A Deo et Rege

Since it’s been awhile…part one is here.

Next we visited a beautiful grotto devoted to the Sorrowful Mother. I asked her to pray for me while visibly shivering because of the cold. We continued along the path. There were many smaller monuments to various Saints, all of them donated by faithful pilgrims. These and more tree shrines lined the windy path that led to the bigger and more elaborate grottoes. The first of these we encountered was a beautifully recreated Spanish design that housed a statue dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe. I stayed for awhile at this grotto since it had special importance to me: I was engaged on her feast and she is the patroness of the Americas.

Next we visited some smaller grottoes, including ones dedicated to Our Lady of Czestochowa and Sts. Maria and Isodore. The first one is included because of the many Polish speaking pilgrims who come to the shrine. Ethnic pilgrimages are an important part of the shrine activities and they even provide services in various languages. Sts.  Isadore and Maria, however, represent the local culture. They are patron saints of farmers and at this grotto we said some prayers associated with that theme (provided by the shrine). It was great to see this Catholic recognition of rural life. Of course, the shrine itself is right in the midst of it!

After this, we moved along to the next major site, the Lourdes grotto. As a replica of Lourdes in France, it is one of the most impressive of all the grottoes. It was so cold, the water there was frozen! I would love to visit the real thing someday, if I can ever afford a tour of Europe!

Now we continued along the path, enjoying the scenery and getting into the spirit of the pilgrimage. I can attest that it’s easier to lift your mind to God in the midst of such wondrous nature. As we walked we noticed the beautiful stations of the cross markers as well as more tree shrines and monuments, including St. Catherine of Siena, the Paton saint of a very special person in my life. There was also a beautiful white crucifix that was especially moving since we were doing our pilgrimage during Holy Week. I noticed someone had put a rosary on it, which people had also done on many other statues. I’m not familiar with certain customs and it’s always great to learn more.

More to come…

Photo on left of Lourdes grotto; photos on right are tree shrine and Guadalupe grotto.
All photos taken by Jonathan Bennett

My life has been quite hectic and chaotic lately, as many readers of this blog will know. Some major plans I made for the future seem to have been complicated to put it mildly. It’s times like these that we have to learn to truly trust God. I’m learning more and more what St. Paul meant when he said: we walk not by sight, but by faith. It is in this context that I made my pilgrimage to the Sorrowful Mother Shrine in Bellevue, Ohio yesterday. I needed a day to spend with God away from the stress of work and other things, a day to find clarity about my vocation.

March 21st may have been the second day of Spring, but I don’t think the news reached Northern Ohio. The day started and stayed cold, but we made the 2.5 hour drive to the  largely outdoor shrine anyway. When we arrived, I was amazed at how rural the grounds were. I had previously blogged on small town Catholicism. This was my first experience with rural Catholicism. As a small town/rural boy, I appreciated seeing it.

We first went to the gift shop where we were taken care of by a wonderful lady who almost got choked up explaining what a joy it was to work at the shrine. After my trip, I can see why she feels that way. I bought several interesting things, including some wonderful new devotional booklets. One was a Precious Blood prayer book, filled with devotions I haven’t discovered until now (the shrine is run by the Missionaries of the Precious Blood).

After the gift shop, we went into the shrine church. Recently restored, it was beautiful. I said some prayers and started a novena to the Sorrowful Mother. I also "lit a votive candle." I put that in quotes because the church did not have real candles, but electric ones. I had heard of this before, but it was my first experience with this type of thing. Call me a young fogey or even a purist, but I still prefer real candles.

Next, we went to the outside grounds. It was almost like going on a hike since the shrine encompasses 120 acres, much of it wooded. As we walked along the paths we encountered many of the small tree shrines as well as some of the bigger monuments, including an eerily lifelike statue of St. Peregrine. The first major grotto we came upon was one dedicated to St. Gaspar, the founder of the Society of the Precious Blood. I asked him to pray for me and then we moved back on the actual path.

More to Come…

Photo on left of the St. Gaspar grotto; photo on right of Sorrowful Mother Statue. All photos taken by Jonathan Bennett.

