s »ll *%? (UNIVCRS! . IRXl (Qnrtttll Inttteraitg ffitbtarg Strata, Sfem $ork fVr^A.p.W>n±:< • » ■■. . ; Jf-;. ■•'■'"■ r: ; 1 1 1 w^i mB H & IB* 1 .* tf '!£ P? AKl'tK A SUKMON IN KAV1NK. as among the requests for prayers. Among these intentions we should always include the benefactors- and friends of the Shrine, living or dead. We may remark here that, since the first purchase of land at Auriesville, in 1884, not a year has passed without some improve- ment in or about the grounds. These improvements, together with the expense connected with the attendance on the pilgrims, especially when they come in large numbers, have all cost large sums of money, considering our limited resources, and yet, thank God, they have all been paid for by the charity of the friends and patrons of the cause of the Martyrs. Although, in all justice, we might have called upon the pastors and other leading parties to visit the Shrine to help us to meet these expenses, we have never asked nor received an offering from them. What is more, we have never required admission tickets at the Shrine grounds, nor charged for entrance, nor even sought to obtain a commission from the railroad and other transport companies bringing pil- grims to Auriesville. We do not mention this by way of boast- ing of our generosity, for we are aware that most people will at- tribute it to poor business methods, while others will malevo- lently regard the pilgrimages as a scheme for making money. Nor do we regard it as altogether just that these expenses should fall on a few, or that such vast numbers of pilgrims should frequent the Shrine without helping to provide the means requirpd for maintaining and improving it. Indeed, if we at- 50 THE SHRINE AND THE PILGRIMAGES. 247 A BENEDICTION, DURING PROCESSION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT. tempt to erect a permanent church or pilgrims' house at Auries- ville, as, we trust, shall soon be done, we should necessarily have to call upon every one that knows or visits the place to help us. All we can plead in favor of our present poor business methods, with those who choose to consider them poor, is that we are striv- ing to live by faith, and that, so far, thank God, our trust in Providence has not failed us. 248 THE SHRINE OF OUR LADY OF MARTYRS. The blood of martyrs is of faith the seed ; We've ploughed in grief, and sown with sigh and tear — Lord, shall our Christian heroes vainly bleed, Nor any fruit appear ? My Rene perished at the fortress gate ; The blow that felled him gave the martyr's crown. Three days I hid me from the warrior's hate, Then, darkling, left the town. I laid him where the golden sunbeams slant 'Twixt willow bough and slender maple stem ; The torrent sings ; the pines, in priestly chant, Entone his requiem. The ground whereon he poured his precious veins Not fruitless, aye, nor fallow, Lord, shall be ; Such field, made fertile by such heavenly rains, Shall blossom yet for Thee. P. J. Coleman The Cause of Father Jogues. The Church begets holiness and esteems it above every treas- ure. It is her constant aim to cultivate it in her children and her great glory to record their saintly deeds from the annals of the past. Time does not efface them from her memory, because when memory is prompted by love it is always unerring and far-reach- ing. The love of the Church, like that of Christ her spouse, is undying; her memory of ages past is as sure as her memory of yesterday. Thousands of souls have died in the lowly walks of life, full of merits before God, but unknown to their fellow-men. In life they were not called upon to take a prominent part in the affairs of this world ; after death there would seem to be no reason why special notice should be taken of their virtues. At times, it is true, the very humility and hidden life they had cultivated has been glori- fied, as in the case of St. Alexis, by a special revelation from God. However, in the ordinary ways of Providence, those souls are usually chosen for honor after death whose lives have been remarkable among their fellow-men. Naturally enough, it is the benefit derived from their example of philanthropy that de- termines men to have them exalted to the honors of the altar. 52 THE CAUSE OF FATHER JOGUES. 