Historians As A Rule Did Not Write Religious History.

 

WHY CATHOLICS MAKE PILGRIMAGES TO AURIESVILLE.

"It has often been a matter of wonderment to the laymen why Catholics take so much interest in Auriesville. Lay historians make no mention of the spot, but this is accounted for by the fact that historians as a rule did not write religious history. Catholics revere the place because two of their earliest missionaries were there made martyrs to their religion. The two were Rene Goupil and Father Isaac Jogues. Both were French Jesuits who were propagating the faith among the Indians. In 1642 Goupil was murdered near the spot where the West Shore depot now stands. Father Jogues, his dear companion, was a witness to the foul assassination of his loved friend, and despite the earnest efforts of Father Jogues to give his friend a Christian burial he was unable to do so because of the treachery of the Indians. Father Jogues himself at this time was subjected to awful torture. Four years afterward Father Jogues was murdered near the same spot where his friend Goupil died. The grounds where these horrible crimes were enacted were purchased by the Jesuits and were made attractive places for Catholics to visit. There are twenty-eight acres embraced in the plot, sixteen in what is called the ravine and twelve in the Shrine ground proper."

Link (here) to the  book entitled, The Pilgrim of Our Lady of Martyrs