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By Priscilla Greear
Staff Writer
WASHINGTON- Pilgrims on the 1999 archdiocesan pilgrimage to Washington,
D.C., got a taste of the faith-enriching food many find in the Holy Land as
they visited the Franciscan Monastery Memorial Church filled with relics and
statues of saints and replicas of shrines in the birthplace of Christ.
Pilgrim Theresa Butorac, a parishioner of St. Theresa Church, Douglasville,
was most nourished on her journey at the monastery where she gained a deeper
awareness of Christ's earthly life and crucifixion through the many depictions
of Jesus. She particularly liked the Altar of Calvary replica of the original
one in Jerusalem, a large crucifixion panel where Christ is overshadowed by
approaching darkness and is next to a penitent thief looking pleadingly at him
as Mary stands below.
"... I had never seen anything like that - the stable where Jesus was
born ... the (panel depicting) the crucifixion (of) the thieves hanging on each
side. I think that affected me more than anything ... It was just so life-like.
I really just wanted to cry - it was so realistic," she said.
The visit to the monastery was part of the annual pilgrimage to the nation's
capital and to its Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
held Sept. 28- Oct. 1.
Father Hugh Marren, pastor at St. Benedict's Church, Duluth, led the trip
and was accompanied by Father Larry Niese, parochial vicar at St. Peter's
Church, LaGrange, Father Serge Ward, administrator of St. Michael's Church,
Gainesville, Father Augustine Hoa Tran, parochial vicar at St. Theresa's
Church, Douglasville, and Father Tom Hennessy, parochial vicar at Sacred Heart
Church, Griffin.
Forming a unified faith community, the diverse mix of 55 pilgrims from 23
parishes ranged from young adults to the elderly and represented several ethnic
groups.
The journey began as the bus pulled out of the parking lot of Immaculate
Heart of Mary Church in Atlanta for the day-long bus ride en route to
Washington. As they traveled, participants recited the rosary and other
prayers, sang songs of praise and watched a few Irish videos.
The first stop on the drizzly Wednesday was at the Franciscan monastery, set
on a wooded hillside named Mount Saint Sepulchre, honoring the Holy Sepulchre,
Christ's tomb in Jerusalem. It is located in Washington's Brookland area near
the Catholic University of America.
Pilgrims toured the monastery after which Father Marren celebrated Mass on
its main altar.
In 1897 Father Godfrey Schilling, OFM, the Founder of the monastery, sent
the first Franciscan friars to take possession of a large estate in Brookland
and in 1899 the monastery was dedicated. It provides a place in the United
States for people who might not otherwise be able to visit the shrines found in
the Holy Land and the Catacombs of Rome.
Over 700 years ago, the church entrusted the Order of St. Francis with the
guardianship of significant biblical sites in the Holy Land. Through
contributions, the monastery also supports its many charitable missions and
schools, and promotes awareness of the need for this service.
The Commissariat of the Holy Land also trains Franciscans to work there and
to raise money to support their work.
The monastery's architecture is Byzantine with a slight trend toward the
Italian Renaissance. Upon entering the main church, the visitor's eye is drawn
instinctively to three shrines, which include the Sanctuary of Mount Thabor,
with its Altar of the Blessed Sacrament surrounded by a relief panel depicting
the Transfiguration of Christ.
The monastery also houses chapels of St. Joseph, St. Anthony of Padua, the
Blessed Virgin and St. Francis, each with stained-glass windows, marble altars
and narrative wood carvings. Replicas of the Catacombs in Rome lie underneath
and include the Martyr's Crypt which has a relic of St. Benignus brought from
Rome encased in a wax figure of him beneath the altar.
A peaceful refuge, the surrounding gardens are graced with statues and
replicas including those of the grottos in Lourdes, France and in the
Gethsemane Valley near Jerusalem, which tradition relates afforded shelter to
Christ and his apostles.
In his homily Father Marren urged pilgrims, as they departed the tranquil
monastery and returned to daily life, to have total devotion to Christ. He
admonished them to avoid "the snares of the devil" including
self-gratification through consumerism and materialism, taking God's love for
granted and not receiving it and putting other things before God.
"Sure God's love is unconditional but we must accept this unconditional
love and not presume upon it. Each of us has the capacity and ability to say no
to this love by our presumptions and thus shut ourselves off from God," he
said. "God is the one we must adore and he must be number one in our
lives. Not even gaining or winning the whole world with all its kingdoms is
sufficient reason to place God in any other position but number one ... On
this, our pilgrimage, and as we enter the new millennium, let us avoid the
snares of the devil, avoid greed in all its forms, avoid tempting the Lord, our
God, avoid the tendency to put God second."