249 It is proverbial that it requires a long period of years to bring about this exaltation of souls departing this life in repute for holiness. Even when all is clear as to the heroism of their vir- tues, and certain about the miraculous favors required to manifest the power of their intercession, so many years must intervene between their death and the decree of their beatification that the one who takes up a cause at the start can rarely hope to bring it to a conclusion. Meantime, so great is the labor required, and so vast, in most cases, the expense incurred, that one is tempted to frame the proverb : "It needs a saint to make a saint," for it requires something of the spirit of a martyr to overcome the obstacles in the way of having one who lays down his life for the faith declared a martyr, and some of the heroism of a saint to do the work required to prove another's title to be venerated as a saint. It is easy to see how in the course of a process of beatification delays can occur which may prolong the process indefinitely; sometimes so long as to necessitate its being taken up again from the very beginning ; and at other times long enough to dishearten and even exhaust the patience of its advocates. It is certainly no slight test of a soul's repute for holiness, when the tradition con- cerning it is so strong as to inspire other souls, even after a lapse of centuries, with the desire to have it beatified and declared worthy of public worship. This is a remarkable fact in the case of Father Isaac Jogues and of several of his companions, so re- markable, indeed, as to be one of the strongest proofs of his heroic virtues in life and of his death in the odor of sanctity. While Father Jogues was still alive he was regarded by all who knew him intimately as a saint. In recording this estimate of him, we must remember that it was not formed, as our own is apt to be formed, by the heroism he displayed during his two years of captivity among the Iroquois. Many a stolid Indian bore like tortures as calmly as the missionary, though more through their own motives of pride than through his motive of self-sacrifice. Many a white trader, too, in early colonial days stood brave and defiant under most brutal torments; in fact, several of Father Jogues' companions suffered with him just as keenly as himself, and yet they are not proposed as worthy of beatification. The virtues that made Father Jogues' companions and superiors look upon him as a saint were the obedience, the patience, the self- sacrifice, the fortitude, and the devotion which made them feel 53 250 THE SHRINE OF OUR LADY OF MARTYRS. so sure of his constancy under every trial, that they never hesi- tated to entrust him with the most arduous missions, and they were never surprised that he should fulfil them with constancy unto death and under tortures even worse than death. When his superior was choosing him as a minister of peace to the Mohawks, he noted in his "relation," or report, for that year, that the mission he hoped to found amongst them he would name Mission of the Martyrs. "If we are permitted to conjecture in matters that seem highly probable," he added, "we may believe that the designs we have formed against the empire of Satan will not bear fruit until they are irrigated with the blood of martyrs." When a third time Father Jogues must go to the Mohawks, it would seem that he was the only one his superiors and brethren could think of as suited for the "Mission of the Martyrs." Such an estimate of his virtues they could have had only after witness- ing in him, during all his religious life, the spirit of a martyr. His superior's conjecture was justified ; only blood could sow the seeds of faith among the Mohawks. His choice of Father Jogues was justified. He chose him for his martyr-like spirit. He could quite naturally, therefore, write, on hearing of Father Jogues' death : "We may regard him as a martyr before God." That this view of Father Jerome Lalemant was not singular or short-lived is clear from the fact that, some years later, one of his successors, Father Paul Raguenau, thought fit to include the traditions concerning Father Jogues among the collection which was drawn up, not only to preserve the memory of such men as Brebeuf, Gamier, Daniel and Gabriel Lalemant, but to provide materials for the process of their beatification, should it ever be instituted. Each of these memoirs is attested by Father Paul over the signature of his secretary, Joseph Poncet. This, then, is the first step taken for the beatification of Father Jogues, and fortunately this collection of memoirs exists to-day, certified by one who knew its whereabouts during the suppression of the Society of Jesus, and who witnessed its return to its original owners. All the memoirs and lives we have of Father Jogues were writ- ten with this one purpose, to preserve the memory of his virtues, heroic sufferings and death for the faith, and to gather together the material that might serve for the process of his beatification. It was this purpose his superiors had in view when they had Father Buteux put together all he had heard from Father Jogues himself concerning his tortures and slavery among the Iroquois. 