National Shrine of St. Thérèse celebrates 85 years since first Mass

The feast day of the Queen and Patroness of Alaska, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, was celebrated Oct. 1 in Juneau. Archbishop Andrew Bellisario, C.M. was joined by Bishop of Fairbanks Steven Maekawa, O.P., and Fr. Mike Galbraith in celebrating Mass at the National Shrine of St. Thérèse, assisted by Deacon Mike Monagle. Jay Shaw, a special guest present at the shrine for its first Mass 85 years ago, was also present and honored.

The late Fr. Louis Renner, S.J. described the National Shrine of St. Thérèse in Juneau as a Norman-style chapel with a Notre Dame tower built entirely from local cobble stones. It was built in the 1930s by local stonemasons, carpenters, and volunteers. A life-size bronze statue of St. Thérèse of Lisieux stands beside it, donated from Seattle. The shrine is dedicated to a saint from the French countryside who never saw Alaska. It is nestled among trees on an island of its own by Lynn Canal and surrounded by mountains and glaciers. The shrine itself is cobbled together to create something new and distinctively Alaskan. 

In his homily, Bishop Maekawa shared the history of the shrine, how St. Thérèse became patroness of Alaska, and celebrated the shrine as a beautiful gift of a place of retreat. 

Eighty-five years ago, Bishop Joseph Crimont, S.J., Vicar Apostolic of Alaska, celebrated the first Mass at the shrine on October 26, 1941. While St. Thérèse was still a servant of God in 1920, Bishop Crimont placed Alaska under the protection of St. Thérèse. She was declared Queen and Patroness of Alaska in 1925 when she was canonized. Far from a distant memory, some still remember the first Mass, including Jay Shaw.

Jay Shaw, 93, was 8 when he attended the first Mass at the shrine. He was a student at St. Ann’s Catholic School in Juneau at the time. His elder brother, George Shaw, then a freshman in high school, was an altar server. His younger brother, Al Shaw, Jay said, was “somewhere on the island running around.” Jay himself was told to stand at the causeway and watch the people coming.

Jay’s mother, Katherine Shaw, was a Catholic Daughter of the Americas and helped with the food. Jay reflected: “She said: southside of the causeway; don’t get into the trees. I followed orders from headquarters. She was basically telling me to stay out of trouble.” While Jay said his memory of the event was limited due to his youth at the time of that first Mass, he said he was able to see everything from the vantage point his mother selected for him, the perspective of the event in his memory.

Jay’s family has a lot of history in Alaska, though his brother, George, is the last Shaw living in the state. Jay now lives in Washington, coming up for this Mass at the invitation of Joe Sehnert, director of the shrine, and continuing to spend time in Alaska in places like Kenai and Anchorage. 

Jay’s maternal grandfather, Gustav Messerschmidt, came to Douglas in 1898. There, Messerschmidt married and started a bakery. The family ran the bakery for three generations and left its mark on Juneau.  

After the Mass this October, Jay met Archbishop Bellisario and Bishop Maekawa, who, along with Fr. Galbraith and Deacon Monagle, were wearing leis gifted by parishioners during the offertory. According to Deacon Monagle, these leis are part of the Samoan White Sunday holiday, which falls in October and celebrates childhood. Leis are also given for other special occasions. Likewise, the “Life, Love and Jesus Prayer Team,” many members of which are Samoan, sang for the Mass, including a Samoan-English bilingual communion song. 

As people left Mass, they received roses at the main entrance to bring home, reflecting St. Thérèse’s wish to “let fall a shower of roses” from heaven after her death, and her active intercession for those living in a land she did not anticipate being placed under her protection.