A Reflection – The Feast of the Assumption

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On Saturday, our Cursillo group held what was our combination of the weekend commissioning mass and holy hour. We also were able to attend the scheduled mass for the Assumption of Mary. It was held at a church of the same name – Our Lady of the Assumption. It turned into a wonderful morning of piety, fellowship, and friendship.

As I was leaving, I noticed a statue on the side of the church – there are a few points of interest on the grounds. I saw the statue, and the way it was standing, I felt that it was St. Kateri. I pulled over to take a picture, and then thought I’ve got time, and walked over to see it more closely.

It was indeed St. Kateri.

St. Kateri.
(c)2026

There is something in the way her statues depict her that have her holding her blanket closed across her body with a cross resting near her shoulder that makes it distinctive as a Kateri statue. It was really nice, and I stood for a minute. I saw that immediately next to St. Kateri was a labyrinth! I didn’t know that this labyrinth even existed. It was the Chartres shape, but a smaller than usual one. I walked it, serenely and slowly, savoring the sunshine and the space, the sacredness coming naturally to me. I said a decade of the rosary – that was just the right amount of time to walk it through.

Labyrinth.
(c) 2026
(c)2026

I took a few photos, and then of course of the statue with the labyrinth. It was a close moment.

As I was leaving and driving along the entrance/exit space, I realized they also have a painted walking rosary around the entrance driveway. More than a close moment, it is a special place that I will visit again, even without “a reason”.

30 Days of Nano – Day 4

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While you were at Barnes & Noble yesterday picking up your copy  of the recent The Writer magazine, I hope you stopped off in their cafe/coffee shop. It’s a great place to sit and have a quick drink, maybe a snack and get some writing done. Or at a minimum, jot some ideas and notes down.

If you didn’t have time for that, try out Coffitivity, a sound website that gives you the feeling of being in a coffee shop or other places that are conducive to getting creative and getting some writing done.

My Pilgrimage to St. Elen’s Well, Part 1

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​[Note: As I began to write this, I thought it would be an emotional look back at an important pilgrimage that I undertook last summer. However, as I began to write, it seemed that before I got to the actual pilgrimage and the feelings that it conjured, I had to wade through the logistics of discovering the well, and finding that it was important for me to visit it. The coincidences that have crossed my life’s path and Wales astound me every time I discover them.]

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Thursday Travels – Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs

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These grounds are a reliquary to the North American Martyrs, St. Isaac Jogues and his Companions, St. Rene Goupil and St. John LaLande. In 1642, the same year Rene Goupil was martyred, the first known recitation of the Rosary was prayed here. This was also the birthplace ten years later after St. Jogues and St. Lalande’s martyrdoms, of St. Kateri Tekakwitha.

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The view of the Mohawk Valley and River from the Shrine Grounds

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Three Crosses bearing the names of the North American Martyrs at the Entrance, at the edge of what was the Mohawk village.

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