We often go out of the US on Catholic Pilgrimages, but do we know about the amazing Catholic history of the US itself? In Santa Fe, New Mexico, Mass was being celebrated 14 years before the pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock, and you can visit the oldest church in continuous use in the US to see where that happened, and where the first martyrs in the US died for their Catholic Faith. Santa Fe and the surrounding area is home to amazing sites of Catholic spirituality.
A bit further North, the Santuario de Chimayo is termed “The Lourdes of the United States,” where Christ is known to bring about miraculous healings and where devout pilgrims, descendants of the first Spanish settlers in the 1600’s, still walk on foot to visit from around the state every year.
Do you know the Story of St. Joseph’s Staircase–a miraculous architectural feature in the Chapel of the Sisters of Loretto that pious tradition tells us was built by St. Joseph himself? Science backs up the tradition, as a NASA study on the wood of the staircase stated that its molecular structure was not of a plant that could have grown on our planet. It is something you need to witness with your own eyes.
These are just a tiny few of the amazing experiences Santa Fe holds for devout Catholics.
We would like to invite you to visit and to stay at a beautiful historic downtown Santa Fe adobe house owned by Familia Victricis, an Association of the Faithful in the Archdiocese. Contact Giovanna at (505) 490-2775 or mmp@newmexico.com. We would love to share pictures of the house, and special itineraries, guided by local priests, historians, and EWTN personality AnnaMaria Cardinalli are available.
