11th Annual Auriesville Pilgrimage for Restoration

I received in the mail yesterday notification about the 11th annual North American Pilgrimage for Restoration, September 27-30, 2006. This year's pilgrimage is dedicated to restoring true devotion to Mary, Mother of Divine Love. For those of you unfamiliar with the Auriesville Pilgrimage, it is modelled on the pilgrimage from Paris to Chartres, a trek of sixty some miles in three days. The climax of the Auriesville Pilgrimage is the Shrine of the North American martyrs near Auriesville, NY. The Auriesville Pilgrimage is actually 72 miles in total length, though a fourth day is alloted to walk the final seven miles from the Shrine of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, Lily of the Mohawks, in Fonda, NY to the Shrine of the North American martyrs.

Last fall, Iacobus, Clara, Franciscus et Iosephus participated, to our great delight, in the final day of the pilgrimage, Saturday, which is the most popular or, perhaps I should say, populated, day of the event. Since many people at that time year are working or are in school or are simply unable to undertake the whole trek by themselves or with children in tow, they go just for the seven miles on Saturday. We were graced with beautiful, sublime weather last year; I walked the whole way in a suit (don't worry, this isn't the required dress) and I was quite comfortable.

The pilgrimage concludes with a solemn high Mass at the Shrine of the North American martyrs - last year, offered by Fr. Thomas Longua, FSSP, whom we were most happy to have to Cornell in the previous spring. The shrine itself struck me distinctly, far more, I would say, than did Chartres Cathedral. For the at the Shrine of the North American martyrs, one stands on the very ground where these heroic Jesuits were tortured and killed in the most barbaric fashion. It is forever the ground that they consecrated by their blood in order to bring souls to the true Faith. Moreover, my awareness of the place was heightened by a book which I had read in the previous spring, The Jesuit Martyrs of North America (1925) by the Rev. John J. Wynne, S.J. The book is primarily relevant quotations from the letters, in French and Latin, which the Jesuit missionaries sent back to their Superiors in France.


So with some sense for what these men saw and felt in this part of upstate New York, hundreds of years ago, one approaches the site where some of them died most horribly with all the more emotion. This, coupled with the fact that the site itself, wooded and on a rise, looks out over the Mohawk river valley, which, on a clear day, is spectacularly beautiful during the fall.

I highly encourage taking part in the pilgrimage; the registration information, for either Saturday or for the whole of the hike, is available on the website. The Cornell Society for a Good Time hasn't yet made specific plans for this event, but with this post, I do hope to raise the question for my friends' consideration.




go to main page