August 13, 2025

By Keith Benman
Contributing Writer

A pilgrimage that started as a short side trip blossomed into a full-blown religious quest for a 91-year-old St. Peter’s Massena parishioner and her daughter this summer.

June LaShomb and her daughter, Jane Bain, 55, traveled nearly 1,000 miles over three months, visiting every church and religious site designated by the Diocese of Ogdensburg as Jubilee 2025 pilgrimage destinations. That’s a dozen in all. Their journey together started in the spring with a visit to St. Peter’s Church, in Plattsburgh, when they were in the city for an appointment. Their journey ended at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Ogdensburg on July 29.

“It was something that was kind of hit and miss at the beginning,” said Jane. “But it just kind of turned into let’s see this through and visit all of them. Once it was summertime we took out the map and found where everything was and came up with a plan.”

A big motivation for June was praying and obtaining indulgences for her deceased siblings, of whom there are 15 in all, as well as her husband’s deceased siblings, of whom there are eight in all. An indulgence can be obtained through the pilgrimage for a deceased loved one by saying an Apostles Creed and prayers for the intentions of the Holy Father at each site. The Jubilee 2025 pilgrimage indulgence also requires receiving the sacraments of Penance and Holy Communion within two weeks of the visit.

The Catholic Catechism states indulgences open the treasury of the merits of Christ and the saints for believers. As such, they can remit temporal punishments due for sin for both those on earth and souls in Purgatory.

Like many Catholics of her generation, June is familiar with the concept of indulgences.

“They say it takes care of the venial sins of everyone if you pray for them,” June said. “You’re helping all the deceased souls, so it just seems like a good thing to do.”

Their plan to visit all 12 pilgrimage sites included visiting five in one day on July 22. That entailed 530 miles of travel as they visited Mother Cabrini Shrine at St. Patrick’s Oratory, West Peru; St. Mary’s Church, Ticonderoga; St. Alphonsus’ Church, Tupper Lake; St. Bartholomew’s Church, Old Forge; and St. Stephen’s Church, Croghan.

At St. Stephen’s they ran into Father Donald J. Manfred, who they knew from his days of serving at Sacred Heart Church in Massena. It was one of the highlights of their trip. They were able to reminisce a little about the old days, when not only Father Manfred, but one of June’s siblings, Sister Mary Stephen, a sister of the Servites of Mary, served there as a teacher.

When told recently that June and Jane had traveled 530 miles that day to visit five pilgrimage sites in all, Father Manfred had this reaction: “God love them. My goodness!”

June told Father Manfred about their pilgrimage and its purpose.

“She comes from an era where having an indulgence means a great deal to her,” Father Manfred said. “That was a long trip that day. She was really serious that this was a spiritual experience she lived.”

There were other highlights as well for mother and daughter. At Mother Cabrini Shrine they got to say their Apostles Creed and prayers for the intentions of the Holy Father on a hilltop with a spectacular view of the Adirondacks.

“It was very peaceful,” June said. “You could light a candle. It was all very nice to see.”

June and Jane say they’d recommend the in-diocese pilgrimage to anyone, whether it’s just one site visited or all 12.

“You can make this as simple or involved as you want,” Jane said.

“They each have their interesting things to see. Each church was beautiful in its own way.”