54 THE CA USE OF FA THER JOG UBS. 25 1 It was this same purpose that led Abbe Forest, a Jesuit of the eighteenth century, to write the biography of his townsman ; and with a like purpose Father Felix Martin made use of the manu- script of Abbe Forest, which the French Revolution had prevented the author from publishing, in preparing his excellent life of Isaac Jogues. Finally, the distinguished translator of this life, Dr. Gilmary Shea, made his work one of devotion. It was only one of very many tributes of the great historian to the Apostle of the Iroquois, whose generous self-sacrifice he loved to record, though the story of his sufferings pained him so much that his manuscripts still bear evidence of the tears he shed when com- posing them. It is clear, then, that at no time since the death of Father Jogues has the project of having him some day declared Blessed been forgotten. It is noteworthy, besides, that in all the eulogies pronounced on him and on his many fellow missionaries, heroic as all of them were, he has always been classed with those who are singled out from the others for their distinguished sanctity. So characteristic and predominant is his sanctity in all he does, that it compels the admiration even of men who think a Jesuit cannot be sincere. According to Parkman, he is one of those " whose character the pressure of Loyola's system intensified, with- out debasing, one who was so good that, even the violence done by that system to the noblest qualities of manhood, joined to that equivocal system of morality which eminent casuists of the Order have inculcated, could not make a whit less conscientious or religious." If documents and Historical eulogy of every sort were enough to establish the sanctity of Father Jogues, they could be fur- nished in abundance — so abundantly that the difficulty would be not in providing them, but in selecting from their splendid testi- monials to his merit. Documents, however, are not enough, how- soever important may be the part they must play in every process of beatification. In a case like that of Father Jogues, in which it is impossible to furnish traditional evidence of his repute for holiness, either before or after death, the written testimony of authors and compilers from his day down to our own must be used to show that he practised all the theological and moral vir- tues in an heroic degree, and that his suffering and death' were patiently and freely met for the interests of our holy faith. But (lie mere dry statement made from these sources is not the only, or in every case, the most convincing, argument in behalf of a 55 252 THE SHRINE OF OUR LADY OF MARTYRS. cause. What is also in demand, and what naturally appeals strongly to the judges in a process of beatification, is the popular sentiment which such documentary evidence should produce, the sentiment of great regard for the sanctity of the soul in question,_ and the sentiment also of a great desire to have that soul honored on our altars. It speaks well for the cause of Father Jogues that such a senti- ment springs naturally even from a slight acquaintance with the manner of his life and sufferings and death. No sooner had the scholars who best knew the documents pertaining to his career prepared his biography for popular reading than an eagerness to know more about him was apparent everywhere. The shorl sketches published in pamphlet form, the monthly notices in the Pilgrim of Our Lady of Martyrs, the circulars issued from time to time, the excellent short biography written by Father F. Rou- vier, of Mongres, France, all have been in great demand. Writ- ten as they were with the intention of arousing popular interest, it was soon found that even before they had appeared there was a disposition to read them, and this disposition has been increas- ing ever since their first appearance. Much of this interest is due, no doubt, to the familiarity of many of our priests with the story of Father Jogues' captivity and death. During the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore, when the Fathers assembled were asked to approve a postulate recommending the cause of Father Jogues, Rene Goupil and Catherine Tegakwita to the Holy See, they did not need to inquire either about the merits of these three servants of God, or about the motives which should prompt every Catholic to wish for their beatification. What has most advanced the cause of Father Jogues the past twelve years is the Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs which has been erected on the site of Rene Goupil's and his own martyrdom, which site was also the birthplace of Catherine Tegakwita, whose cause is