And the Convent of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament
Today we began the day by visiting the Shrine of Saint Katharine Drexel. At this point, we received the yellow bandanas to adorn ourselves during the World Meeting of Families outdoor festivities, and I was always trying to wear mine as a veil (just to be different). Saint Katharine was super-rich and, yet, gave all of her riches away in order to help both African Americans and Native Americans. She is Annie Katharine's namesake (alone with Saint Anne). Brian's grandmother (who we call "Memaw") was also named Katharine, spelled the same way. The shrine was BEAUTIFUL! And we met one lady on our pilgrimage who worked for years with Native Americans, ... and many volunteers very filled with the faith. In the third picture below, you'll see one of the world's "Peace Poles" ... of which there are a couple around here as well (one at Marian's Terra Nova and one near English Hills). They are simple, and yet international, symbols of peace. VERY appropriate for the Saint Katharine shrine where she prayed constantly for peace for disenfranchised peoples. Further, Pope Francis himself dedicated his homily at the Basilica of Saint Lawrence to Saint Katharine, ... repeating the quote the pope told Katharine when she asked for help for the poor. His response was, "What about YOU?" Then she created her own religious order. We saw MANY second class relics of this modern saint, most of which are shown below: her desk, her childhood desk, her shoes that she mended herself to save money, her pencil stubs (she wrote a LOT), her letter to the Pope, her glasses, her crucifix she wore every day since taking her vows, her wheelchair, her full habit (that she designed herself, her personal altar (that she used after her heart attack when she was confined to her room), and her remains themselves. There is a beautiful Native American prayer basket hanging by her remains. We placed beautiful prayers inside of it. They are buried with the next Sister of the Blessed Sacrament to pass away. We were also blessed to go to Mass (celebrated by our own priest!) at the chapel of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. Shana was in awe of the crucifix here because it was life-size and made of black walnut wood. This is the very hardest of woods, almost impossible to carve. The crucifix was beautiful, and the pictures absolutely could not do it justice. No one else understood the incredible significance. In one of the pictures below, you can see the crucifix and the room at the top right that they built for Katharine after she became immobile after her heart issues. She spent the rest of her life there, observing Mass and Eucharistic Adoration. For me, the strange, separated pews were the most striking things. Being used to sitting arm-and-arm with Shana, this was an abrupt change, ... it was a neat way to force me into a cloistered convent for a bit. It was here that we found the perfect spot to take a picture of everyone on the pilgrimage. It would be the picture in the Catholic News Herald. Shana and I are on the left. I am holding up an "I Love You" in sign language. One more thing I have to mention. At the end, we were given permission to venerate a first class relic of Saint Katharine Drexel. My happiness and excitement turned to shock when I realized that NO ONE KNEW that they could make third class relics of their sacred items (some of which were purchased in the gift store). As everyone else simply kissed the relic, I prepared a special medal & keychain & pin of Saint Katharine in order to quickly touch them to the first class relic. The priest smiled a HUGE smile when I approached and touched my items to the relic. At least SOMEONE other than Shana knew what I was doing! :-) Now I had something VERY special to give to Annie. When we were back on the bus, I asked to take the microphone and explained the process so that others would know how to do so in the future.
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