Latest / The Catholic Current / Hidden Gems: Catholic Shrines in America (Nell Andrzejewski) 10/20/26

Transcript

Hidden Gems: Catholic Shrines in America (Nell Andrzejewski) 10/20/26 · The Catholic Current

0:00
This is The Catholic Current with Father Robert Matague.
0:04
People bandying about signs that said, you know, no justice,
0:08
no peace. And I said, well, then we're going to have a problem.
0:12
The justice that we want, we can't possibly have
0:16
by our own will or by our own legislation.
0:19
This is how the secularists get things exactly back to front,
0:23
you know, saying no justice, no peace. Well, there will be no justice until
0:28
there is peace in our hearts. So in other words, we have to begin with
0:31
the peace who Jesus Christ. Praise be
0:35
Jesus Christ. This is Father Robert McTigue of the Society of Jesus, your daily host
0:39
for The Catholic Current, where we bring Christ to the world and the world to
0:43
Christ. You're listening to us from the Station of the Cross Studios, your local radio
0:46
station, and the iCatholic Radio mobile app, where we proclaim the fullness of truth
0:50
with clarity and charity. As always, let's start with prayer.
0:54
In the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Almighty God, through the
0:58
intercession of Saint Ignatius Loyola, we ask that you pour forth your Holy Spirit upon
1:02
us, a spirit of discernment, they might hear your voice and obey your command.
1:06
Name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Well, friends,
1:09
you should know this about Jesuits. If you want to get a Jesuit's heart to
1:13
skip a beat, just say the word pilgrimage. Saint Ignatius,
1:17
in his autobiography, referred to himself as the pilgrim.
1:21
Pilgrimages are a very important part of Jesuit spirituality and
1:25
Catholic life. And when we think of pilgrimages, we think of
1:29
places that are very far away and Europe
1:33
and the Holy Land and so on, but there are places of pilgrimage in the
1:38
United States, and that's what I want to talk about today. So I
1:41
have with me now the host of a program on EWTN called
1:46
Hidden Gems, and it's about shrines within the
1:49
United States. Nell Angevski, welcome to The Catholic Current.
1:53
Thank you. It's great to be here today. Now, tell us
1:57
about this program. I know there, you know, anybody can be a tour guide
2:01
and everyone can point and say, look at the nice thing that happened over here.
2:05
But this program on EWTN, it's not just a
2:09
magazine about places. There's something special about it. Tell us about that, please.
2:14
Oh, there's a huge difference between just tourism and pilgrimage,
2:17
right? And yet they intersect
2:20
at the same time. So someone who's coming on a tour to find out about
2:24
rocks in Iowa, for example, you know,
2:27
might stop by the Shrine of the Grotto of the Redemption
2:31
and check out the world's largest collection of, of, of,
2:34
uh, rare unusual rocks all in one place,
2:38
but it's a sacred place. And so the sacredness,
2:42
the focus is beyond this world. So somebody
2:47
might come with kind of worldly intentions or interests or
2:50
curiosity and then be able to encounter something beyond
2:55
that because of where the rubber meets the road, where the rock
3:00
connects someone with with what is divine.
3:03
So the, the shrine, the show, the series, we are,
3:07
we are walking people through into, um, in a virtual
3:10
way on, on the, you know, through EWTN, some really remarkable places
3:15
within the United States. Very often we think we, you know,
3:18
pilgrimage might be overseas or go some extraordinary distance,
3:22
but, um, we have a very large and broad and,
3:26
and great variety in the United States of really holy
3:29
places that are, that are extraordinary,
3:33
right? You know, I would tell people there's, there's a difference between,
3:37
you know, going on a stroll or going on a vacation,
3:40
going on a pilgrimage. In a pilgrimage, you're deliberately putting
3:43
aside ordinary life in order to
3:47
go someplace holy to honor God. There's oftentimes
3:51
a great history there, and also in the hopes
3:55
of being transformed, that you can write in your diary or
3:59
journal someday, things became different
4:03
because I went to this particular holy place.
4:06
Now I'm gonna exercise Jesuit privilege here and
4:10
talk about the Jesuit shrine on the list, the North American
4:13
Martyrs Shrine in Auriesville. You know, we're headquartered in Buffalo,
4:17
so that's not far from where our headquarters are located.
4:21
I've been there myself Tell us about that
4:25
place. What, what makes that special? Why, uh, it's worth the
4:29
effort to get there? Well, gosh, you know,
4:32
it's one of the oldest places in the United States where
4:35
Catholicism took root, where Catholicism started.
4:40
Um, it was Mohawk territory. It was the land of
4:43
great bounty, rivers, and nature when the Saint
4:47
Isaac Jogues and René Goupil came through eventually were
4:51
martyred there. And that is, I mean, that's really kind
4:55
of cutting to the chase, kind of missing the whole story to go to the
4:58
end and to the climax of where they gave their
5:02
lives for Christ in the final sacrifice.
5:05
But that is the location where we have
5:09
the first martyrdoms in the United States. It's one of the oldest.
5:13
It's about 380 years ago that
5:18
Uh, Saint Isaac Jogues was martyred. That was 1646.