associated with theirs. When the Reverend Joseph Loy- zance, then of Troy, N. Y., first thought of finding the place con- secrated by the memories of these heroic souls his project was considered a hopeless one by many. Even when by the use of maps and by the aid of the distinguished topographer, General John S. Clark of Auburn, N. Y., he succeeded in locating the site where the Shrine now stands, it was thought that he would never be able to establish his position in such a way as to satisfy the many residents of the Mohawk Valley who had all their dif- ferent theories about where this site must be. In the first place 56 THE CAUSE OF FATHER JOG UbS. 253 not all could have access to the maps of the old Indian villages as they were located at different intervals from 1635 t0 l( &\\ nor could all have the benefit of the personal direction of General Clark in their several researches. Even could they have availed themselves of all these aids, the convictions that had grown with years would naturally be hard to shake, the more so that plausible arguments were not wanting for the many theories. To encounter all this opposition would seem thankless, were the determination of the site of the death of Father Jogues for mere historical interest the only object of Father Loyzance. The pious admirer of the first pioneer priest of New York State had a higher object in view. To his eye of faith it would be a great achievement to discover the spot hallowed by the blood of a mar- tyr ; but this discovery seemed to him desirable only in so far as it would help to bring about the solemn declaration that Father Jogues was truly a martyr in spirit as well as in the manner of his taking off. To help on this result the site of his death must be made a means, not only of making his heroic life and death better known, but also of inciting pious souls to a confidence in his favor with Almighty God ; or, at least, to the desire to prove by their prayers the power of his intercession. As is well known, two things which seem, at first sight, to be mutually contradic- tory, are required before a cause of beatification can be intro- duced. It must first be proved that no worship has been paid to the servant of God whose cause is presented and then it must also be shown that miracles have been performed in answer to prayers made through their intercession. As in every other detail of a process, in these two points also is the investigation most searching. How, we ask, obtain a miracle unless we induce the people to pray, and that fervently, in the way that makes prayer most acceptable to God, the prayer that calls for miracles, united prayer. And how shall we have them do this without leaving them under the impression that they are to some extent worshiping those whom the Church as yet forbids us to worship ? The difficulty is not so great as it appears to be at first sight ; but like many difficulties that are easy to answer, it may be very hard to meet in practice, explain as you will the distinction be- tween public veneration, which is forbidden, and private venera- tion, which is allowed ; insist, as much as you can, on the right we all have to ask any departed soul to intercede for us, so soon as one of God's servants is proposed as being possibly worthy of beatification, it is hard for some pious minds to treat with that 57 254 THE SHRINE OF OUR LADY OF MARTYRS. soul as with ordinarily faithful souls, and it is hard to prevent them from acting or speaking as if they might publicly venerate the soul in question. It was a wise plan, therefore, of Father Loyzance to erect, as the only place of worship at the site of Father Jogues' death, a shrine in honor of Our Lady of Martyrs, securing in this way our Blessed Mother's favor on the cause of those who had hallowed, whether by their life or death, the soil of the old Mission of the Martyrs, and preventing most effectually any tendency to worship publicly those whom the Church has not yet presented to our worship. Now in this country we are so unacquainted with the true nature and object of a Shrine, that we are apt to expect too much or to obtain too little oi .he benefits of which it should be a medium, simply because we overlook or ignore its real purpose. The great Shrine at Lourdes has led many people to think that a Shrine must necessarily be a scene of frequent and striking mir- acles. Indeed, it is quite common to meet with people who im- agine that, when God sees fit to grant a miracle in answer to the prayers made through the intercession of Father Jogues, it will surely take place at the Shrine at Auriesville. It will not do to answer that the miracle which finally determined the canonization of St. Berchmans