Thousands of pilgrims, along with Catholic leaders from around the world, state and civic officials attended the much-anticipated 2023 dedication of a religious shrine in south Oklahoma City.
One year later, the Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine‘s first anniversary will be observed at the 12:15 p.m. Mass on Feb. 17 and Masses later in the day ― without the pomp and pageantry of last year’s dedication ceremony, but special nonetheless, said the Rev. Don Wolf, pastor of the shrine church, Sacred Heart, and Miguel Mireles, the shrine’s executive director.
The two leaders said the early afternoon Mass on Saturdays has drawn large crowds throughout the year and they don’t expect the shrine anniversary to be any different. The shrine, they said, has a way of drawing people from all walks of life, geographic regions and faith traditions — 120,000 in its first year.
The Catholic faithful have flocked to the $50 million shrine at 700 SE 89, hoping to learn more about the life and legacy of the late Blessed Stanley Rother, the Okarche native and Oklahoma priest who is on the path to Catholic sainthood. Through a major fundraising effort, the Oklahoma Catholic faith community transformed property that once included a former golf course into the huge shrine named in Rother’s honor. Visible from Interstate 35 and SE 89, the shrine complex includes a pilgrim center and a large, Spanish colonial style shrine church ― fashioned in a style similar to the Guatemalan church where Rother served as a missionary.