5:23
So this is great. I mean, this is great history,
5:27
and it is, it's a profound place. It's very outdoors
5:30
still. Yes. Um, so it's kind of the,
5:34
the shrine, the shrine itself was established as a place of,
5:38
um, of gathering, of going, of, of pilgrimage,
5:42
of travel to somewhere sacred in the 19—
5:47
1930s, I believe, or a little, a little earlier than that, like end
5:51
of the 1800s, um, early 1900s. But the—
5:55
and the buildings on there might think of you— you might think of a,
5:58
um, I don't know, like a 4-H camp or a, um— it was
6:02
kind of the picnic era before TVs came in where people were getting
6:05
out of the city and going somewhere. Um, and so people
6:09
would come out on the train out of New York, out of the city,
6:12
and travel to the shrine that had been established in
6:16
a very, very, very small— I mean, probably maybe
6:20
8-foot-wide kind of circular shrine— his building
6:23
was first established. And then there was a much greater one which
6:27
will hold thousands of people, about, I think, 2,000 people in there.
6:31
It's a very large church now, but it still
6:35
retains its connection with nature.
6:39
I really like that particular shrine because of the
6:43
connection between nature and Christ, his sacrifice
6:47
and the beauty of his creation. You know,
6:51
the heroism of those North American martyrs
6:54
is, I mean, even if they didn't die, just the hardships they
6:58
faced and the courage they exercised was, would be absolutely
7:02
boggling and humbling. And to recognize that There were
7:06
men who decided that Christ was worth the shedding of their
7:10
blood. And that kind of humbles you if you're the
7:14
kind of person who says, what, I've gotta be at Mass by noon
7:18
on Sunday? There's something about, you know,
7:21
going to a distant place, inconveniencing yourself
7:25
to say, why exactly am I doing this?
7:29
I'm sure you've met people who've gone to that
7:33
site over the years. What's their account of their experience?
7:36
Right. Well, you know, it's the chilly in the morning.
7:40
You know, wake up and there's frost outside and you thought it was going to
7:42
be a nice warm day for your picnic. Or,
7:46
you know, just the different— every year actually now,
7:50
just recently again, there's been a renewed walking pilgrimage
7:54
from a parish in the area out
7:58
in the several miles through down trails and
8:02
things across the river. The Mohawk River over to
8:06
the shrine. And so that kind of is reawakening a little bit of
8:10
the endurance, a little bit of the endurance. Sure. Reminds— it gives people a—
8:14
it gives people time. So part of it, part of the joy of
8:19
pilgrimage is the time it takes to
8:23
travel, to get to this, this new place that you mentioned.
8:26
Like when you walk away, you're hoping to write something down in
8:30
your journal later on, you— there should be something that has shifted because
8:34
you've taken, you've taken the time, you've given the time, I should say,
8:38
right? You know, um, you've given the time back to God and he is filling
8:42
that time, gives you time to meditate, give you time to reflect,
8:45
gives you time to converse with other people, converse with him,
8:50
um, investigate the, the,
8:53
the labor, you know, the birthing of the
8:57
church in this particular place of the world. And that came
9:01
through, that came through some serious sacrifice on the part of
9:05
Saint Isaac Jogues and his companions. And you,
9:08
you nailed it, before he died. So, you know, the culmination
9:12
of his life was in 1646,
9:15
but he, he was enslaved by the,
9:19
by the natives there. Um, and he loved them enough
9:23
that when he escaped slavery, he came back without his fingers
9:27
because they had chewed his fingers off, right, with permission to pray Mass.
9:32
And he continued to broker for
9:36
peace. You know, he, he, for a time,
9:39
he was able to bring peace between the tribes in the area, help them to
9:43
start to know something greater than himself,
9:47
themselves, and their own, their own traditions. There's, there's more.
9:51
You know, you have something beautiful, perhaps, But there's more. So yeah,
9:55
he had a distinctly rough life. And that's why I
9:59
think it is the distinctive element of the practice of pilgrimage,
10:04
that there is something more than just what I take
10:09
for granted. There's something more than my agenda and
10:13
my priorities and my preferences.
10:17
And to say that, you know, God is so big that I'm going
10:21
to, quote unquote, let him make demands on my time,
10:25
my energy, and my attention. I want to relativize
10:30
my place in the world so that I can have contact
10:34
with a place that is holy, and to see that
10:38
wherever, wherever we are in the world,
10:41
God is still God there. And people made
10:45
sacrifices so that the gospel can be brought even
10:49
to unlikely places. And that's what I want to talk about more
10:53
in the next segment. Friends, when we come back, we're going to continue our conversation
10:57
with Nell Angevski. She is the host of a show on EWTN
11:02
about, uh, hidden gems, about places of pilgrimages
11:05
in North America. Remember, our rallying cry here at The Catholic Current
11:10
is Christus Mundo, Mundus Christo— bringing Christ to the world and the world to Christ.
11:14
We do it because our Lord says so. For the greater glory of God,
11:17
the love of our neighbor, and the salvation of our own soul. After the
11:21
broadcast today, go to thestationofthecross.com, get our resources
11:25
list, download our audios, podcast. Take this to your family
11:28
and friends. Together we'll take it to the whole world. Back in just
11:32
2 minutes. Please do stay with us.
12:00
You're listening to The Catholic Current with Father Robert McTague
12:04
from the Station of the Cross Catholic Media Network.
12:07
Stay connected with the show and our guests and topics by following
12:11
the show on Twitter and Gab. Just search for The
12:15
Catholic Current.
12:21
Praise be Jesus Christ. This is Father Robert McTeague of the Society
12:25
of Jesus, your daily host for The Catholic Current, where we bring Christ to the
12:28
world and the world to Christ. You're listening to us from the Station of the
12:31
Cross Studios, your local radio station, the iCatholic Radio mobile app.
