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Things to See
While in the Emmitsburg Area
MOUNT SAINT MARY'S UNIVERSITY
Mount Saint
Mary's University, founded by Father John DuBois in 1808,is
the oldest private independent Catholic college in the United
States. The University is a co-ed institution of approximately
1400 undergraduate students of which the majority live on
campus. The seminary is the second oldest in the country.
It has more than 150 seminarians and offers a M.A. in theology
and a Masters of Divinity to complement its traditional
program of spirituality and priestly formation.
The Master of
Business Administration (MBA) program was established in
1975 to provide accessible, quality coursework leading to
a Master of Business Administration degree. Enrollment,
approximately 300, has risen steadily since the program's
founding. The Mount's newest graduate program, Master of
Education degree, was established in 1992.
The ARCC (The
Knott Athletic Recreation Convocation Complex), one result
of major building projects over the last twenty years, serves
not only the students, faculty, staff, and administration
of the University, but also more than 16,000 summer visitors
who take part in professional conferences and workshops,
sports camps, religious retreats, and other activities.
National Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes
The National
Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, located behind Mount Saint Mary's
University and Seminary, is a replica of the famed Grotto of
Lourdes in France and is the oldest such shrine in America. A
place of pastoral beauty and spiritual inspiration, the Grotto
draws approximately 500,000 religious pilgrims and tourists
annually.
Above the lovely
valley of Emmitsburg, situated high on the mountainside where
nature displays itself in all its wild and picturesque glory,
sits the National Shrine Grotto of Lourdes, a shrine that traces
its linage to the very beginnings of the spread of
Catholicism in
America.
Indelibly linked
with Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton,
the Shrine is one of the oldest American replicas of the revered
French shrine, dating from about two decades after the
apparitions at Lourdes (1875)--although the site had been known
for its earlier "Grotto," which had already been in use for more
than seventy years as a place of prayer and devotion.
This holy mountain
sanctuary of historic importance has been devoutly tended
thought the years and attracts thousands of pilgrims from all
parts of the world for prayer and meditation.
THE NATIONAL SHRINE OF SAINT ELIZABETH ANN
SETON (301-447-6606)
"Mother Seton," was the widow of William Seton of New York
City and the mother of five children. She arrived in
Emmitsburg, in the summer of 1809 at the invitation of
Father John DuBois to establish a religious sisterhood and
open a free school. On July 31 of that year, she and her
companions, sixteen, moved into the small Stone House
located near Tom's Creek.
Here she
established her community, the Sisters of Charity of St.
Joseph. By the end of 1809 a larger structure was being
constructed, the White House, which the Sisters moved into
on February 20, 1810. Two days later, in this spacious
two-story log house, they opened their free school for the
children of the neighborhood. The school grew and
flourished, becoming the nucleus of the Catholic Parochial
School System in the United States. The original school
continues today as the Mother Seton Elementary School, which
holds the original charter that began in 1809. The
sisterhood grew also, and Mother Seton sent her Sisters of
Charity as far away as Philadelphia and New York City to
establish orphanages and schools.
[In
Emmitsburg, the sisters' boarding school for girls grew to the
full campus of
St. Joseph College.] On January 4, 1821, Mother Seton
died in the White House in the valley she loved. She was buried
in the wooded area under the great oak tree by the graves of her
two young daughters and more than a dozen of the young Sisters
of Charity. In 1846, her remains were placed in a vault beneath
the floor of the newly erected Mortuary Chapel near the original
grave site at the request of her son, William, who sent the
money for its erection. Her remains rested there until their
exhumation in 1962 prior to her beatification in 1963 by Pope
John XXIII.
[In 1850, the original Emmitsburg province of the Sisters of
Charity donned the "coronet" and joined with the Daughters of
Charity founded in 1629 in France by St. Vincent de Paul,
fulfilling a long-held desire of Mother Seton.]
