Local
treasure becomes national shrine
By Lou Baldwin
Special to The CS&T
BENSALEM — It’s official. In January, the Sisters of the Blessed
Sacrament received a letter from Msgr. Anthony F. Sherman, executive director
of the Secretariat for the Liturgy of the United States Conference of
Catholic Bishops (USCCB) informing them that the Shrine of St. Katharine
Drexel in Bensalem has been recognized by the Bishops and may henceforth
be called the National Shrine of St. Katharine Drexel.
It would be hard to imagine any other location for St. Katharine’s
national shrine, which is beneath the chapel of St. Elizabeth Convent,
the Blessed Sacrament Sisters’ motherhouse. Mother Katharine moved
her pioneer sisters into the convent in December 1892. It was there she
lived, labored and prayed until God called her home in 1955, and it is
there her remains have been entombed for more than half a century since.
The new designation was received through a request by Cardinal Justin
Rigali to the USCCB. Msgr. Alexander Palmieri, the archdiocesan chancellor,
worked closely with the sisters in preparing the necessary documentation.
“He was beyond helpful to us,“ said Sister Patricia Downs,
the shrine director.
Approximately 20,000 people visit each year according to Sister Patricia.
Some are with group pilgrimages, others are with school retreats. Many
of them are from surrounding states. Still others simply drop in and may
not even sign the guest log.
“I think pilgrims come for a quiet place to pray, either in the
chapel where we have exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, or at Mother
Katharine’s tomb,” Sister Patricia said. “Sometimes
people have received frightening word from a doctor and come to pray for
strength or even a cure. Many people do report receiving an answer to
their prayers, but for others, it is just a wonderful, peaceful place.”
Ruth Buehler, who lives nearby, has been visiting about once a week for
the past eight years. “Whenever I have a problem, St. Katharine
helps me find a way out,” she said.
Sister Juliana Haynes, coordinator of public affairs for the sisters,
was just completing her novitiate when Mother Katharine died.
Before her death, people visited to pay their respects. After her death,
“they came to pray. The whole world came to our doorstep and that
made me realize how important she was,” said Sister Juliana, who
was the congregation’s president at the time of Mother Katharine’s
1988 beatification.
“We’re proud it has been designated a national shrine, but
it’s not a surprise,” Sister Juliana said. The motherhouse
is not just a place where her body is, it also has all of the archives
pertaining to her life and “it safeguards her mission,” she
said.
The peacefulness draws Karen Plummer of Assumption B.V.M. Parish, Feasterville,
who is one of the many honor guards who volunteer at the shrine. “There
is something about the place that draws me,” she said.
The need for certification from the bishops wasn’t a mere formality.
The 1983 Code of Canon Law requires such approval from a national bishops
conference before any shrine may be termed a national shrine.
Lou Baldwin is a member of St. Leo parish and a freelance writer.