Blessed Stanley Rother interred at new shrine after all-night prayer vigil draws crowd

A martyred priest's remains made a final journey to a new Roman Catholic shrine early Monday in Oklahoma City.

A casket bearing the body of Blessed Stanley Rother, an Okarche native on the path to sainthood, was moved to the Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine shortly after 5 a.m. Monday.

The Rev. William Novak, vicar general of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, sprinkled holy water on the casket and said a blessing before it was lowered into the altar in the new shrine's chapel. Novak said a mural above the altar depicts Rother being welcomed into heaven by Christ, other martyrs and the "holy innocents," the children of Israel killed by King Herod as he sought baby Jesus. The Catholic Church considers these children the first martyrs.

More:Oklahoma's largest Catholic Church ready to honor priest on path to sainthood

Blessed Stanley Rother was an Oklahoma priest serving as a missionary in Guatemala when he was shot and killed by unknown assailants in the rectory of his parish church in July 1981. He was 46. Pope Francis proclaimed him a martyr for the faith in 2016. He is the first recognized martyr from the United States and the first U.S.-born priest to be beatified by the Catholic Church. Rother has been given the distinction of being called "blessed" to signify that he has been beatified and is one step away from sainthood.

The interment of Rother's body on Monday was a sign that the much-anticipated dedication of the Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine is at hand. The shrine, 700 SE 89, with an estimated cost of more than $40 million, will be dedicated at 11 a.m. Friday, and the general public will be allowed into the shrine church, chapel and museum for the first time. The event is expected to draw thousands of people, including more than 35 Catholic bishops from across the country; Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the papal nuncio to the U.S. — the Vatican's ambassador to America; and a contingent of clergy and lay people from Guatemala.

Avery Holt, the Oklahoma City archdiocese's interim communications director, said Oklahoma priests attended a private Mass on Monday to dedicate the shrine chapel where Rother is entombed. He said a private Mass for the Rother family also will be held in the chapel.

More: How Stanley Rother's heart has remained with his beloved Guatemalan parishioners

Blessed Stanley Rother vigil draws large crowds

On Sunday, hundreds of people flocked to Our Lady's Cathedral, 3214 N Lake Ave., for an all-night prayer vigil that began at 5 p.m. Sunday and lasted until 5 a.m. Monday. The come-and-go vigil gave the faithful an opportunity to venerate Rother's remains before they were entombed at the shrine.

The priest's remains, minus his heart, which is still in Guatemala, initially had been buried at the cemetery of Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Okarche after his death in 1981. His body was exhumed from the Okarche cemetery in 2017 to allow for an examination required as part of the canonization process. Rother's remains were temporarily buried at Resurrection Memorial Cemetery at that time before being exhumed on Sunday to be taken to Our Lady's Cathedral, and later, the shrine.

Guest column: Can anything good come from Okarche, Oklahoma? Stanley Rother did.

People began lining up to get inside Our Lady's Cathedral well before the doors of the church opened at 4 p.m. Sunday. A brief vespers service led by the Most Rev. Paul S. Coakley, archbishop of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, was standing-room-only, with the church's pews full and people standing along both sides and the back of the house of worship.

The all-night vigil represented an opportunity for the faithful to honor the priest while standing near his casket, which was surrounded by several large bouquets of flowers of a deep shade of red, a color symbolizing Rother's martyrdom. At times, people stopped briefly before the casket to pray, touch the casket, genuflect or make the sign of the cross. Several people kissed the casket.

Many people came from across the state and the U.S. to pray and honor Rother.

Micheldy Pierre, 31, said she drove from her home in San Antonio to participate in the prayer vigil and to attend Friday's shrine dedication.

Timeline:The life of Stanley Rother

"I also came to his beatification Mass in 2017," she said. "He's one of my favorite 'blesseds' on the way to sainthood."

Lauren Monteiro, 35, of Oklahoma City, said she is life enrichment director at St. Ann Retirement Center, and she brought a group of center residents to the vigil. The independent living and assisted living center is an affiliate of the Oklahoma City archdiocese.

"We try to have a really robust Catholic culture at St. Ann, and they were all very excited about the dedication of the shrine," she said.

Monteiro said she converted to Catholicism in 2016 and attends St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Warr Acres. She said she also had been anticipating the vigil, vespers service and shrine dedication.

"It's just so special for Oklahoma that we have a 'blessed' ― very exciting," she said.

Ron Miller, of Yukon, attended the vigil with his sister Lynda Solder, who traveled from Pennsylvania to attend the shrine dedication and related events. The pair said they both grew up Baptist and converted to Catholicism as young adults.

Miller, 74, said he had been following Rother's story for many years, and he knew he wanted to attend the vigil and the coming shrine dedication.

"I just think it's marvelous to have something like this in Oklahoma City," he said of the shrine.

Solder said the momentous occasion warranted a trip.

"Me being from Oklahoma, I decided I wanted to come back for this," she said. "It's exciting."

Cyndi "Hyacinth" Kane, 60, rode to the Oklahoma City vigil from Pawhuska with her husband, John.

"Our world needs saints, and his story is so inspiring," she said. "That quote that he had, where he said, 'The shepherd does not run,' — I honestly want to cry every time I think about it — to have that level of commitment to your God and your flock."

Kane said she was aware that Rother is on the path to canonization and not yet formally recognized as a saint. However, she said many Catholics already view him that way.

"I know he's a 'blessed' and he's on the path (to sainthood)," Cane said. "You already feel like he's a saint already. To think that he was in our midst, a man so holy ― it's just inspiring."

How to watch the Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine dedication

The dedication will be livestreamed online at http://archokc.org/live, on Archdiocese of OKC Facebook Page and YouTube Channel. For more Information, go online to https://rothershrine.org/dedication.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC vigil honors Blessed Stanley Rother, now interred at new shrine