Pilgrims to the tomb of St. Katharine Drexel are welcome

They've been coming for 60 years, looking for help and often returning to say thanks.

"Come in and pray with St. Katharine," the sign on the door invites.

Soon after Mother Katharine Drexel died in 1955, her reputation for holiness made her tomb at the motherhouse of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament in Bensalem a place of pilgrimage by people who considered her a special friend of God, able to plead for divine favor on their behalf.

The Catholic Church, crediting her with two miraculous cures, declared her a saint in 2000.

On a recent afternoon, Daniel Ferro knelt at the tomb and asked for St. Katharine's help as his doctor tries to clear away the last cells of his Barrett's esophagus. A biopsy report in 2007 said that the condition had advanced to a precancerous stage - a finding that brought Ferro to the edge of major surgery.

Ferro sought a second opinion. "In the meantime, I'm praying like crazy," he recalled. A subsequent biopsy showed no sign of the precancerous cells, and doctors began the process of clearing out the Barrett's esophagus cells.

"I think St. Katharine may have given me a miracle," said Ferro, 71, a retired advertising executive for the McGraw-Hill Cos.

St. Katharine, a vivacious debutante who gave up high society to become a nun, founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. By the time she died at age 96, she had spent her $20 million fortune ministering to African Americans and Native Americans.

Though she lived in the 19th century and the first half of the 20th, St. Katharine seems very much a saint for the present. She promoted "a message of inclusiveness," said Sister Patricia Downs, director of the National Shrine of St. Katharine Drexel. "Her compassion, her whole sense of mercy, nondiscrimination, and justice" make her a model worthy of emulation, Downs added.

Visitors come to the tomb in a steady stream, Downs said. The sisters expect that stream to grow dramatically during the World Meeting of Families, even though the shrine is about 15 miles from Center City. The shrine will be open for extended hours, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, Sept. 19-27. On Thursday, Sept. 24, there will be a "Mission Rosary and Eucharistic Procession" at 7:30 p.m. "All are welcome to pray for peace in our hearts and around the world," according to the shrine's website.

What visitors will find in the crypt is quiet. There is a kneeler in front of the tomb and chairs scattered throughout. Native American and African artifacts hang on the walls. The wheelchair that St. Katharine used in her last years is on display. So is her nun's habit.

To the left of the tomb is an Apache Burden Basket, where some visitors place petitions written on small white slips of paper. The basket, according to the shrine's website, "symbolizes the openness in which God hears our prayers. Daily, Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament pray for people and their intentions who pray through the intercession of Saint Katharine Drexel."

At the back of the crypt is a small altar where some leave other slips of paper in a wicker basket, thanking the saint for prayers answered.

Some of the visitors have given the sisters permission to share their petitions and thanksgiving. "Please help me achieve sobriety again," reads one. "Continue to heal my husband and myself from cancer," pleads another. And a grateful supplicant writes: "My daughter remains cancer-free. Thank you."