happened not at his Shrine in Diest, but in our own country in the diocese of New Orleans. It would, it is true, be natural to look for special favors at the place where so much piety is shown, but the many remarkable favors reported as granted in other places through the intercession of Father Jogues and his companions should correct our belief that the Shrine must necessarily be a place of miracles. A place of marvels it surely has been, both in the temporal and spiritual order, but as yet no miracles that we know of have lately been granted through the intercession of those whom we seek to have beatified. In his excellent life of Isaac Jogues, Father Felix Martin nar- rates several wonderful answers to prayer made with a view to having the power of this servant of God made manifest to men; but it would serve no purpose to present these in his process at this late day. If God wishes to have Father Jogues beatified, He will surely manifest His power ; if men wish to hasten this mani- festation they must do all they can by their prayers and by their zeal for his cause in every way to deserve that he should extend to them the power of his intercession even by a miracle. "What can we expect from the martyr," wrote Dr. Shea in one of his private letters, " if we treat him so shabbily ? " True enough ; how 58 THE CA USE OF FA THER JOG UES. 255 can we look to him for a miracle until we do something propor- tionate to such a favor. But there are no relics ! The implication is that there can therefore be no miracles. Now, one of the most frequent experi- ences in the course of a process of beatification is the discovery, or what comes to the same, ihe identification, of the remains of the one to be beatified. In many instances this discovery is made in such a singular way as to be regarded itself as miraculous. Relics of Father Jogues do not exist, unless we regard his manu- script as such. His body was thrown into the Mohawk ; his head lies buried near the village palisades, we suppose, because it had been placed on them the evening after his murder. The remains of Catharine Tegakwita still exist, and are kept carefully by the Abbe of the parish in which her reservation is still maintained, and the site of her tomb is known, and many and remarkable are the favors ascribed to the use of the relics and to prayers said at the tomb, at which descendants of her tribe may be seen kneeling frequently on pleasant Sunday afternoons. The bones of Rene Goupil were buried in the ravine which falls back of the old Indian village line, a short distance from the Shrine grounds. They were buried by Father Jogues, who hoped one day to enrich some Christian soil with the bones of this mar- tyr. Of course they have not yet been found. What honor they would receive could they be discovered may be judged from the value set upon a stone which lies in the ravine, and which popular credulity at one time sought to invest with supernatural virtue. When Father Jogues, previous to the burial of the body of Rene, was obliged to hide it from the young Indian braves, he put it in the stream, fastening it against a large rock, around which the waters flowed, by piling upon it smaller stones. Now, it happens that there is a large limestone in the depths of the ravine, just where the stream-bed formerly lay, and because it was natural, when the ravine was first identified as the burial place of the young martyr, to say that this may have been the large stone described by Father Jogues, it was soon taken for granted that it must have been the same, and immediately it was treated as a relic. Fragments were broken off and passed around, and kept sacredly, and even steeped in water to try their curative powers. Cures were soon attributed to it, and the demand for more fragments became so great that it was necessary to fence round the stone, encage and padlock it, lest its popularity should be the cause of its utter disappearance. 59 256 THE SHRINE OF OUR LADY OF MARTYRS. Strange to say, Catholics were not the only ones to ascribe such virtue to this stone; non-Catholics also began to look upon it as a preternatural agent, partly out of respect for what they thought the Catholics believed, but chiefly because of the superstitious tendencies of our nature, which are common to all men, even to unbelievers. Now, God can make use of the lowliest and sim- plest of His creatures as a means of exercising His almighty power; and the soil of certain spots consecrated by the blood of martyrs, or even the bark of the trees, have been used as a. me- dium of His divine influence even to the extent of miraculous results. There is no reason why the ravine, so hallowed by the burial of the young and saintly