A Visit to the National Shrine of St. Kateri Tekakwitha Makes an Easy and Inspirational Day Trip

[media-credit id=3 align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]PITTSFIELD – More than 50 parishioners from St. Mark’s Church climbed aboard a bus and into three cars last weekend and drove a little more than an hour from the Berkshires to the National Shrine of St. Kateri Tekakwitha in Fonda, N.Y.

Next month marks a year since Pope Benedict XVI canonized Saint Kateri Tekakwitha at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

She was the fourth Native American to be canonized in the Roman Catholic Church.

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A visit to the shrine, run by Franciscan Friars since 1938, makes a great day trip for anyone living in this area who wants a little bit of calm, peace, quiet and serenity.

The shrine is located on sweeping green lawns along the Mohawk River Valley. There is a chapel there where prayer candles can be lighted and intentions offered up to the saint. There’s also a chapel/museum and a hall named after Friar Thomas Grassmann.

Only Mohawk Village Excavation in Existence

He discovered the only archaeological excavated Mohawk village in the world and also founded the shrine.

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Visitors can walk along a wooded road to the archaeological site as well as to a spring from which water was used to baptize the saint 400 years ago. Once used to provide water for the entire Mohawk Village, the spring is still running on the property.

There’s also a small gift shop where souvenirs can be purchased. Friars live in an old farm house that’s there, too. A guest cottage is used for visitors on retreats.

St. Mark’s Pastor Says Mass Under Pavilion

The Pittsfield tour group attended a bilingual Mass presided over by the Rev. John Salatino, pastor of St. Mark’s Church, who was assisted by Father David Aufiero, parochial vicar.

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 It was held beneath sunny skies and under the Maximilian Pavilion, named after St. Maximilian Kolbe who dedicated his life during World War II so another person could live.

St. Kateri Tekakwitha was born near Auriesville, N.Y., in 1656 to an Algonquin mother and Mohawk father. Both her parents and a baby brother died during a smallpox epidemic when Kateri was only four years old.

Left with pox marks on her face as well as with impaired eyesight, the little girl was adopted by her father’s relatives.

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After the village in which she was born was destroyed to eradicate the small pox, she moved with her surviving family members to the current shrine location.

The Mohawk village where she lived that has now been excavated was called Caughnawaga Castle.

Saint Taught by Jesuits

According to information on the saint, she was instructed in Christianity and Catholicism by a Jesuit priest. He had come to the village and met St. Katari Tekakwitha who had injured her leg. He began to talk to her about Jesus.

She was known as a kind and helpful person. She lived in the village most of her life. However, she eventually went to live with Canadian Mohawks.

St. Kateri Tekakwitha died very young at 24 years of age. According to information released about her, all of her facial scars disappeared at the time of her death. In addition, people who knew her referred to her as “the good woman” or “the saint is dead,” rather than call her by name.

Petitions Began After Her Death

After her death, people started to talk to her and petition her. 

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The reported miracle upon which her canonization was based involved a young Native American boy from Washington State. He apparently was playing basketball when he cut his cheek on a backboard and suffered a bacteria infection that was eating away his skin. Medical doctors gave no hope for his survival. However, when a relic of Kateri Tekakwitha was placed with him, the boy was “miraculously cured,” according to church documentation.

Hispanic Community Also Attended

The St. Mark’s delegation who traveled to the National Shrine of St. Kateri Tekakwitha last weekend included members of the Hispanic Community who recently relocated to St. Mark’s from St. Joseph’s Church.

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After the Mass, they enjoyed a picnic lunch, strolling the grounds along stations of the cross, and walking to the archaeological site of the former Mohawk village. Many brought home bottles of holy water from the spring.

As the bus and cars pulled out of the shrine parking lot late in the day, the Pittsfield visitors contemplated everything they had experienced at the National Shrine of St. Kateri Tekakwitha, whose last words before she died were “Jesus, I love you.”

Posted by Susan M. Wicker Guerrero on August 29, 2013. Filed under Community Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry