There will be an all night vigil of eucharistic adoration for the souls in purgatory on Thursday, Nov. 19 to Friday Nov. 20 at the Church of St. John the Baptist, 210 W. 31st St., New York.  This event is sponsored by the Third Friday Reparation Devotional Prayer Group

9 P.M.  1st Annual Traditional Latin Requiem Mass with absolution at the catafalque 10 P.M. First Break
11 P.M.  Exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament ; Prayers for the Holy Souls in Purgatory
Third Friday Reparation Prayers to the Most Precious Blood
3 A.M.  Divine Mercy Chaplet of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus 3:15 A.M. Second Break
3:45 A.M.  Eucharistic Procession and Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament
4:15 A.M.  Closing Sung Traditional Latin Sung Requiem Mass with absolution at the catafalque
5:30 A.M.  Blessing of Religious Articles; Recitation of the Angelus at 12 Midnight and 6 A.M.

Saint Mary Church in Norwalk, CT,  will host Fr. George Rutler from New York City for sung vespers at 5 PM this Sunday, November 1, Feast of All Our Saints.

This traditional Sunday prayer service will culminate with Exposition and Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament, a beautiful way to end Sunday’s Feast. This devotion continues every first Sunday of each month with various priests presiding.

The Ravine – the site of the martyrdoms.

As so often in the past, we came back again this year to the shrine of the North American martyrs in Auriesville, New York (west of Albany) for a personal “pilgrimage.” The time was right – it was the Saturday before the feast of St. Isaac Jogues on October 19. The fall weather and the foliage were magnificent. Only the temperature was distinctly on the chilly side – snow fell the next day. That’s the reason the “Pilgrimage for the Restoration” – which originally took place at this time – was pushed back to September.

(Above and below) A strange, sacred calm prevails here in the “offseason.” That is particularly so in the Ravine – the holiest part of the shrine – where Rene Goupil was martyred.

(above) The deserted second shrine church from the 1890’s. Only a handful of visitors could be found on the grounds of the Auriesville shrine this brilliant Saturday afternoon. The shrine “welcome center” and bookstore were “closed for the season.” Signs of neglect abound: outdoor stations of the cross have been knocked over here and there; a a large cross formed of pine trees created to advertise the shrine to the nearby thruway is sadly overgrown. Yet the brooding silence is welcome relief from the daily reports of the unfolding chaos of the synod in Rome.

(Above and below). After 120 years the Jesuits are giving up at the end of this year care of the Shrine of the North American Martyrs. “We’re moving on!” one of them proudly told us. Who will take over the spiritual care for the shrine is uncertain at this time. But this year money has become available – from the Knights of Columbus, among others – for some urgently needed repainting in the main church. And it seems that “master sculptor” Timothy P. Schmalz has obtained two or three big commissions.

(Below) It seems that the modest Victorian statuary of the past no longer suffices. The new funds are a mixed blessing indeed.

(Above) As the Catholic Church contracts, the Buddhists expand. Some years ago the Jesuits sold or leased the former Jesuit retreat house to a Chinese sect. They have expanded, constructing a pagoda-like tower peering over the shrine and a very Chinese-looking gate. The Buddhists have also gotten into disputes with the shrine over non-payment of utilities and the use of an access road (below – the “Father” is the Jesuit head of the shrine). What happens next is anyone’s guess. In the last few years, confronted with decreasing  numbers of visitors (and correspondingly diminishing donations), the Jesuits responded by restricting or excluding Traditionalist pilgrimages. We would hope the new management of  the Shrine of the North American Martyrs adopts a more Christian approach – and shows more energy in promoting what should be focal point of Catholicism on the East Coast.

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Yesterday a 3-alarm fire nearly destroyed the Shrine of Christ the King, a center for the traditional Mass on the south-side of Chicago, entrusted to the Institute of Christ the King. Ironically this was the second fire to gut this magnificent church. Built in the 1920’s by German immigrants, the church suffered its first fire in the 1970s. Afterwards it sat for many years in a dilapidated state, virtually unusable, while the neighborhood fell on hard times. In 2003 Cardinal George entrusted the church to the Institute. With vision, courage, and hard work, the Institute has been restoring the church, a project that has costed millions of dollars. The shrine has attracted a vibrant community of church-goers and has revitalized the neighborhood through community service. Fund-raising is already underway to restore the church. See the Institute’s website

Pictures (above and below) of the shrine from a 2008 entry on our website (see link)

The shrine as it looks today.

The treasured 18th century Spanish statue of the Infant King, which stood over the altar, was rescued, as was the tabernacle. Later the firefighters located the missing arm (see below)

A sister who runs a shelter next door said, “I know the spirit of the priests there and this will not stop them. I’m sure they will rebuild.”   Anyone who wishes to help can go to the Institute’s website or a special fund-raising page.