The National Shrine of the North American Martyrs

On Thursday, October 16, a busload of travelers and I accompanied Bishop Reidy on a pilgrimage to the National Shrine of the North American Martyrs. The day was marked by a pleasant bus ride, prayer, Holy Mass, and the beautiful vistas of the Mohawk Valley.

Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs

The Shrine, also known as Our Lady of Martyrs Shrine, is located in Auriesville / Fultonville, NY. It encompasses the village known as Ossernenon, where Saints Isaac Jogues, René Goupil, and Jean de Lalande were martyred, and where Saint Kateri Tekakwitha was born. The Shrine commemorates these three men, along with five others martyred in Canada (Saints Brébeuf, Lalemant, Daniel, Garnier, and Chabanel). Together they’re known as the Eight North American Martyrs, canonized in 1930 by Pope Pius XI. In January of this year, the Shrine was officially named a National Shrine by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

At the Shrine, Bishop Reidy celebrated Mass and later explained to the group how and why the Jesuits were martyred. These deaths occurred amid wars between the Mohawk and Huron. The Mohawk saw the missionaries as potential spies or sources of illness, since European contact often coincided with outbreaks of smallpox.

Saint René Goupil (1642), a Jesuit lay missionary and companion of Isaac Jogues, was killed for making the Sign of the Cross over a Mohawk child. Saint Isaac Jogues (1646) was a Jesuit priest who, after earlier captivity and escape, had returned to the Mohawk to make peace but was accused of bringing disease and bad luck. Saint Jean de Lalande (1646) a young lay assistant who accompanied Jogues, was killed the day after Jogues, while trying to recover his body for burial.

Saint Kateri Tekakwitha National Shrine

Later in the day, we proceeded to visit Saint Kateri Tekakwitha National Shrine, located nearby in Fonda, NY. Bishop Reidy led us in the Divine Mercy Chaplet in Saint Peter’s Chapel on the grounds of the Shrine dedicated to Saint Kateri Tekakwitha (1656–1680), the first Native North American woman canonized by the Catholic Church. The grounds cover approximately 130 acres, including woodland, trails, historic sites, and the archaeological village of Caughnawaga, where Saint Kateri lived, and the stream where she was likely baptized.

Saint Kateri, at age 4, survived a smallpox epidemic that killed her parents and brother. The disease left her face scarred and her eyesight weak. Influenced by Jesuit missionaries, including Saint Isaac Jogues, she was baptized at age 20 in 1676, taking the name Kateri (Catherine). Her conversion caused tension with her Mohawk relatives, who saw Christianity as foreign. Facing ridicule and threats, she fled 200 miles north to the Christian mission of Kahnawake (near Montreal). She lived a life of prayer, charity, and devotion, making private vows of chastity and spending long hours in contemplation. She died in 1680 at age 24. Witnesses said that soon after death, the scars on her face faded and her skin became radiant. She was declared a saint by Pope Benedict XVI on October 21, 2012, becoming the first Native American saint of North America.

Visiting these Shrines was remarkable in that nowhere else in North America can one actually walk on ground blessed by the blood of Saints.

By Deacon Ben LoCasto