On September 14,
1975, Pope Paul VI proclaimed Elizabeth Ann Seton "a Saint"--the
first American-born citizen to be given this honor by the
Catholic Church. Since 1968, her remains have been placed in the
National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg for the
veneration of all who come from near and far to honor her. In
February 1991, Pope John Paul II gave this shrine the title of
Minor Basilica. In making that proclamation, the Holy Father
wrote of Mother Seton, "She is rightfully honored everywhere,
but especially in Emmitsburg, where a splendid church is
dedicated to her."
Fallen
Firefighters' Memorial
Conceived as a
tribute to America's fire service, the National Fallen
Firefighters' Memorial is one of this country's most
beautiful monuments to courage and unselfish service. It was
constructed in 1981 on the campus of the National Emergency
Training Center (NETC). NETC houses (on the former campus of
St. Joseph College) both the National Fire
Academy-now renamed the United States Fire Administration (USFA)-and
the Emergency Management Institute (EMI). The Memorial was
officially designated by Congress in 1990 as the national
Memorial to career and volunteer fallen firefighters. It is
a symbol of honor for those who carry on the tradition of
service to their communities.
The highlight of the Memorial is a sculptured bronze Maltese
cross. Throughout the centuries, the Maltese cross has been
adopted as a symbol by groups who provide aid in times of
distress. The cross rests atop a 7-foot stone cairn,
denoting its importance as a landmark monument. An eternal
flame burns at the base of the cairn, representing the
spirit of the firefighter-past, present, and future. A plaza
in the shape of a Maltese cross surrounds the Memorial.
Plaques listing the names of firefighters killed in service
to their communities since 1981 encircle the plaza. The area
is framed on two sides by a 6-foot stone wall that dates
back more than 100 years.
The Memorial is open to the public throughout the year.
Thousands of students attending classes at the USFA and EMI
visit the Memorial each year. When a firefighter dies on
duty, local fire officials notify the USFA. A notice of the
death is immediately posted on the Memorial grounds, and the
flags over the Memorial are flown at half-staff in honor of
the fallen firefighter. If the established criteria are met,
the fallen firefighter is honored at the annual memorial
service.
GETTYSBURG NATIONAL PARK
Located just 10
miles north of
Emmitsburg, the small
town of
Gettysburg,
Pennsylvania, was
the site of the
largest American
Civil War battle and
the largest battle
ever waged in the
Western Hemisphere.
The Battle
of Gettysburg opened
on July 1, 1863, and
closed two days
later with the
climactic "Pickett's
Charge." It resulted
in a Union victory
for the Army of the
Potomac and
successfully turned
back the second
invasion of the
North by General
Robert E. Lee's Army
of Northern
Virginia. Over
51,000 soldiers were
killed, wounded or
captured making it
the bloodiest battle
of the Civil War. It
was also a major
turning point in the
war. Historians have
referred to the
Battle of Gettysburg
as the "High Water
Mark of the
Confederacy." It was
the last major
effort by Lee to
take the fighting
out of Virginia and
into northern
states. The
Soldiers' National
Cemetery at
Gettysburg contains
more than 7,000
interments including
over 3,500 from the
Civil War. It was
here that President
Abraham Lincoln
delivered his
immortal Gettysburg
Address on November
19, 1863.
Post-battle
preservation efforts
saved small portions
of the battlefield
as a memorial to the
Union victory. On
February 11, 1895,
congressional
legislation was
signed to establish
Gettysburg National
Military Park as a
memorial dedicated
to the armies that
fought that great
three-day battle.
Gettysburg National
Military Park
incorporates nearly
6,000 acres, with 26
miles of park roads
and over 1,400
monuments, markers
and memorials.
Lutheran Theology Seminary in Gettysburg
The progressive creativity that marked
the 1826 founding of the oldest continuing Lutheran seminary in
the Americas became the red thread that runs through the
174-year Gettysburg tradition of preparing leaders for the
church’s mission. In 1832, the Seminary moved from modest
quarters in the center of town to its present location on a
ridge overlooking the borough from the west.
