Our Visit to the National Shrine of the North American Martyrs

I was so happy that we were able to tag some extra side trips onto our recent vacation to Cape Cod.  We made stops on the way there and back, which helped to break up the car ride and afforded us some "bonus" vacation material during our week away.   One of these was a stop at the National Shrine of the North American Martyrs in Auriesville, NY.   (also referred to as The Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs.) 

The 400-acre grounds in upstate New York are the site of the former Ossernenon village of the Mohawk Native Americans.  It was in this village that three Jesuit saints were tortured and martyred - St. Isaac Jogues (1646), St. Rene Goupil (1642), and St. John Lalande (1646).  A decade later, St. Kateri Tekakwitha was born in the same village.  Her mother is believed to have been lead to Catholicism by the these and the other Jesuit missionaries.  It is also believed that the village was the site of the first Rosary prayed in New York in 1642.  And we were there!  

It was so beautiful to be there with our whole family and my mom.  We had been reading and talking about St. Isaac Jogues and St. Kateri in the weeks before our trip in the hopes that we would be able to make the extra stop at the shrine.  It was so good to be there, to see the shrine, to pray, to venerate relics, and to be in the middle of what felt like nowhere but to know it was the same ground tread by holy saints and martyrs.  

The photos are nothing spectacular except that they are the account of our visit to holy ground.  And it was beautiful!

Several of Isaac Jogues fingers had been mutilated by natives during a previous missionary journey to North America.  Once back in France, he had been given permission from the Pope to continue to celebrate Mass despite the fact that his hands were not intact because he had already sacrificed so much to spread the Faith

We did not pray our Rosary at Theresa's Rosary rocks but chose a shady spot near by

Venerating the relics of St. Kateri

St. Isaac Jogues, pray for us!

St. Rene Goupil, pray for us!

St. John Lelands, pray for us!

St. Kateri Tekakwitha, pray for us!