The pilgrimage itself lasted only a few hours; the town that housed the Shrine only had 3,500 people. Most people do not think of the Basilica and Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation when they think of Catholic sites. And yet, visiting this sacred place was exactly what I needed. It spiritually re-invigorated me and strengthened my faith in God and his graces. Big things do come in small packages.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I found the Shrine and felt compelled to visit during the season of Lent. What better time to find my faith strengthened and revitalized? I’ve always seen Lent as (among other things) a spiritual housecleaning of sorts and visiting the Shrine helped to give me greater clarity in my spiritual life. I think making a pilgrimage, however small, is a wonderful part of a traditional Lenten discipline of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. Many people who are interested in what I’ve described may think that they won’t be able to make a pilgrimage because of time or distance, but let me assure you otherwise.

First, a person can do a simple pilgrimage that lasts a day or even hours. It doesn’t have to be six months. Half of a day at the Shrine touched me in many ways. Nor does it have to be in Rome or the Holy Land. There are Shrines throughout the USA. Don’t believe me? Ohio has 12 Marian shrines, Missouri has 7, and Kentucky has 7! Even the Heartland has Catholic shrines. Please take the time during Lent or otherwise to visit one of these sacred places. You will find yourself refreshed and renewed by the grace of God.

Websites to visit for USA Shrines:
Catholic Shrines USA
Marian Shrines in the United States

Left photo a closeup of Our Lady of Consolation; right photo of Our Lady of Guadalupe altar. Photos by yours truly.

We went to the Shrine cafeteria and ate the seafood buffet. It was interesting to see this social and cultural side of Catholicism, especially in a small town. Where I live, small towns are filled with Protestant churches while Catholic parishes are mainly found in more urban areas. In terms of design, it was like any normal cafeteria except it had a very modern looking mosaic of Our Lady of Consolation on the wall. The food was excellent too.

After dinner I went again to pray before the statue of Our Lady of Consolation in preparation for the 7:00pm Stations of the Cross. Unfortunately, we didn’t find out where the stations were being held and arrived late (they were in the old shrine church). This was also my first experience with Stations of the Cross, another Catholic devotion that was new to me. I think it is seen as too negative by many in the Protestant mainlines who otherwise adapt many Catholic forms even if lacking in Catholic theology. It was a beautiful service and the church building was interesting. It looked a lot like the Methodist church I grew up in, except more ornate. But stylistically, it was very close in design.

After the stations, I went one more time into the Basilica and prayed before the statue of Our Lady of Consolation, reciting the concluding prayer. It was sad to leave the Basilica in many ways because it was such a great experience. On the other hand, I certainly took the spirit of the pilgrimage with me and am still doing a novena. I also brought home some of the holy water. I’ll never forget that experience and plan on returning to Carey in April.

Left photo is a statue of Mary; right photo is the statue of St. Therese

After the Tomb altar, I went a statue of St. Therese, the Little Flower and said a prayer from the pilgrim’s manual. The realism of the statue was utterly amazing, almost as if she was standing right there with us.

Then, I moved to an altar and a cabinet that held many holy relics and said a prayer before the altar. As an Anglican, I had never known relics personally, just in history books. That is one aspect of Catholicism (as well as shrines) that was completely new to me. It was amazing to see the relics in person of many of those holy people I’ve admired over the years such as Maria Goretti, the Apostles, Perpetua, Francis, Clare, etc. Once again, this was another vivid reminder of the Incarnation.

Next, I said a prayer before a statue of St. Anne and traveled to the other side of the Lower Shrine where there were cabinets full of testimonials from people who had been cured at the Shrine and other reminders of their former states in life. A large number of crutches and braces filled the cabinets and lined the walls. Photos of babies conceived after visits to the Shrine were plentiful too. On top of the cabinet was a basket that was used to carry in a blind man. After his visit to the Shrine he could see. God still works today; the Basilica and Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation is a vivid reminder of that.

