From Staff Reports
On the 39th anniversary of his death while serving as a missionary priest in Guatemala, a memorial Mass is planned in Okarche for Blessed Stanley Rother.
Rother, born in Okarche in 1935, was killed in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala on July 28, 1981 during missionary work.
The annual memorial Mass is 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 28 at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, 211 W Missouri Ave. on what is now recognized as the third annual Blessed Stanley Feast Day.
On Sept. 23, 2017, Rother became the first Catholic martyr for the United States and the first U.S. born priest to be beatified.
Pope Francis issued a decree confirming Rother was to be beatified by the Catholic Church due to the nature and cause of his shooting death during a civil war.
Construction is underway on a shrine to be completed in 2022 at at Interstate 35 and SE 89 in south Oklahoma City on the grounds of a former golf course.
Rother was originally buried near Okarche in the Holy Trinity Cemetery in the area where he grew up. Today, he is buried at Resurrection Memorial Cemetery, 7500 W Britton Road in Oklahoma City.
In June, a group of pilgrims visited the original grave site in Okarche and Holy Trinity Catholic Church where Rother was baptized, said Linda Schaefer, an Ada photographer who has researched Rother. The group walked from the church to the cemetery on the rural Okarche roads where Rother grew up in a farming family.
In Guatemala,Rother served as missionary priest at Saint James the Apostle from 1968 until 1981. As civil war raged around him, Rother was shot to death by gunman in his mission rectory.
Resurrection Memorial Cemetery will be open for visitors 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, July 25 and Saturday, Aug. 1 for visitors.
Holy Trinity Catholic Church Father Cory Stanley will celebrate the memorial Mass at the church on July 28.
