Only five years after St. John Vianney was canonized in 1925 by Pope Pius XI in Rome, Father William Baldus, the pastor of Saint Mary Newport, established a shrine with the permission of Cardinal William Gibbons, the Archbishop of Baltimore. From that moment onward, the Newport shrine began attracting increasingly larger numbers of pilgrims, many of whom travelled by bus from throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. Many years later, Father James Grace wrote, “It seems to us more than a coincidence that the first shrine to the Saint in this country should have been started by a country pastor in a little rural church dedicated to Mary.” Not long after Father Baldus’ passing, an article appeared in the Maryland Independent about the shrine here at Saint Mary where it was reported “in this little church, in one of the oldest dioceses in the country, there have been performed recently cures that are well-nigh miraculous.”
The United States' only shrine to St. John Vianney was rededicated by His Eminence Donald Cardinal Wuerl on August 3, 2014, at a special Sunday Mass attended by parishioners, clergy, the Knights of Columbus, members of the Baldus family, representatives of historical societies and many other honored guests. At the conclusion of the rededication Mass the Cardinal led a procession to our cemetery where he blessed the grave of Father William Baldus, the pastor responsible for the shrine.
The shrine includes a nearly life-sized statue of Saint John donated by a New York benefactor and a first-class relic of the Curé sent to Father Baldus by the then pastor of Ars in France.
The Shrine of Saint John Vianney is open Tuesday-Sunday (closed Monday and all national holidays) from 7:00am until 5:00pm. Come spend some time in quiet contemplation and enjoy not only the shrine but our other historic landmarks and our quiet country setting. Group days of recollection and group retreats (no overnights) are welcome.
“May [St. John Vianney's] great humility be an example to you, dear young people, to live life as a gift of God; may his trusting abandonment to Christ the Saviour sustain you, dear people suffering illness, in the hour of suffering; and may his Christian witness give courage to you, dear newlyweds, to profess your faith without shame.”
Pope Francis
August 3, 2016