however, than the fate of an FSSPX pilgrimage which had grown to rival or exceed the Pilgrimage of the Restoration in size. The Jesuits banned them not just from the Coliseum but even from the parking lot! 

I get the sense that under the new lay management a modus vivendi has been reached with the traditionalist Catholics. The traditional mass is celebrated once again in the Coliseum, and even at the high altar! I have seen a regular traditional mass being advertised; I do not know the actual status of that. The shrine, however, has been expressly exempted from Traditionis Custodes.

But after all this the Pilgrimage for the Restoration this year returned once more to Auriesville.  I have also read that at least one new traditionalist group is organizing a pilgrimage and mass at the shrine.  Auriesville has indeed been a kind of mirror to various phases of the Catholic experience in North America – heroic and sacrificial, but also conflicted and even decadent. Most recently, it is a hopeful tale of the renewed commitment to the faith and to Catholic tradition in spite of all the odds.