Our Pilgrimage to the Shrine of the North American Martyrs in Auriesville

 Being homeschoolers we don't usually get to ride in a bus, so today was the first bus ride for both Luke

 and Kim.....They loved it.

 The Coliseum.   The large church build in a circle with four altars in the middle

 Saint Isaac Jogues..Today was the feast day of St. Isaac Jogues and the other North American Martyrs

 In the Kateri Tekawitha museum, they have the canoe which served as an altar.  I couldn't fit the canoe in the photo...but I could fit the photo. LOL!

 A rosary made from tree branches.

 The North American Martyrs.

 The very spot believed to be where Saint Isaac Jogues as martyred

 Whose having more fun in the rain, the boys or the girls?

 The Pieta....believed to be the location where the heads of St. Isaac Jogues and St. John Lalande had their heads displayed on stakes. St. John was martyred on October 19, 1646 when he attempted to recover the slain body of Father Jogues from the paths of the village.

 A stained glass image of Saint Kateri Tekawitha

 The entrance into the Shrine at Auriesville.

 The Shrine of Blessed Kateri Tekawitha....

Kateri was born in Auriesville, but when the village was destroyed by an enemy tribe, the village moved to Fonda, where Kateri was baptised.

 The chuch at Fonda is beautiful, featuring on all the beams of the church the life of Kateri.



National Shrine of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha

Today we spent a wonderful day at the National Shrine of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha.

We attended Mass in the morning with some new friends and then toured the beautiful grounds of this lovely, peaceful shrine.

Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha lived most of her life at this location in NY along the Mohawk River.

Luke praying the Glory Be prayer.....it is the prayer we learned this past week and he prayed it so reverently, I know his prayers were heard.

Inside the chapel where we attended Mass.

It is a church restored in the Mohawk tradition and just beautiful. Although a bit cold this morning....the Chapel closes next week because it is unheated and our central New York winters are very harsh. In fact, this morning I believe we could see our breath during Mass.

Luke at the altar railing.

The log beams across the ceiling of the church were carved with scenes of the life of Blessed Kateri.

The carving depicting Blessed Kateri's baptism, which took place at this location.

The altar

A symbol of the Turtle Clan inside the chapel

This rosary is amazing. It is made out of slices of wood along with beads. It was very unique.

There is also a very nice Native American museum on the grounds.

This is an cornhusk doll made in 1938.

(This isn't how our cornhusk dolls look)

a dreamcatcher

Kimmy getting "into" history.

I love this crucifix

The painting below is decribe above.

Amazingly, this was painted in 1681, a year after Blessed Kateri died.

The day warmed a little on our walk. We headed to the Tekakwitha spring.

The leaves are all on the ground now, but it was still gorgeous.

The Tekakwitha Spring.

There have been many miracles associated with this spring.

This is where the water came from with which Blessed Kateri was baptised on April 5, 1676

The grotto at the spring

A tombstone and statue are at the site of the only fully excavated Iroquois village.

The Shrine and grounds are lovingly taken care of by the Conventual Franciscans.
Words to live by.....

The National Shrine of Divine Mercy

This past Wednesday, Holy Cross Academy's highschool, along with several of us lucky moms, traveled for several hours to visit the National Shrine of Divine Mercy.

We spent a wonderful afternoon in prayer in the beauty of these beautiful, holy grounds.
The message that we learned about the Divine Mercy devotion was truly life changing.
I can't wait to go back with my entire family.
To learn more about this wonderful "message of mercy" please check out this web page.

A Wonderful Gift From a Generous Giver

Roxie was soooo gracious offering this wonder giveaway at her blog a while ago, and we were the very blessed winners. The Kateri Tekawitha doll is beautiful and my little girls have especially been loving her (A LOT). There was also a little wooden cross, and a sage stick (the native American inscense.)
What great joy the very lovely Roxie has given us and we are sending her many prayers in thanks.
Blessed Kateri now is in a very special spot in the living room!

What Roxie doesn't know is that we share a love of this Blessed Mohawk Indian Girl. We live in the Mohawk Valley of New York State and about 1 1/2 hours from the shrine on Blessed Kateri and the North American Martyrs. The wooden statue of Blessed Kateri is from inside the
Colliseum, one of the first circular churches in the USA. Built in 1930 it holds about 6000 people.

Another statue of Blessed Kateri and a prayer for her canonization at the Auriesville Shrine.

You can see the full post about our last trip to the shrine here.

Thanks again Roxie, for your beautiful caring heart.

Shrine of the North American Martyrs

Today we spent a glorious day at Shrine of the North American Martyrs and the Shrine of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha.

The shrine is located in Fonda NY, about an hour and a half drive from our house.

Everyone was with us except Pat Jr. and Matt. They both had to work.

This shrine is located on the grounds of the Mohawk Indian village, Ossernenon, where Kateri was born in 1656. She was also baptized here in the year 1676.

Above is a prayer for the canonization of Blessed Kateri. She was declared Blessed by Pope John Paul II in 1980.

Also on the grounds is a replica of the first Rosary in this part of the country. It is made of rocks. A thirteen year old Indian girl made this to teach others to say the rosary. Her story is below.

The Coliseum is one of the first circular churches in the United States. Built in 1930, it holds about 6000 people.

This statue of Blessed Kateri is made of wood.

These grounds are also the site of the martyrdoms of St. Isaac Jogues, St. Rene Goupil, and St John LaLande.
You can take a virtual tour of the shire at the link HERE.