D
didymus
Guest
Albany Times Union:
Even though they are off the beaten path, see the Martyr’s shrine & Kateri shrine, they are right down the road from each other & it’s beautiful country, esp. in autumn.
Kateri to be canonized in October
FONDA — Years of prayer and lobbying the Vatican for sainthood by devotees of Kateri Tekakwitha at local shrines were met with jubilation Saturday after Pope Benedict XVI announced Oct. 21 as the canonization date for the young Native American and mystic who lived in the Mohawk Valley in the 17th century.
The Pope also will elevate to sainthood another woman with upstate ties, who also is credited with miracles. Mother Marianne Cope, who grew up in Utica in the mid-1800s, entered religious life with the Sisters of Saint Francis in Syracuse. She was among seven new saints scheduled for canonization.
“Everyone is very excited and it’s wonderful that she will become the first Native American saint,” said Wayne Carpenter, a retired state worker and volunteer office manager at the national shrine to Kateri, a 200-acre compound on Route 5 in Fonda, Montgomery County.
Wonderful news! Not just for us locals but our Canadian friends since Bl Kateri “belongs” to them as well.Meanwhile, at the nearby Auriesville shrine, where Kateri was born in 1656, plans are under way for a large celebration on Oct. 21. Those who run the 400-acre site expect a significant increase in the 75,000 annual visitors when it opens for the season at the end of April.
“We’re just overjoyed after waiting for this for so many years,” said Beth Lynch, event coordinator at Auriesville’s Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs, which is run by Jesuit priests.
“We’ve been working with the Sisters of Saint Francis and we share each other’s joy that this is happening at the same time for two New Yorkers,” Lynch said.
Kateri was born in 1656 in Ossernenon, now called Auriesville, a few miles west of Amsterdam. Her mother was a Christian Algonquin and her father was a Mohawk chief who died of smallpox when she was 4 years old — a disease that damaged the girl’s eyesight and scarred her face.
Even though they are off the beaten path, see the Martyr’s shrine & Kateri shrine, they are right down the road from each other & it’s beautiful country, esp. in autumn.