hero, Rene Goupil, and by the devotions of his companion in sufferings and death, should not thus become a place and source of miracles, if God wills it ; but to encourage or even lightly to permit a belief more or less super- stitious to be spread abroad about it and acted upon would do great damage to the cause of both Father Jogues and Rene Goupil. The Church, which is so slanderously accused of fos- tering superstition, is, on the contrary, most jealous of it, and severe with her children who give way to it. The truth is, miracles and, in most cases, relics, though most important as a cause of this kind proceeds, are in the beginning of the process only secondary in importance compared with the statements that must be prepared on the virtues of the souls to be beatified, on their repute for sanctity, on their strict orthodoxy in doctrinal and moral writings and teachings, on their Christian- like deaths, on the popular belief in their salvation and extraordi- nary power of intercession, and, finally, on the rigor with which every attempt to cultivate them by public worship has been dis- couraged and frustrated. It may sound strange, but this very tendency to venerate pub- licly a servant of God not yet beatified is one of the strongest proofs of his sanctity, and yet it must be checked under the pen- alty of losing his cause entirely should it be encouraged or per- mitted. As we have mentioned in the case of Rene Goupil, so an episode in the cause of Catharine Tegakwita will show what vigilance and sternness this requires. Born at Ossernenon, now Auriesville Station, Catharine moved with her tribe first to Gan- dawague, the present village site of Auriesville, and next to Caughnawauga, now Fonda, where she spent most of her life. The spring which marked the site of the old Indian village "Soon became known as the Tegakwita Spring. Its waters are still run- 60 THE CAUSE OF FATHER JOGUES. 257 ning, and it was a harmless thought to use them for drinking, but it was not so harmless to think of sending them here and there as being likely to show curative powers. Yet still some thought of doing this, all on the strength that Catherine must have fre- quented the spring when she went to draw water for her house- hold. Happily, this did not last long, and people now look more to the saintly maiden herself and to her virtues than to any of the material things associated with her memory. It should be clear from all that has been said that the cause of Father Jogues has not yet been formally presented to the Holy See. Petitions have been made by the Bishops both of this country and of Canada to receive his cause favorably when it shall be deemed proper to present it, but this only means that the highest dignitaries of the Church in these countries concur with the clergy and laity in the conviction that he lived a saintly life and died a martyr's death. It means also that they appreciate the great benefit it would be to our piety to have him declared Blessed. Meantime the same conviction has been growing among the laity, and it has led them to appeal to his intercession with greater confidence, and, to judge by many letters of gratitude they write, with greater proofs of the favors God grants through his servant. These are some of the results of the work done for his cause since 1884, when active interest in it was renewed, and they are important : they lend additional weight to documents and testimonies that have been collected with more energy during that time, and urge on us the need of a speedy presentation of the cause to Rome. By the appointment of a vice- postulator the preparaticn of this first process was assured. The Rev. Arthur E. Jones, S.J., whose familiarity with the archives relating to the history of Father Jogues recommended him for this office has been ap- pointed to this charge. All the evidence of Father Jogues' virtues must be sifted, all his writings examined, and all the traditions about his sanctity and his death for the faith inves- tigated thoroughly, before the Bishops, who will be deputed to judge in the case, will consent to transmit this first process to be examined by the congregation of Rites. While all the erudition of postulators and advocates shall be thus employed in establish- ing the proofs of his title to our veneration, the faithful generally will be praying for the corroborative testimony of miraculous in- tervention on the part of God in answer to prayers made through His servant, which testimony of miracles must in turn be exam- 61 258 THE SHRINE OF OUR LADY OF MARTYRS. ined with the closest scrutiny, in order that every possible human means may be employed to assure us that Father Jogues is worthy of the honors