12:35
We proclaim the fullness of truth with clarity and charity.
12:40
Hey friends, did you know iCatholic Mobile supports only Catholic causes?
12:44
iCatholic Mobile offers unlimited 5G data, text, and talk,
12:48
and iCatholic Mobile gives a portion of every dollar earned to the Station
12:52
of the Cross Catholic Media Network. By subscribing to iCatholic Mobile,
12:56
you help fund programs that defend our Catholic
12:59
faith. My guest today is Nell Angielski. She hosts a
13:03
program on EWTN called Hidden Gems: Catholic Shrines
13:07
in America. Angie, can you tell us about the wheres and the whens
13:11
that people can find this show on EWTN? Sure, yeah, it's a new series
13:15
and it's airing on every Sunday at 5 o'clock Central Standard Time
13:19
and in, in an encore the following Friday at 8
13:23
in the morning. Okay, you can also find it on demand at
13:27
EWTN if you don't want to follow the schedule. But yeah,
13:31
it's every Sunday at 7:05. Okay. All right. Good to know. So we
13:36
talked about the North American Martyr Shrine in Orrisville. Let's go back
13:40
even further in history. I think an unappreciated chapter of
13:45
Catholicism in America is the state
13:48
of Florida, where I had lived for a few years.
13:52
And you said there's a shrine there called Our Lady of La Leche.
13:56
Can you tell us about that, please? Please? Yes, yeah, it's the oldest
13:59
Marian shrine in what's the United States now.
14:03
It was Pedro Menéndez de Avilés,
14:06
um, landed there in 1565,
14:10
so 70-some years after Columbus.
14:13
So this is early, um, early exploration,
14:17
and he brought with him priests, and the
14:21
first Mass that was prayed in Florida, um,
14:24
15— Uh, yeah, 1500s to 1565.
14:29
Um, so it's— there was a— they were the people
14:33
who were there that were the Muwekwa Indians, and they established a good
14:38
relationship for some years there. And there now,
14:42
there's, you know, after time has gone by, there they have digs
14:45
that are there, and the university that's nearby is going through and,
14:50
um, researching the placement of the different homes
14:54
and the area. But there's layers of
14:58
history over time in that, in that area that we have that's
15:02
recorded. Right. And what could people expect to
15:06
see if they go there? Florida is always nice.
15:10
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's a, it's a, it's a
15:13
1-acre place that has a more of
15:17
a modern chapel. And then it has an outdoor area for
15:21
picnicking. And it also has kind of a a really special
15:24
small chapel, kind of modeled after—
15:28
for Our Lady of La Leche, kind of modeled after the,
15:32
the home in Nazareth that has a
15:35
statue of our Blessed Mother and she's nursing the infant child.
15:39
Oh, and it's, it's modeled after an
15:44
original. The original has been lost, and so it's a newer statue,
15:47
but women in particular, families, young families very often,
15:51
but women go there, um, and ask Our Lady's help
15:55
with their young children or with breastfeeding, or if
16:00
they would like, you know, if they're— they want to have a baby, you know.
16:04
So new couples, young couples, or, um, you know,
16:07
established marriages, and they, they want to have children, they bring their
16:10
intentions to that little chapel and just pray
16:14
there, um, reading the— actually, you know, in the back
16:18
of the little chapel. There's like 13 pews. It's not a huge place, but it
16:22
is old stone covered with vines. And there's
16:27
a book in the back where people write their intentions and people pray for each
16:30
other. And it's just beautiful because oftentimes people will
16:34
come back with their gratitude for the gift
16:38
of whatever they had received on that pilgrimage. Oh, very good. Okay. Oh,
16:41
thanks for putting that. Yes, I do want people to— what
16:45
part of Florida is it in, please? Oh, it's a great little city.
16:49
St. Augustine, Florida. Okay, sure, sure. Yeah. Okay.
16:52
Well, we're gonna, we're gonna link to all that in the show
16:56
notes. I, I'm gonna be jumping up and down the East Coast for, for this
16:59
segment. Back up to Philadelphia where I had lived for a little while.
17:03
Philadelphia. Yeah, it's, there's a basilica. It's the Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous
17:07
Medal. And so this one's much like much more new compared
17:12
to Our Lady of La Leche, but 1850 in Germantown, the Vincentians
17:16
settled in. And they came to help out with the Irish who
17:20
were trying to find a place to live and get, you know, get working.
17:24
And eventually they did quite well, the Vincentians did.
17:28
They started a seminary there and they needed to,
17:32
well, they needed to build it and build it out. And the priest
17:36
who was tasked with this, Father Joseph Scully, he had to raise this money.
17:39
And so in every envelope that he sent out requesting funds, he ended
17:43
up putting, he decided because of his mother's influence, really, actually,
17:47
he decided decided to put the Miraculous Medal in the
17:51
end and in each envelope and connect people with the
17:55
Blessed Mother, but also connect them with his mission,
17:58
the mission that they were tasked with in Germantown. And so,
18:03
um, he was able to raise funds through spreading the news
18:06
of the Miraculous Medal, which is interesting because the Miraculous
18:11
Medal was given in 1830, right? And they
18:14
were there in the 1850s is when they started in Germantown.
