ONE-DAY PILGRIMAGES

SUMMER 2019

Not up for the flight to Lourdes? These shrines in the Archdiocese of New York will lift you up, boarding pass not required

THE WORD SHRINE COMES FROM THE LATIN SCRINIUM, which means “box” – because the first Christian shrines were boxes or repositories for the relics of saints. Today, not all Catholic shrines house relics, but all are focal points for prayer and devotion, often to a saint or the Blessed Mother.

A shrine might be a large, “official” pilgrimage destination like the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary in Washington, D.C., a side altar in a parish church or a local memorial alongside a highway. It might mark the site of a blessed event – a martyrdom, a Marian apparition – or memorialize a tragedy. A shrine is “in general, a holy place,” says the Catholic Dictionary, where people go to pray, meditate, venerate, ask forgiveness and lay their intentions before God and the saints.

There are dozens of shrines in the Archdiocese of New York, including several worthy of a one-day pilgrimage. From the home of the first American-born saint in lower Manhattan to a humble chapel devoted to the memories of unborn and prematurely born infants in Sullivan County, these holy places offer us a chance to be in the presence of the divine without traveling halfway around the world. In a few cases, convenient side trips can deepen the experience of pilgrimage.

If you are “staycationing” this summer, or just have a free day to spend enriching your faith life, pick a shrine and make a pilgrimage. Think of it as a theme park for your soul – not the fleeting adrenaline rush of the roller coaster or the log flume, but the luminous pause at the top of the ferris wheel that reveals the far horizon and puts the entire world in perspective.

Editor’s Update (September 17, 2021):
Pandemic-related restrictions and other changes may have affected your ability to visit the shrines described below. Please call ahead to confirm updated schedules and opening status for all destinations. 
 

ST. ELIZABETH ANN SETON SHRINE

Our Lady of the Holy Rosary | 7 State St., Manhattan | spcolr.org/st-seton-shrine-1
(212) 233-8355 | Masses Sunday 11:00 a.m., Monday – Friday 12:15 p.m.

For two years in the early 1800s, before she became a Catholic, the first American-born saint lived at 8 State Street – the stately Federal-style building attached to the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Shrine – with her husband and children. The church that now houses the shrine was built in 1965 to match the style of the onetime Seton home. Together the two structures make for a striking piece of architecture amid the steel towers of lower Manhattan – and a spiritual magnet for devotees of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. To visit, come at Mass time.

The Setons left 8 State Street in 1803, and within two years, Elizabeth – a widowed mother of five – converted to Catholicism. She went on to build a network of Catholic schools, found the Sisters of Charity and finally, more than a century and a half after her death in 1821, become a saint. The religious order she founded is America’s oldest, and many institutions spawned by the Sisters of Charity and/or named for Mother Seton can be found throughout the archdiocese and, indeed, the country: schools, hospitals, children’s care centers. The sisters still live by a pledge to minister to those in need, wherever they may be. Those in need of some inspiration can find it in this remarkable shrine amid the canyons of commerce.
SIDE TRIP: CATHOLIC GROUND ZERO MEMORIAL

ST. FRANCES X. CABRINI SHRINE

701 Fort Washington Ave., Manhattan  |  cabrinishrinenyc.org
(212) 923-3536  |  Tuesday – Sunday  |  9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

From the chapel at the Cabrini Shrine in Washington Heights, the view to the west is a breathtaking prospect over the Hudson River to New Jersey; across the street to the east are block after block of apartment buildings harboring workers and immigrants. It’s a location that matches the saint, balanced between the glorious beauty of God’s creations and the everyday needs of His children.

In 1880, at the age of 30, Frances Cabrini founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus along with seven other young women. A native of a tiny village near Milan, in Italy, she dreamed of starting a mission in China, but in 1889, Pope Leo XIII asked her to lead a mission “not to the East, but to the West,” to minister to the needs of the thousands of Italian immigrants in New York City. Cabrini and her sisters were soon setting up academic and catechetical classes for immigrant Italian children, and not long afterward began establishing orphanages and schools.

Cabrini ended up traveling throughout the United States as well as to Europe, Central and South America in response to requests to open schools, hospitals and orphanages. She died in Chicago in 1917, and her remains can be seen in a case beneath the altar of the shrine.
SIDE TRIP: CLOISTERS MUSEUM 

NATIONAL SHRINE OF MARY HELP OF THE CHRISTIANS

174 Filors Ln., Stony Point  |  marianshrine.org
(845) 947-2200  |  Open daily until sundown

On rolling hills beside the Hudson, this shrine began as a path for saying the rosary bordered by 15 life-size statues of Mary at different points in her life. It became so popular among pilgrims that the Salesian Brothers transformed the site into a shrine of national stature, with a 48-foot statue of the Rosary Madonna crafted in Pistoia, Italy, and grottoes meant to evoke the shrines at Lourdes and Fatima. The 160-acre property is also home to a retreat center and a summer day camp.
 

NATIONAL SHRINE OF OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL

70 Carmelite Dr., Middletown  |  ourladyofmtcarmelshrine.com
(845) 343-1879  |  Sunday – Saturday  |  8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Originally established in New York City in 1941, the National Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel was relocated to this beautiful Orange County location in 1991. The purpose of the shrine is “to provide you with the opportunity and space to experience God through prayer, silence and reflection centered around devotion to our Lady of Mt. Carmel.” The chapel and grounds are open to visitors, and reconciliation can be arranged through advance appointment.
 

SHRINE OF THE HOLY INNOCENTS

36 Cedar St., Saugerties  |  shrineholyinnocents.org
Open to the public 24/7

In a onetime convent chapel at St. Mary of the Snow in Ulster County, the Shrine of the Holy Innocents is “dedicated to babies unborn, babies born too soon, infants and children who have gone home to God,” says Deacon Mike Sweeney. “We are a place of dignity and healing.”

The modest chapel houses a growing number of plaques dedicated by grieving parents. Visitors can order a plaque for their own departed innocent, or just say a prayer in the presence of the existing plaques and in community with those who have suffered the loss of a child. Masses are offered in the chapel twice during the week, and there is an overnight Eucharistic adoration every Sunday evening.
SIDE TRIP: FALLING WATERS PRESERVE