of our altars. This then is the present state of the cause of Father Jogues. Everything seems opportune for the preparation and speedy pre- sentation of his cause to the proper ecclesiastical courts. This is the most important of all the measures thus far taken. All that has been hitherto done will help to a favorable reception of the cause when presented, but they are by no means essential for its introduction. The publication, the Shrine, the pilgrimages in behalf of the cause, might be done away with to-morrow, but the preliminary process of presenting it could and must be prepared. It can be prepared, moreover, without any detriment even before the relics of those who are to be beatified are found, or before any first-class miracles are accredited to them. It would not do, however, to give up what has been of such aid to the work in the past; nor is it too soon to pray and to pray fervently for the miracles required before the final decree of beatification. Accord- ingly, while the preliminary process is being actively prepared, renewed efforts must be made to publish still more about the servant of God in question, to increase the pilgrimages to the Shrine in number and in fervor, and to multiply the prayers which shall finally draw down God's benediction on the undertak- ing, even to the extent of a miracle. With the cause of Father Jogues, that of Rene Goupil, his companion, and of Catharine Tegakwita, who was born on the site of their martyrdom, will be combined. And with this triple cause, that of Father Jogues' companions, Brebeuf, Lalemant, Daniel and Gamier, who died on Canadian soil, is also to be united. No true Catholic will ask why we should be so anxious about the beatification of these great servants of God. It is for us a family as well as a national affair. To the men and women who made the beginnings of our history Catholic we owe unceas- ing gratitude; to the most distinguished of them who make our entrance and first foundations in America a splendid record of heroism and saintliness we owe a devout remembrance that can never rest satisfied until it shall be permitted to manifest itself in public veneration. Divine providence blessed our soil with the miracles of grace that made a Jogues, a Tegakwita, a Brebeuf. It has worked the miracle of compelling even biased non-Cath- olic minds to proclaim their esteem for these heroes in terms so reverent as to sound almost like those of religious worship ; the 62 SOME DIRECTIONS FOR PILGRIMAGES. 259 same divine providence can and will, in answer to our prayers, atttest what it has done in sanctifying their souls, by miraculous proofs of the glory to which their sanctity entitled them. Some Directions for Pilgrimages. The following regulations for pilgrimages to the Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs, at Auriesville, N. Y., will be useful to pas- tors organizing pilgrimages, and conducive to the order and piety of the pilgrims. Announce the pilgrimage in good time, as definitely as pos- sible. Have the announcement printed, giving date of pilgrim- age, time of departure and return, and the Order of Exercises at the Shrine. Make it clear that it is not an excursion, but a pious pilgrimage to a Shrine erected in the name of Our Lady of Martyrs, on the site consecrated by the zeal and sacrifice of devout servants of God, who, it is hoped, will one day be honored as saints for their virtues and heroic death. If an instruction on the end of pious pilgrimages, and on the particular object of this one, be given in the church some time before, the mer£ pleasure seekers will remain at home, and the pilgrims will be better disposed to reap the full benefit of their piety Topics for this instruction will be found in Shrine Manual, and in the pamphlet sketch of the Shrine. Ample opportunity should be given to the pilgrims to go to confession on the day before, as there is time to hear only a few confessions on their arrival at the Shrine. The best way to organize a pilgrimage is to choose a committee from the various parish societies, both of men and women. A number of marshals should be chosen for the day of the pil- grimage, to help the priest in charge to conduct "the pilgrims to and from the railway station, to lead the devotions, beads, etc., in the cars, and when at the Shrine to assist the priests there in forming the various processions, and to act as ushers at the gates, about the grounds, and in the chapel during services. The choir should be as large as possible, and the members should be instructed to prepare a programme of suitable hymns, for singing on the way to the Shrine, for the procession up the hill, and for the Mass ; the Stab at Mater at the Stations of the Cross, some hymns to Our Lady for the procession to the ravine, and the Pange Lingua, Salutaris, and Tantum Ergo during the procession of the Blessed Sacrament. 