For centuries, pilgrims have journeyed to the Holy Land and throughout Europe to visit sites that speak to them of Jesus and the saints. Saint Ignatius of Loyola was one such pilgrim. 

As Jim Manney writes, throughout his “purposeful wanderings,” St. Ignatius experienced profound changes that ultimately led to his founding the Society of Jesus. Manney says St. Ignatius “referred to himself as ‘the Pilgrim’ throughout his life, even when he was Superior General of the Society stuck at a desk in Rome. Ignatian metaphor for the spiritual life is pilgrimage.” 

Even in the U.S., people in the Midwest do not need to make pilgrimages to faraway lands to find Jesuit-related sites. Of course, there are many well-known places here in the province that have Ignatian significance. But there are interesting and inspiring lesser-known monuments, markers, and apostolic works as well. 

Thanks to a project developed as part of the Ignatian Year celebration, a new website will provide highlights of such places—allowing users to participate in virtual and/or in-person pilgrimages as they choose. Included are just a few examples. 

The Heritage Center at Red Cloud Indian School on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota is one of the earliest cultural centers and museums located on a reservation in the United States. The school traces its origins to the time when Chief Red Cloud rose up as a great leader of the Oglala Sioux (Lakota) and started working with a group known as the Sina Sapa, or the “Black Robes” (a reference to the black cassocks worn by the Jesuits). 

The Heritage Center began in 1968 as The Red Cloud Indian Art Show, started by Fr. Ted Zuern, SJ, and Robert Savage and managed by Br. C. M. Simon, SJ. As he purchased award-winning artwork from the art show each year, Br. Simon quickly amassed an extensive collection of paintings, drawings, and sculptures representing varied Native American tribal traditions. Additionally, local families and private collectors from around the country have donated historical Lakota artwork. 

Founded in 1857 by Fr. Arnold Damen, SJ, the Church of the Holy Family was one of the few buildings in Chicago to have survived the Great Fire of 1871, and it served as a place of refuge for thousands of survivors. The church’s perpetual lamp has been lit ever since. Holy Family, which is Chicago’s only example of pre-Civil War Victorian architecture, features a 226-foot bell tower that was at one time the tallest structure in Chicago. The church is also home to a rare collection of 29 historic hand-carved gilded wooden angel orchestra statues created in 1870. 

The Arapaho Chief Black Coal approved and selected land for St. Stephens Mission, which was established by Fr. John Jutz, SJ, in 1884 on the Wind River Indian Reservation. 

After arriving at Black Coal’s camp near the confluence of the Little and Big Wind Rivers (near the modern city of Riverton, Wyoming), Fr. Jutz was soon joined by Br. Ursis Nunlist, SJ, in building the new mission, which included a school, chapel, sleeping quarters, kitchen, reception room, and workshop. 

The church, community, and schools have evolved since being established, and today the Indian peoples govern the school and community. The mission’s church is painted with colorful Native American designs, and a heritage center serves as a museum for the site. 

The Father Marquette National Memorial at Straits State Park in St. Ignace, Michigan, tells the story of the 17th-century missionary-explorer and the meeting of French and Native American cultures deep in the North American wilderness. 

Nearby, the Father Marquette Mission Park and Museum of Ojibwa Culture depict life at the time when French explorers and missionaries met the Ojibwa, Huron, Wyandotte, and Odawa Indians who resided there. Father Jacques Marquette, SJ, founded a mission in 1671 among Huron Indian refugees in this area, which is the oldest documented archaeological site in Michigan. The museum is housed in the Mission Chapel, and the grounds include Fr. Marquette’s grave and an authentic Huron longhouse that stages historical reenactments and demonstrations. 

It is believed that Fr. Marquette died and was first buried further south in Ludington, Michigan, where the Pere Marquette River widens to form Pere Marquette Lake. A large stone cross marks the spot. 

he Spirit of the Northwest is a statue on the grounds of the Brown County Courthouse in Green Bay, Wisconsin. It represents Fr. Claude Allouez, SJ; a Native American of the Fox people; and Nicolas Perrot, a French explorer, fur trader, and diplomat. 

Father Allouez arrived in the area in 1668 and founded the St. Francis Xavier Mission at the last set of rapids on the Fox River before it enters Green Bay. This site became known as Les Rapides des Pères (“the Rapids of the Fathers,” referring to the Jesuits living there). The location is now the city of De Pere, Wisconsin, and it is home to St. Francis Xavier Parish near the original mission site. Several nearby towns— Allouez and New Allouez, as well as Allouez Township—are named for this pioneer. 

For almost 20 years, the St. Francis Xavier Mission was a religious outpost and fur trading way station. In 1673, Fr. Jacques Marquette, SJ, and Louis Joliet stopped at this mission on their historic journey of discovery to find the Mississippi River. 

In 1686, Nicolas Perrot presented a silver monstrance to the mission. One of the oldest and most valuable historic relics in the United States at the time, it can now be seen at Green Bay’s Neville Public Museum. 

Reuben Gold Thwaites (an editor of The Jesuit Relations and a biography of Fr. Marquette) visited De Pere in 1899. Here he stands atop a monument commemorating the Mission of Saint Francis Xavier, holding the Perrot Monstrance. The bronze plaque on the upper rock is now housed at the White Pillars Museum in De Pere.