After examining the testimonials, I made my way over to the Souls altar, perhaps the most beautiful and intriguing of all the places in the Shrine. I said my prayer there and then went to another altar with the Blessed Sacrament and prayed to Our Lord. I then said a prayer before the altar of Our Lady of Guadalupe, who has special significance since she is patroness of the Americas and I became engaged on her feast day (December 12th).

I prayed before statues of St. Francis and St. Anthony of Padua before ending my pilgrimage of the Lower Shrine before a statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I’ve always loved the devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, perhaps because it emphasizes the love of Jesus.

Finally, we made our way upstairs and across the street to the Shrine cafeteria to partake of the Lenten seafood buffet.

The Final installment coming soon…

Left photo is of the Souls Altar and right photo is the Sacred Heart of Jesus

After praying at the altar with the Statue of Our Lady of Consolation, I moved to the high altar and prayed before the Blessed Sacrament. As most Catholics know, praying before the Blessed Sacrament is a great privilege and a wonderful devotion. When I first wanted to become Catholic, I went to my current parish and asked them to pray before the Blessed Sacrament and I know the Lord heard me. Praying before him at the shrine was no different.

After the high altar, I moved to the Our Lady of Sorrows altar. The beauty of the altar served as a sublime reminder of our Lord’s death and the grief his Mother bore in her heart. It was a perfect place to pray during Lent. The prayer before this altar in the pilgrim’s manual starts: "Dearest Mother, before you could become Consoler of the Afflicted you had to know true sorrow." We attempt during Lent (and all year) to try to meditate on and share in Jesus’ suffering and there is no better example than his Mother.

After the altar of Sorrows, I went to pray before an image of Christ’s divine mercy. After that I moved to pray before the statue of the Infant of Prague. The statues and images really did remind me of the Incarnation and how God became truly flesh and redeemed our world in our world. I’m not surprised that those denominations that have rejected images have moved towards Gnosticism, whether liberal or conservative forms.

Next, I moved downstairs to the lower shrine and prayed before the altar of Christ in the tomb. Just like our Lady of Sorrows, the images in this altar were powerful reminders of the suffering and death of Jesus. One thing I’ve learned from Catholicism is the importance of Jesus’ suffering and Cross. Fortunately, we have not capitulated to the spirit of the age which rejects Christ’s suffering and cross and replaces them with feel good theology.

More to come…

Photo 1 is of the Sorrows altar and photo 2 is of the altar of Christ in the tomb. Photos taken by David.

Yesterday, I had the great pleasure of going to the Basilica and National Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation. I want to share a little bit about my pilgrimage and encourage others to make a pilgrimage to this or similar shrines throughout the country and world.

We left the house about 1:00pm and drove to Carey, Ohio. Carey is a small town of about 3,500 people, showing that size and prestige don’t matter to God. The shrine contains a replica of the statue of Our Lady of Consolation in Luxembourg. In 1875, when the locals were moving this statue in procession the 7 miles from Frenchtown to Carey, there was a severe storm and yet, although surrounded by rain, neither those in the procession nor the statue itself got wet. Ever since there have been miracles associated with the shrine. The miraculous occurrences were described in a 1911 report to the Ohio Bishop as "overwhelming." They have continued to this day (more on that later).

When we first arrived to the shrine, we went to the gift shop where we bought a pilgrim’s prayer book and some containers for holy water. Then we went off to the actual shrine itself. The church building is beautiful and the statue of Our Lady of Consolation is mesmerizing.

The church is divided into a lower and upper shrine with numerous altars. The first place I started was at the side altar where the statue of our Lady of Consolation is displayed. I asked her to pray for my pilgrimage intentions and did some other devotions as well as lighting a votive candle. It was very easy to become fixed in that spot, knowing the power of God that has been displayed in this place. It was also an amazing thought to contemplate all of the other fellow Catholics (and others I’m sure) who had come to this small town in Ohio to go on a pilgrimage. We were told that at the time of the Solemnity of the Assumption, the shrine attracts around 6,000 people.

More to come…

Photo one is of the outside of the church. Photo two is a view of the Our Lady of Consolation altar. Photos taken by me or my brother David.