ON HOLY GROUND

Saint Kateri Tekakwitha Shrine celebrates Easter Mass, 350th anniversary of saint’s baptism

Father Michael Heine flicks holy water on parishiors during Easter Mass on Sunday, April 5, 2026, at the Saint Kateri Tekakwitha Shrine in Fonda, N.Y. Cindy Schultz for The Evangelist (Courtesy photo of CINDY SCHULTZ)

On Sunday, April 5, dozens of Catholics gathered at the Saint Kateri Tekakwitha National Shrine and Historic Site in Fonda for a special Easter Mass. 

Bundled up in jackets and armed with colorful umbrellas, attendees gathered at the shrine’s St. Peter’s Chapel, housed in an unheated former Dutch barn from 1782, ready to celebrate a doubly important day: the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the 350th anniversary of Saint Kateri’s baptism, which took place on the shrine’s grounds. 

The Very Rev. Father Michael Heine, OFM Conv., Minister Provincial of the Our Lady of the Angels Province, came up from Maryland to celebrate the Mass, calling the anniversary “a special day.”

“Today, we stand on holy ground,” said Father Heine. “Holy ground made sacred not only by the Resurrection of Jesus, but by the faith of a young Mohawk woman who was baptized 350 years ago this very day, along with two other native believers. What a grace and what a providence that this Easter and this anniversary meet for one single moment of joy.”

On Easter Sunday, April 5, 1676, Saint Kateri and two other Indigenous companions were baptized in the Village of Caughnawage inside the original St. Peter’s Chapel (which was lost to a fire in the 1690s). Her baptism into the Church was led by Father Jaques De Lambertville, a Jesuit missionary. 

Today, shrine guests can still visit the spring that provided Saint Kateri’s baptismal water, and many consider the water to have spiritual and healing properties. 

Melissa Miscevic Bramble, director of operations for the shrine, was hoping to lead guests after Easter Mass on a walk to the spring for a special blessing and smudging ceremony, but due to the rainy weather, the ceremony was held inside the chapel right after Mass.

“God has other plans; He brought the spring to us,” joked Father Heine. 

Karla Aurora Kozach, a member of the advisory council for the Saint Kateri Shrine, led the smudging ceremony, a tradition performed by Native Americans for a variety of religious and spiritual beliefs for purification and healing.

Kozach, an Indigenous woman, said in an email that “sage, cedar, sweet grass and tobacco are the sacred herbs burned in smudging. The smoke purifies the body and soul and it brings clarity to the mind. It cleans out the negative and brings in the positive. You guide the smoke toward your body with your hands using a washing motion. You begin with your face to cleanse your thoughts to think clearly, your eyes to see the good in everyone, your ears to hear clearly the voice of the Holy Spirit, and your mouth to speak good of everyone. Then you bring the smoke toward your body to cleanse your body, the temple of God.”

Kris Sands, parishioner at St. Mary’s in Ballston Spa, drove an hour and a half to attend the special Mass and celebration. 

“I grew up in the Johnstown area as a kid, and we used to go to the Auriesville shrine as a child,” she said. “I love it. We don’t know enough about the Native American rituals and their love of nature, but it’s great.”