18:18
So not too long after that gift of the apparition, the gift
18:22
of the Miraculous Medal, Father Joseph, with his faith,
18:26
decided to invoke Our Lady and
18:31
teach other people through his own
18:34
work. So he combined his work with the Blessed Mother,
18:38
and that's where the shrine was established. It is really beautiful.
18:42
No, I've been there myself years
18:45
ago, the mosaics and so on, and the acoustics are really
18:49
perfect. For music as well. Now, this is not the
18:53
only Miraculous Medal shrine on your list. There's another one or
18:56
two, isn't there? Yes, yes. So in Sioux
19:00
City, Iowa, you would— it's— I'm sorry, not in Sioux City, it's out in Missouri,
19:05
and it was established in the later 1800s.
19:10
It was, it was established by descendants from Maryland,
19:14
actually, from the colony of Maryland,
19:17
who were landing in that part of the United States. And when
19:22
they went out, they had a devotion toward the Blessed Mother,
19:25
and they send out thousands nowadays. They send out,
19:29
you know, thousands of Miraculous Medals, um, throughout the world.
19:33
It's in Perryville, Missouri. So it was an 1818,
19:36
um, church, and it was, it was in part built
19:41
by, um, the youth of the area who dug
19:44
in the the quarries nearby to build the actual
19:48
church, Our Lady of the Barrens. So it was kind of out in the middle
19:50
of nowhere near the Mississippi. And granted, the Mississippi was a highway early
19:57
on, but still it was kind of, it was kind of far
20:01
out there. But the faith was not. The faith was,
20:04
was taking root. And I think that that is so important
20:09
that people are willing to inconvenience themselves
20:13
for the sake of pilgrimage. I think that's one of the things, uh, you know,
20:16
we're so locked into the routine. I think of C.S. Lewis saying,
20:21
you know, we wake up in the morning with this illusion that we can speak
20:25
of my time the way that we can speak of my boots, that somehow life
20:29
owes us 24 hours to dispose of exactly as
20:33
we want. And a pilgrimage takes
20:38
us out of that and says, no, there,
20:41
there is something larger, there is something,
20:45
uh, more significant, and it's worth,
20:48
like I said, upsetting our routines.
20:52
And I, I think that is tremendously, uh, important.
20:56
You also mentioned that, uh, there is a shrine of Saint
21:00
Jude. I know he's, he's listed as the, the patron saint of hopeless causes.
21:04
I seem to meet a lot of people who who are experiencing
21:08
hopeless causes these days. Can you tell us about that, please?
21:11
Sure. Yeah. Yeah, you— this one is an inner-city shrine,
21:15
but it's very popular anyway. I think honestly, it's one of
21:19
the reasons why St. Jude has become so well known of late
21:24
over the past, you know, 70 years or so. So it was
21:28
established by the Claratians in 1929,
21:32
and then it kind of hit hit boom as far as they started really focusing
21:36
on, well, just on, on St. Jude. Here they had a,
21:40
they had a relic of the Apostle, um, and people recognized this
21:44
and wanted to be near, wanted to come and have made pilgrimage,
21:48
um, since then, uh, and different, different people
21:52
who have been down on their luck, if you want to put
21:55
it that way. Danny Thomas was an actor, um, who's kind of
21:59
known for starting St. Jude Children's Hospital.
22:03
He was down on his luck as an actor. He had a family to feed.
22:06
He had a wife. Like, he wasn't doing so well.
22:09
And he told St. Jude that if you,
22:13
um, if you help me out, then I will, I will help you out.
22:16
And so he did. And so many people have followed his example
22:20
also. I think with pilgrimage too, you're not just going solo.
22:25
You're not going by yourself. You are going out of your way, But you are
22:28
going with the communion of saints. This— the— you are going to
22:33
meet with, um, with God and his communion of saints. So Saint Jude,
22:37
um, or the Blessed Virgin Mary, or any of these other places that
22:41
are dedicated— there's a Padre Pio Center, which is incredible. You know,
22:44
you're, you're not going by yourself, even if you're traveling
22:49
solo, um, because you have these friends who
22:53
you are going to meet. Saint, you know, you're going to ask them for a
22:56
favor. And Saint Jude really does come through. I can't
23:01
say that he's been, you know, first and foremost as my best buddy, but I'm
23:05
growing in that because he has helped out different family
23:09
members along the way. And a good friend
23:13
of mine who was on daily dialysis for
23:17
9 months, and then it came off, and we really account it to the intercession
23:21
of Saint Jude. So I think you do have to overcome your selfishness.
23:24
You have to be humble and reach out. And that's part
23:28
of what pilgrimage is, is this, I'm going to leave now. I'm going
23:32
to make space in my life for, for God to intervene.
23:36
Whether you're, you're really down on your luck, or if whether things
23:40
are going well, there's always something somewhere that God wants to reach.
23:44
And pilgrimage is a fantastic way to open yourself up
23:48
to that And, you know, I want to add to that, uh, usually when you
23:52
go on a pilgrimage, you, you go with other pilgrims. And I
23:56
think there's an opportunity for friendship and fellowship, that sense of,
24:01
uh, we're all in this together, we're not walking alone.
24:05
And if somebody stumbles or gets tired, there's someone there
24:08
to pick you up and cheer you on and encourage
24:13
you. And my experience of people who've who've been on significant
24:17
pilgrimages is that very often God puts the right
24:20
person in the right time to be walking alongside
24:25
of you. And in my own work as, as a missionary and going on pilgrimages
24:29
and so on, to realize that, you know, however big the world is,
24:33
God is there too. And people who might have absolutely
24:38
nothing else in common, not even the same
24:41
language, have the faith in common.