63 260 THE SHRINE OF OUR LADY OF MARTYRS. On arriving at the Auriesville Station, the pilgrims form ranks, the members of the various church societies walking to- gether at the head of the column, led by a Cross bearer. They proceed Up the hill, singing the Litany or some hymn in honor of the Blessed Virgin, and saying a decade of the beads after every ten invocations, or after each stanza. Mass is said as soon as the pilgrims fill the chapel, and imme- diately after the Mass groups of pilgrims are led about the Way of the Cross. This is followed by an intermission, after which the bell gives the signal for the procession to the Ravine, where the sermon of the day is generally preached, followed by prayers and a hymn in honor of the Blessed Virgin. If time and weather permit, the last exercise of the day is usu- ally a procession in honor of the Most Blessed Sacrament, all the pilgrims walking together in ranks to the three altars erected on the grounds for this purpose. When it is not possible to have this procession, the devotions are closed by Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament. It will help very much to have the members of the various parish societies wear their proper regalia, and walk together under the leadership of their own officers, with ,any banners 01 flags they may be accustomed to carry. We would suggest that every pilgrim wear a Shrine pin, which we can furnish you, or some other emblem. For the procession of the Blessed Sacrament, the priest in charge of the pilgrimage should choose four men to carry the canopy, and, if possible, send some altar boys with their cassocks. Pious articles, such as beads, crucifixes, scapulars, medals, Shrine Manuals, pictures, souvenirs, etc., may be purchased on the grounds. Pilgrims should not come together in large numbers to the Shrine, especially on Sundays, without notifying and receiving the consent of their pastors and apprising us of his consent. This is necessary for order, at the Shrine and in the parish. Some days before the pilgrimage word should be sent to the priest in charge of the Shrine, about the number expected to make it, how many may receive Communion at the Shrine, the number of priests to accompany the pilgrims, and the time for the arrival and leaving of trains. Lunch may be had at the hotel, and stands for selling coffee, tea and soft drinks, and sandwiches, are convenient to the grounds, but for large numbers the hotel keeper should be notified beforehand. 64 How to Reach Auriesville. For the benefit of those who desire to visit the Shrine, we sub- join a schedule of convenient trains by the West Shore Railroad. FROM NEW YORK. Franklin Street .... West Forty-Second Street Weehawken . . . . Arrive Auriesville . . . 1.20 A. M. t • • • 9.20 P. M. * i-35 " 1.50 " ... 5.l8 P.M. . . . 9-3° " 9,45 " 3.45 A. M. (E) *Daily. 9.45 from Penna. Depot, Jersey City, connects with this train, t Daily, except Sunday. (E) Stops to leave New York and New England passengers. FROM ALBANY. N. Y. C. & H. R. R. R. Station Auriesville . .^ . . 17-45 A. m. 19.18 " 3.30 P. M. 5.18 ■' * Daily. The night boat to Albany connects with this train. FROM POINTS -WEST. Buffalo . . Rochester Syracuse Utica . . . Fultonville . . Arrive Auriesville 6.50 A. M. t 8-34 " 8.40 " „ 6.30 A. M. * 8.40 " . . 11.10 " .... l.io p. m. (East Utica. ) . 3.28 " 4.00 '■' •Daily. tDaily, except Sunday. Returning to New York a train leaves Auriesville at 9. 54 a. m., and arrives in New York at 3:30 p. m. Another train leaves Auriesville at, 4:39 p. m., arriving in Albany at 6.10 P.M., in time to connect with the night boat to New York. Going West, the train leaving Auriesville at 9.18 a. m., arrives in Utica (East) at 11.45 a. m.; Syracuse, 1.50 p. m.; Rochester, 4-18 p. m.; Buffalo, 6:30 p. m. The train leaving Auriesville at 4.33 p. m. arrives in Utica (East) 6.26 p. m.; Syracuse, 7.55 p. m. ; Rochester, 10.07 p. m. and Buffalo at 12 night. The New York Central Railrbad, the most frequented line of travel, runs parallel with the West Shore, but on the opposite side of the river (the historic Mohawk). Two stations on the New ■ York Central are convenient to Auriesville, Fonda and Tribes Hill, the former three miles west, and the latter one and one-half miles east. §5SS& MuHkokl&Lake J-'linUbnrtou Sorlll SLnKe j-Hnllburtoil CTS. --a OTTAW*^ R „. IT, sf*^ .^~"~~ ^SF^^^'txl*'* * •c-o yEK" !. Corr^-TTT-i-- fst" 1 " ' /OH U5^v"t refl v /Franklin^ J>*. . V A'*'" \. "^ TtUiaru^ort^vi 1 kesbarr?. fSprifa^oM/gy Javoistniwfll / :* BjauTOjtyiiyOl / ,