Catholics in Oklahoma are throwing special celebrations this month to mark that the Church has been ministering in their state for 150 years, ever since two Benedictine monks arrived in the territory at the request of several Native American tribes.
Two events kicked off the sesquicentennial celebration, and more are in the works. The first was a Mass at St. Gregory’s Abbey in Shawnee Oct. 12, and the second was Mass the following day, Oct. 13, at the Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine in Oklahoma City. Sacred Heart, the church at the Rother Shrine, is the largest Catholic church in Oklahoma, and it is named for Blessed Stanley Rother, a priest from Oklahoma who was martyred in Guatemala.
Father Lawrence Stasyszen, abbot of St. Gregory’s Abbey, said he believes it’s important for Catholics in Oklahoma to celebrate the anniversary.
“Given the significance of what began on Oct. 12, 1875, we wanted to involve not only the monastery in marking this sesquicentennial anniversary, but many others throughout Oklahoma and even beyond Oklahoma,” he said, according to The Oklahoman.
Oklahoma’s long history of Catholicism had humble beginnings. In the 1870s, several Native American tribes of people who learned about the faith from other natives, Catholic laborers, and missionaries petitioned the bishop of New Orleans, Napoléon-Joseph Perché, to send clergy to found and maintain Catholic churches and schools, according to The Oklahoman.
The bishop sent Father Isidore Robot and Brother Dominic Lambert, Benedictines who were born in France, to minister to those living in the territory that would eventually become the state of Oklahoma. They arrived on Oct. 12, 1875 and initially lived in Akota at St. Patrick Church, which was built by Irish railroad workers and was in need of a priest. White settlers and members of the Citizen Potawatomi and Osage tribes welcomed the monks upon arrival, according to The Oklahoman.
The Citizen Potawatomi Tribe donated land in 1876 in Konawa. There, the monks founded Sacred Heart Mission, which would later become St. Gregory’s Abbey. The Benedictines also founded schools for Native American children and schools for children of freed black slaves who had been enslaved by the Native Americans.
The Benedictines’ evangelical work was particularly effective among the Citizen Potawatomi. Fr. Stasyszen told The Oklahoman that many members of the tribe were baptized.
Fr. Stasyszen told The Oklahoman that the two Masses for the sesquicentennial of the Benedictines’ arrival are just the beginning. Events celebrating Catholic history in the state will continue for 18 months, which he believes will help highlight the good work the Church has done.
“We can get so negative with all the disturbing realities today ― we can almost become frozen and depressed, but we have reasons to celebrate, to live in the present with great passion and zeal,” he said, according to The Oklahoman. “I think this type of historic celebration can help us do that.”
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