24:44
And I think that's an experience of life as a
24:48
Catholic that if you haven't had it yet, you really should.
24:52
It is a source of blessing. Friends, we come back, we're going to continue
24:55
our conversation with Nell Angelewski. We are talking about
24:59
her show on EWTN called Hidden Gems: Catholic Shrines
25:03
in America. After the broadcast today, go to the Station of the Cross
25:08
Get our resources list, download our audios,
25:10
podcasts. Wherever you can find audio, you can find us. Follow us on your
25:15
favorite platform, write a 5-star review. We need to attract the attention
25:18
of the listeners. These conversations get the attention they deserve.
25:22
Everything you need to take this to your family and friends, we give to you.
25:25
Together, let's take it around the world. We can do it with you. We cannot
25:29
do without you. Let's do this good work together. Back in
25:33
just 2 minutes, please do stay with us.
26:00
This is The Catholic Current from the Station of the Cross Catholic Media
26:04
Network. Catch up on an episode you've missed or share them with
26:08
your family and friends. The Catholic Current is podcasted wherever
26:12
you enjoy listening: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podbean,
26:15
TuneIn, and the iCatholic Radio mobile app.
26:20
Praise be Jesus Christ. This is Father Robert McTeague of the Society of Jesus,
26:24
your your daily host for The Catholic Current, where we bring Christ to
26:28
the world and the world to Christ. You're listening to us from the Station of
26:30
the Cross Studios, your local radio station, the iCatholic Radio mobile
26:34
app, and we proclaim the fullness of truth with clarity
26:37
and charity. Friends, if you value thoughtful Catholic analysis,
26:41
help sustain this work at thestationofthecross.com.
26:45
Here on The Catholic Current, we engage issues seriously and faithfully,
26:49
and that intellectual freedom exists
26:53
because we are listener-funded. Support us at stationofthecross.com. My guest today is,
26:57
uh, Nell Angevski. We're talking about her program on EWTN called
27:02
Hidden Gems: Catholic Shrines in America. Now,
27:05
you had mentioned there's a Padre Pio shrine. He is
27:08
one of the most beloved saints of our era. Tell us
27:13
about that shrine, please. Yeah, well, the shrine is all about Padre Pio.
27:17
It has largest collection outside of Italy of his relics.
27:21
So his glove, the, you know, the shirt that he wore when he was— it
27:25
still has bloodstains on it. Um, right. There are some, you know,
27:29
because he went— he suffered the, the stigmata. So there's a,
27:33
there's a fascination with that. But his love is what I think people are seeking,
27:37
and he is very effective, very helpful,
27:40
um, now as he was before. And it,
27:43
and it's set in a beautiful setting. So it's in the
27:47
hills of Pennsylvania, Bartow, Pennsylvania,
27:51
and it is designed, modeled after San
27:55
Giovanni Rotondo in Italy. Okay.
27:59
So you get to see the sort of, you get a little sense
28:02
of Italy while you're there. Actually a really good sense
28:07
of Italy. His, one of his confessionals is there.
28:10
So it's fenced off, but that's where he did
28:14
so much of his spiritual warfare, so much of his work,
28:17
so much of that cleansing and healing happened right there in the confessional,
28:21
and that's there. So you, you walk into the chapel and
28:26
there's, there's Mass every day there, and there is a real sense of
28:30
that you're somewhere else. Sure. You are because you are in
28:33
the presence of Christ and you are, there's a, there's a very strong connection
28:38
at the center with Padre Pio through the founders
28:42
of of this, um, of this place. They received
28:45
a miraculous healing, their daughter did, um, and they
28:50
had this relationship with the Franciscans in,
28:53
um, in Italy and were entrusted to be a
28:57
place in the United States where people were able to connect with Padre Pio
29:01
and, and learn the story, you know, make sure that, sure, um, they understand
29:04
who he is. Right, right. Now I, I have to, I mean, this,
29:09
I can't imagine that, you know,
29:11
hosting this program and going to all these shrines,
29:15
that it left you unchanged,
29:18
unaffected. What difference has it made to you to do this work?
29:22
Well, there's a certain type of emptying that is necessary for pilgrimage.
29:26
You know, you can only, you can only take so much with
29:29
you, um, when you go. Oh yeah.
29:32
So there's, there's that like letting go of
29:36
of what you— from, you know, just for me, just letting go of expectations,
29:40
kind of, right? Um, so I, I went to— I
29:44
was not sure about one of the shrines that I was going to go to
29:47
in Iowa, Queen of Peace, um, Holy Trinity Shrine.
29:50
I was kind of skeptical about if
29:54
this is really going to amount to anything spiritually for me or for the viewers
29:58
even, and I totally changed my mind when I was there. A total
30:02
place of peace, a place of childlike
30:06
investigation. So the thing that made me skeptical was,
30:10
is something that actually I really, really appreciated by the time I left.
30:14
And it's a 33-foot statue of the Blessed Mother. Oh,
30:17
so a little cadre of friends got together and prayed every
30:21
week so that they could dedicate this land and raise this,
30:25
raise a big statue to the Blessed Mother. Okay.
30:28
And And so I ended up seeing something in another magazine
30:33
done by the same artist, a statue of an Indian woman.