Pilgrims rose bright and early on a sunny Thursday for a morning tour at the
national shrine, the largest church in the Western Hemisphere and the eighth
largest church in the world. They spent a quiet afternoon that included time
for private prayer, devotion to Mary, recollection of the heroic lives of
saints and reflection on their personal faith journeys. Later, they gathered to
recite the rosary and celebrate Mass.
The shrine reflects the spiritual bond between the United States and the
Blessed Virgin that was formalized in 1847 when Pope Pius IX entrusted America
to the protection of Mary, "Patroness of the United States," under
the title of her Immaculate Conception. It has 56 chapels located throughout
the church that reflect the religious and cultural heritage, brought to America
by generations of immigrant Catholics, and the strength of their unity through
devotion to Mary. Sculpture, stained glass and mosaics remind visitors of these
unique heritages. The interior also has massive arches and marble columns that
support five domes throughout the structure. The Great Dome on the exterior is
constructed of blue and yellow polychrome tile bearing traditional symbols of
Mary including the Star of the Sea and the intertwined letters "A"
and "M" for Ave Maria.
In the early 1900s, Bishop Thomas J. Shahan, the fourth rector of the
Catholic University of America, explored the possibility of building a shrine
to Mary adjacent to the campus and presented his plan to Pope Pius X who
supported it with his backing and a $400 personal donation. In 1913 the board
of trustees of Catholic University agreed to donate a parcel of land on which
the shrine would be built.
The crypt church dedicated to Our Lady of Catacombs was completed in 1926.
The altar where Mass has been celebrated since 1927 was given as a gift to the
shrine by more than 30,000 women named Mary.
Construction of the upper church of the shrine was delayed until 1953 when
the nation's bishops renewed their work to build it following the Great
Depression and World War II. Construction resumed and in 1959 the upper church
was dedicated. Catholics nationwide made financial contributions to the
project.
Pilgrims celebrated the afternoon Mass in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel,
which has a golden tabernacle surrounded by shimmering bronze strands rising to
form a canopy. Above the canopy is the crucified Christ.
In his homily, Father Marren spoke on the privilege of receiving Christ at
the shrine, reading from a document from the Pontifical Council for the
Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People.
"The shrine is a place of covenant ... where God reminds his people of
his faithfulness, in order to shed light on their journey and to offer them
consolation and strength. A shrine can become an excellent place for deepening
one's faith, in a special setting and at a favorable time, apart from the
ordinary," he read.
"The shrine, a work of human hands, points beyond itself to the
heavenly Jerusalem, our Mother, the city coming down from God, all adorned as a
bride, the perfect eschatological shrine where the glorious divine presence is
directly and personally experienced."
He spoke of how Mary was preserved from sin and became the first tabernacle
of the Lord as she gave birth to Christ. He then called pilgrims to be living
temples for the Lord.
"In looking at that mystery we also have to ask ourselves, 'What
preparation do I do to make myself a worthy temple to receive Christ in the
Eucharist. When we visit the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception it should
inspire us to make every preparation to do everything to prepare to receive
Christ in the Eucharist. We, too, should do everything in our power to free
ourselves from every aspect of sin because sin is never insignificant," he
said. "In this coming year may we strive earnestly to receive the
Eucharist more worthily."
That night pilgrims enjoyed a guided tour of the city.
Participants were enriched by the age-old devotion of making a pilgrimage.
At the trip's conclusion Butorac, a convert, said visiting the shrine was
enlightening.
"I just felt like a little kid running around looking at everything my
Mother has done because of the different images ... It just made me discover
more about myself and my relationship to her and I just trust them (Mary and
Jesus) so fully," she said.
Yet while she went on the trip to honor Mary, Butorac, 44, noted that its
greatest fruit was drawing her closer to the Lord.
After visiting the monastery's Purgatory Chapel dedicated to the faithful
departed, Butorac said that she was also reminded to pray for the dead.
"It really just reminded me, I guess because it was kind of dark and
kind of eerie..., that all those poor souls, they need our prayers so badly and
the Blessed Mother is always saying that we need to pray for the souls in
purgatory."
Sixty-four-year-old Pat Kearsley, a parishioner at St. Elizabeth Seton
Mission, Warm Springs, who had never been on a pilgrimage or retreat before,
was brought to tears at the shrine. For her, the trip was a time to learn more
about the history of Catholicism and to experience spiritual renewal while
helping her not to take her faith for granted.
"The shrine was the most inspiring thing ... I just felt very close to
God during that time ...celebrating Mass in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel, being
able to see all the different shrines and learn more about the different saints
of the church and (seeing) the beauty of the shrines and the work that went
into this. (It) was just overwhelming to me."
That spirit of awe lives on, Kearsley said, and that she felt led to deepen
her faith.
"I really feel like my life has been renewed because of this
experience," she continued. "I feel my prayer and devotion to Mary
will be more than they had been. I know my prayer life will be different, just
my whole prayer life will be entirely different."
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