Recently memories have surfaced of visiting The Cross in the Woods in Indian River, Michigan. My parents took me when I was a child and I haven’t been back yet. I remember the awe I had staring up at the huge crucifix, yet unaware of the true meaning of that Catholic symbol. When I look at a crucifix now, I see the suffering and pain Jesus endured for the salvation of all humankind, and the pain Mary went through as His Mother. How willing Mary accepted God’s will for her and her Divine Son, how she trusted God in His plan. And when I sit or kneel in front of crucifix, I feel the love of the Heavens radiate from it through to my soul in an intensity I could never even dream was possible.
With this in mind, I now yearn to visit the Cross in the Woods again, and share the experience with my daughter, just as we shared our first visit to the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help in Wisconsin. In the 1800s Mary appeared to Adele Brise and requested she teach the local children the catechism. Recently, the site has been officially deemed “worthy of belief” by the Catholic Church – something many others knew themselves long before the Church gave its final word. Many have gained medical, physical, emotional, and spiritual benefits of visiting the site. Ours was a brief trip in mid-summer, just enough time to see the interior of the chapel, the room under the chapel where the original vision site is preserved, and the grounds. We plodded about, sweat dripping from our hairline and brows, but it didn’t bother me. I would like to go back, with more time to sit and pray and listen for God in the quietness. I did ask for a few things from God and Our Lady while I was there. Did I receive any miracles? Perhaps, but nothing obvious like going in blind and leaving with sight restored.
I dream of pilgrimages abroad to places like Lourdes, Fatima, Rome, Jerusalem, and Medjugorje. But the likelihood that I will ever be able to make them is slim. Reflecting on this, and having just been to the Shrine in Wisconsin, I began to wonder what other Catholic treasures are there for us here in the United States. What other Holy places are available to us here, places I could very likely someday be able to visit? So I began my search. I was surprised to find a wealth of fascinating, inspiring, and spiritual places worthy of a pilgrimage. I am working on a short piece to publish elsewhere, but here is a small sampling of what I found…
The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in New York is the largest Roman Catholic Church in the U.S. Pictures on their website show a church that rivals those of the Old World.
The Shrine of the first canonized American saint, St. Elizabeth Seton, is in New York as well. Raised a Protestant, Mother Seton was a model of good will and is the founder of the parochial school system in the United States.
The Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs, again in New York, is in the birthplace of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, who will become the first Native American saint in October of this year.
Many are said to leave the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Boston with miracles and cures. According to their website, it takes something special to be labeled a Basilica: “an imposing architecture, a substantial number of visitors, and an important spiritual treasure.”
The National Shrine Grotto of Lourdes at Mount St. Mary’s University in Maryland is an exact replica of the one found in Lourdes, France where Mary appeared to St. Bernadette. In 2007 the Grotto received a gift – a piece of the rock from the original Lourdes Grotto, excavated near the miraculous spring. It has been installed as part of the Maryland grotto and is available for all to see and touch.
In Texas you can find The Shrine of the True Cross, where a piece of the very cross Jesus was nailed to is available for viewing and veneration.
The Loretto Chapel in New Mexico holds a staircase that was built and installed with miraculous circumstances. No carpenter could find a non-intrusive way to build a staircase to the choir loft. After much prayer, a man with a tool box and a donkey showed up, crafted a staircase, and disappeared without thanks or pay. The staircase has no support structure, the risers are perfectly spaced, it makes two exact 360 degree turns, and is made of an extinct species of wood. Many give credit to St. Joseph, saying that he was the carpenter who solved the staircase dilemma.
These are just a sampling of what’s available across the country. Have you been inspired? If you visit before I do, please come back and leave your impressions of where your pilgrimage took you! I’d also love to hear any other suggestions I may not have found on my search of Catholic inspirational places in the United States!
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