30:36
Um, and I thought, wow, how beautiful is that? And that helped me
30:40
kind of turn the corner of like, uh, you know what, maybe there is something
30:44
here. And by the time I got there, my need at that time spiritually
30:49
was really satisfied. A lot of grace pouring in and,
30:53
and, and peace. So there had been some loss
30:56
for me in my life, and that was a place of reconnection and centering and
31:01
warmth. And you meet people
31:04
at these places that are, oh, gosh, they're coming from all different
31:09
walks of life with all different interests and/or concerns.
31:13
Some people, I think, don't show up with a boatload of troubles,
31:17
honestly. I think other people do. They're like, I know I need help.
31:21
Sure. Yeah. Which is not a bad thing. Yeah. You know,
31:24
and they're honest about it. And then other people show up because,
31:28
you know, a buddy brought them or it's something to do. Okay.
31:31
Yeah. But so, you know, I remember at
31:35
this particular shrine, there was a couple of people
31:38
who wandered away from their motorcycle group and
31:42
decided to check this out just because it was, you know, kind of touristy,
31:45
something interesting. And by the time they left, they honestly,
31:49
we had this conversation, they were in tears about how much they were moved by
31:53
the faith that was evident there, by the love that had been established
31:58
there. So I think, you know, people go on pilgrimage for different
32:02
reasons. Sometimes it kind of isn't intended
32:05
to be pilgrimage, but you do walk away with something,
32:09
something more beautiful and enriching, right, at each place.
32:12
Now you were doing this not just as
32:16
an ordinary pilgrim, but you were doing this for Catholic media
32:20
with a camera crew? What was that like? That does change it a little
32:24
bit, you know. Yeah, sure. But, but I feel like
32:28
what my role is, is to bring
32:32
everybody with me. So I feel like I'm just
32:36
leading everyone on a pilgrimage, which I've
32:40
done for years through Catholic Church tours.
32:44
But when I go, I make it— it's a— yeah, there's a
32:48
camera in my face, which is a little awkward, but I'm
32:52
actually there to explore myself,
32:56
to bring other people on that exploration and tell
33:01
them what I've learned, show them what I've learned, and then also enter
33:05
into that prayer. So if I'm kneeling down and there's a picture
33:09
of me being you know, praying. I am. Okay. Oh, good. I want
33:13
everyone— yeah, I want everyone to know, you know, I want everyone who's watching
33:17
this to be part of the grace that comes through
33:22
these places. Because these— like, God entered into time. He entered into a
33:26
place. Um, and if I can go there and bring you
33:30
there, even if it's virtually, I can— like, there are
33:34
different ways of doing this. And so I feel like I— it's, it's a real,
33:38
it's a real privilege. It's a real honor to be sure
33:42
bringing the EWTN viewers with me. Right.
33:45
And that's one of the things that I found, you know, I describe myself
33:50
on the air as a recovering academic. I taught for very many years.
33:53
You know, I've been preaching for decades. And my,
33:57
you know, even my largest classrooms or my largest preaching
34:01
venues are not as large as the audience I have
34:05
when I have access to a microphone and Once in a great while,
34:09
at gunpoint, grudgingly, I'll sit in front of a camera.
34:12
But there's an opportunity, as Hopkins
34:16
would say, to fling out broad his name,
34:20
to reach people in a way that, say, my Jesuit brothers from a
34:24
generation or two or a century ago would not have been able
34:28
to understand. And there's an opportunity to use the
34:33
tools of the trade Uh, so to speak. And I,
34:36
I think that's, that's the privilege.
34:39
That's a great opportunity that, that you and I are not trying to sell ourselves,
34:44
but we're trying to, uh, to, to point to Christ.
34:48
What, what has it been like for you to essentially
34:52
kind of practice your faith in a, in an unusually
34:57
public way that most people don't? Well,
35:00
part of me recognizes that it is extremely public, but that
35:05
relationship with Christ is always individual. Right. So,
35:09
so I'm used to praying, and I feel like that
35:12
is part of the communion of saints there. And so
35:16
this is just an extension, a kind of an extension of,
35:20
of that communion. I have an awareness that it will be
35:24
reaching other people, and I just you know, pray God that he, he does.
35:27
Um, it isn't really up to me. I am the face person. I have
35:31
to be in the front, right? Sure. Yeah. Or I get to be either way,
35:35
you know. Um, and I enjoy that as long as it
35:38
is doing God's will. Right, right. Well, I said I, I'm a raging
35:42
introvert, and my preference is to live as a hermit with books and fountain
35:46
pens and a chapel and to be left alone. And God's
35:50
little bit of humor is to say, yeah,
35:53
you can do that a little bit. However, and then kind
35:57
of shoves me out in front, and I just want to, want to point to
36:00
him and get out of the way. And on your view,
36:03
what have you heard from, from your, your viewers,
36:07
the people who say, hey, you know, I, I've never been there, but I want
36:11
to go, or I've never been there and I can't get there because I'm elderly,
36:14
I'm in a wheelchair? What is the response of the viewers, Ben.
36:18
Yeah, yeah, yeah. That is really exciting,
36:21
actually. It's really exciting because I— we do get
36:25
all of that. And it's impressive to me, actually, that people jump.
36:29
I'm so used to— well, I mean, I guess people who—
36:32
it's really hard to overcome inertia, right? Sure. Yeah.