Samuel Simon Schmucker, a leading churchman in American Lutheran
circles for three mid-19th century decades, founded the seminary
and neighboring Gettysburg College to fill the specific need for
American-trained clergy. Schmucker also led in a number of the
voluntary societies of the Evangelical Protestantism of his
time, serving the cause of social justice, Bible promotion, and
mission outreach. An articulate Lutheran anti-slavery activist,
he supported the Underground Railroad by harboring fugitive
slaves in his barn and home. He encouraged Daniel Alexander
Payne, who was the first African-American to receive his
theological education in a Lutheran seminary (1837). Payne later
became a bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and
the first president of Wilberforce University.
On July 1, 1863, the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, the
campus became a battleground and then the center of the
Confederate line for two days. The cupola of the Old Dorm served
as an observation tower first for Union and then for the
Confederate officers. From that day and for two additional
months, the rest of the building served as a hospital for the
wounded from both sides. Occupying soldiers made a special
effort to scatter and destroy the papers and books of the
anti-slavery Schmucker. Today a newly formed Seminary Ridge
Historic Preservation Foundation, closely connected to the
Seminary, seeks to preserve three historic campus buildings and
provide historic interpretation for the public.
Catoctin
Mountain Park
Catoctin Mountain Park lies within the
mountainous area known as the Blue Ridge Province, just ten
miles south of Emmitsburg. This 5,810-acre hardwood forest park,
with its refreshing streams and scenic vistas, offers a rare
haven in a rapidly developing area of the country. However,
Catoctin Mountain Park hasn't always looked this way. In the
18th and 19th centuries, the land now known as the Catoctin
parks was extensively logged to support local agriculture
practices and to produce charcoal for the nearby iron works
furnace. In 1933, the land was set aside as the Catoctin
Recreation Demonstration Area with its purpose being to
rehabilitate "sub-marginal" farmland. In 1954, the Recreation
Demonstration Area was divided, with half of the area becoming
Cunningham Falls State Park and the remaining half becoming
Catoctin Mountain Park. This venture, known as the Catoctin
Project, was an example of a cooperative effort between State
and Federal officials.
Since then, the land has rejuvenated
itself, transforming a disturbed environment into an excellent
model of a second growth forest ecosystem. Today, a mixed
hardwood forest covers nearly 95% of the park. Catoctin Mountain
Park is also part of a larger forested public lands complex that
includes Cunningham Falls State Park, Frederick and Thurmont
Watersheds, and Gambrill State Park. Many plants and animals,
including several Maryland Threatened and Endangered species,
thrive within this forest sanctuary. The high gradient streams,
Big Hunting Creek and Owens Creek, run clean and support healthy
populations of "wild" brown and brook trout.
Catoctin Mountain Park is a very diverse
place that offers respite to the plants and animals that depend
on its existence. Its peaceful environment also provides a
needed escape from the everyday hustle and bustle of city life
for all people, including, on occasion, the President of the
United States.
Cunningham Falls State Park
Cunningham Falls State Park, located in
the Catoctin Mountains, just ten miles south of Emmitsburg, is
known for its history and scenic beauty, as well as its 78-foot
cascading waterfall. The Cunningham Falls is located one half
mile from the lake in the Houck Area via the Falls Trail.
Before the first Europeans arrived, many small Native American
tribes farmed, hunted and fished the area. Tradition says the
name Catoctin came from the tribe, the Kittoctons, who once
lived at the foot of the mountains near the Potomac River. By
the time the settlers began to arrive in the Monocacy River
Valley, Native Americans were seldom seen.
Early settlers used timber from the forests to make charcoal to
fuel the Catoctin Iron Furnace. Too many years of clear-cutting
and unscientific farming practices contributed to the overuse
and destruction of the land.
In 1954, the area was divided into two parks, divided by
Maryland Route 77. The northern 5,000 acres is now Catoctin
Mountain Park, a unit of the National Park Service. The
remaining 5,000-acre parcel was named Cunningham Falls State
Park.
There are two main developed areas in the park, the William
Houck Area and the Manor Area.
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