36:36
Oh gosh, just to get out of your chair and do something different, as you
36:39
pointed to earlier in this, in this episode here. Um,
36:43
but I— people who will say, oh, I saw the episode
36:47
on Our Lady of Lecce and I went and I visited. I'm like, wow,
36:49
how did— like, you already did that? Like, you've already gone and come back?
36:53
That's amazing. And some people can do that. They have
36:57
the means to do that, whether that be just physical mobility or whether that be,
37:01
you know, the financial wherewithal or the time or something.
37:04
But then there are other people who said— who have gotten, gotten back
37:08
to us, gotten back to me to say, you know, they really just appreciate watching
37:12
and they're following each one and they learn something new each time.
37:16
Okay. Which is so good because there's
37:20
so much to learn. There's so much to learn, so much to see, so much
37:24
to learn. And it's all about building up the body of
37:27
Christ and enjoying the beauty
37:31
that he's given us, enjoying the creation and the faith that's
37:35
been handed down. Right. Well, I mean, that's one of the reasons why I keep
37:39
doing what I'm doing and I push back against my introversion is because I want
37:42
Christ to be known and loved. And, you know, I,
37:46
I sit in a room by myself and talk into the microphone. And as far
37:49
as I know, only the guest and Mr. Engineer actually hear
37:54
me. So to actually meet people or hear from people— wait,
37:58
somebody else is listening? Oh my gosh, who knew? I was in Washington, D.C.
38:01
last month. Speaking at a conference for the Catholic Art Institute,
38:05
and I had interviewed the president of the institute, Kathleen Carr, because she was giving
38:09
a walking tour of Christmas paintings in Washington museums.
38:13
And listeners from the Catholic Current drove all the way down from Boston
38:18
to Washington, D.C. because they had heard of Kathleen speaking,
38:22
that she was going to give this walking tour. And that's a hike. And this
38:26
is one of the things that I think people in Catholic media should
38:30
be grateful for, that people's time and attention are
38:35
very, very precious. And once they spend that time
38:38
and attention, they never get it back. So if we're going
38:42
to ask for their time and attention, we have to reward their trust
38:47
and never ever squander it. And I can't think of anything
38:50
better than asking for people's time and attention and
38:54
pointing them them to Christ. And my hope for your show,
38:58
which I hope will prosper and flourish, is that people will be
39:02
moved to see how great and good and big God is,
39:07
and that God really does show up at particular
39:11
times in particular places in the lives of particular
39:14
people. And what he's done for others, uh, he can
39:18
do for me as well. That's why I think that
39:22
your program is so valuable. Uh, Nell Angevski,
39:26
uh, host of Hidden Gems: Catholic Shrines in America on EWTN.
39:30
God bless your very good work, and thank you for your time today. Thank you.
39:34
It's great to talk with you. I'm Jesuit Father Robert McTeague, your host
39:37
every day of The Catholic Current. It's a Timely Tuesday. You know what that means?
39:40
You want to stick with us for the rest of the hour. Coming up next,
39:44
Timely Thoughts— you and me reflecting on what we've heard
39:47
today. And you know, I'm a Jesuit, so I have a lot
39:51
to say about pilgrimage. After the broadcast today,
39:54
go to thestationofthecross.com, get our resources list, download our
39:58
audios, podcasts, be part of the conversation. Follow what we're following
40:03
by following us on Gab.
40:05
That's gab.com. The channel is The Catholic
40:09
Current, and you can influence the conversation. You can contact
40:13
us through the station ofthecross.com/askfather.
40:17
Comments, questions, suggestions, recommendations— we want to
40:21
hear from you. Have you been to the places that we mentioned on the show
40:25
today? Are there other places of pilgrimage that you would recommend? We want
40:29
to know. Let's do this good work together. Back in just 2 minutes.
40:33
Please do stay with us.
41:01
Have a question or feedback about today's episode? Want to
41:04
suggest a guest or a future topic, go to thestationofthecross.com/askfather
41:12
and help influence the conversation.
41:21
Praise be Jesus Christ. This is Father Robert McTeague of the Society of Jesus,
41:24
your daily host for The Catholic Current, where we bring Christ to the world and
41:28
the world to Christ. You're listening to us from the Station of Cross Studios,
41:31
your local radio station, the iCatholic Radio mobile app. We proclaim
41:35
the fullness of truth with clarity and charity. On this
41:38
Timely Tuesday, it is the last segment. You know what that means— you and me
41:42
sharing timely thoughts, reflecting what we've heard today. My guest was Nell
41:46
Angevski, and we were talking about pilgrimages,
41:51
historically significant churches that also
41:55
happen to be beautiful churches. And 2 things
41:58
come to mind. First of all, a lot of Western Europe is on fire
42:02
and beautiful churches are being burned and desecrated.
42:05
And today is also the 71st anniversary
42:09
of the publication of volume 3 of The Lord
42:14
of the Rings. And so that got me to thinking,
42:17
there is a very great value to being connected to history
42:21
and to beauty. The very first time I walked into Sacred Heart
42:25
Cathedral in Newark, New Jersey, which is
42:29
an instance of French Gothic architecture, I think,
42:32
on par with just about anything that you can find in Europe.
42:36
My eyes and my heart were snapped
42:40
up towards the transcendent, to the heavens, and I realized that
42:45
I had stepped into another time and into another world,
42:48
and yet I had a sense that
42:52
I was part of something very great.
42:56
Something beautiful, something noble,
43:00
and something ancient.
43:03
And I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say you don't find
43:07
that when you go to Our Lady of the Pizza Hut, Theater of the Round,
43:10
status quo orto, progressive suburban
43:16
rite, prefabricated churches.
43:19
You just don't. I remember when I was in high school, I was
43:23
reading a spiritual journal and the author wrote, Lord, let me live
43:26
my life such that people will look at me and
43:30
say, if this be the servant,
43:33
what be the master? And I recognize the truth
43:37
and the power of that statement as I've been to beautiful
43:42
and glorious churches around the world.
43:46
And you can't help but say, I want to meet the God who inspired
43:51
this, because I think he has something to say to
43:55
me. Now, here's where I'm going to draw an analogy.
43:58
Why do people get married, and why do they want
44:02
to have children? I think ultimately it's because spouses say to each other,
44:06
I, I love you so much that I want you
44:09
to continue in body and soul.
44:13
I want someone to see in someone else what
44:18
I love about your smile, your laugh, the sparkle of your eyes.
44:22
And I want to make with you people who will receive
44:26
our inheritance, our heritage, the family stories,
44:30
the, the story of how we were engaged, how we got
44:34
married, how we overcame illness,
44:37
uh, the story of how Grandma and Grandpa met, the story,
44:41
the tragic story of the sibling who
44:45
never had a chance to grow up, the amazing story of
44:49
how Grandpa fought in a war and came back.
44:53
I want to hand that on to the next generation.
44:57
And throughout the millennia, Catholics have had a
45:01
sense of endowment. And, you know, Belloc said,
45:04
he does not die who can bequeath.
45:08
And when people would take the trouble to begin to
45:13
build great cathedrals that
45:16
they know they would never see the completion of, they were
45:21
making a choice to bequeath. They were
45:25
reaching for eternity in some
45:29
way. And I want
45:33
to be a part of that. I want to
45:37
point to Christ who is forever,
45:42
and I want to point to saints that have gone beyond
45:46
me, and I want to help feed saints who haven't
45:51
been born yet. And all that is tremendously
45:56
important to me, and I know that it was tremendously
45:59
important to people who came before me.
46:03
And I don't want it to be true that
46:08
someone says we can't make things like that anymore because
46:12
all the people who knew how to make that died
46:17
and there was no one who said to them,
46:21
teach me how. While there is
46:24
still time, teach me how.
46:29
So of course I want us to build great
46:32
churches. I also— listen to this,
46:36
this is, this is important— I want every family
46:41
to build a family library.
46:45
I want every family to at least have paperbacks
46:49
of Catholic reference material and great
46:54
literature. I want every family to
46:57
develop a library of great
47:01
Catholic music,
47:04
cultural treasures that give life
47:09
to the spirit, that give aspiration to the human
47:13
soul. I want grandparents
47:16
and parents to be able to point to artwork and music
47:20
and buildings and book and say, this is ours.
47:25
This was given to us by God via the saints
47:29
and through amazingly ordinary people who you won't
47:34
meet this side of heaven. And now it's
47:38
yours. Know it, love it,
47:40
repeat it, and hand it on. All these
47:45
people flailing about looking for meaning
47:50
and looking for connection.
47:53
We have to learn how to give cultural gifts to each other.
47:58
One of my spiritual fathers,
48:01
Bob Gigerson, who went to God just about
48:05
a year ago— we all called him Pop Pop. I loved him dearly.
48:09
And as kind of an act of spiritual adoption, he gave me an
48:13
old-school pocket knife, and he said,
48:16
a father should give his son a knife. And I just
48:20
broke down. I was overcome because I saw the
48:25
truth of that. Remember what Balak
48:29
said, he does not die who can bequeath.
48:33
So let's make sure that we can bequeath
48:37
not only family heritage and family heirlooms,
48:42
but the knowledge of our culture as Catholic,
48:47
to point to books and stories and music and
48:51
buildings and legends and saints and say,
48:55
this is us and this is you,
48:58
and for a precious amount of time it will be
49:02
yours, and if you embrace it, it can secure you
49:06
into heaven. And now it'll be your turn
49:11
to do the same. And George Weigel, in a book he wrote about 20
49:15
years ago called The Cube and the Cathedral, said he thought
49:19
it was a scandal that the people of Western Europe, the heirs of what used
49:23
to be called Christendom, who had decades of unprecedented
49:27
wealth and prosperity, decided not
49:31
to have children as if they owed nothing to
49:35
the past and owed nothing to the future,
49:40
and instead there were only passing pleasures of
49:44
the present. How did that work out?
49:48
Where might that lead to? Look at the smoke and
49:52
the fires over France, and now we know.
49:55
Friends, while there is still time, choose to
49:59
bequeath. I'm Jesuit Father Robert McTiger, host here every day of The
50:03
Catholic Current. After the broadcast today, go to thestationofthecross.com,
50:07
get our resources list, download our audio podcast. Wherever you
50:11
can find audio, you can find us. Follow us on your favorite platform,
50:15
write a 5-star review. We need to attract the attention of the listeners so
50:19
these conversations get the attention they deserve. Everything you need to
50:23
take us to your family and friends, we give to you together with Let's take
50:26
it around the world. We can do it with you. We cannot do without you.
50:30
Let's strive to be so very much more than merely
50:34
relevant. Through the intercession of Our Lady of Mount Carmel,
50:37
may Almighty God bless you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Go in peace, and please
50:41
do pray for me, for I am a sinner.