The Pacific Northwest is a traveler’s paradise. Wedged between snow capped mountains and rugged oceanfront are engaging cities and immense forests that can feel out of this world. Whether you come to the region to experience the full abundance of God’s natural creation, sip a latte at the original Starbucks, or explore the islands and inlets that dot the coast, there is much to discover in this region.
Seattle
The Emerald City offers a stunning array of natural and man-made attractions. Best known for the iconic Space Needle and the Pike Place Market filled with its fishmongers, there are many other attractions that can easily fill several days in metro Seattle. These include the unique Museum of Pop Culture, the Seattle Aquarium, and the Museum of Flight, closely linked with the nearby world headquarters of Boeing.
Little known is that Seattle is named for Chief Seattle, a Suquamish and Duwamish chief who converted to Catholicism. For Catholic travelers, the city’s Cathedral of St. James is an essential destination. The interior is lined with a number of shrines, including a beautiful candle-adorned shrine to Our Lady, as well as America’s only shrine to Pope St. John XXIII. The Cathedral’s chapel is also renowned for the display of an original Renaissance era painting of the Madonna with Child, that dates from fifteenth century Florence and somehow made its way to Seattle. In this same chapel is a nineteenth century statue of Mary, known as Our Lady of Seattle, and it is believed to be the first image of Our Lady publicly venerated in the city.
Throughout the cathedral, there are many depictions of one particular American saint: St. Frances Xavier Cabrini; her relic is also enshrined in the main altar. This is because St. Frances had a unique connection to Seattle. She arrived here in 1903 opening a school and orphanage and she would regularly worship at this Cathedral when she was in town. Moreover, it was at the King County Courthouse in downtown Seattle in 1909 that she was sworn in as an American citizen after so many years of service in communities across America. After her death, a miraculous apparition to a local Seattle nun constituted the second miracle recognized by Rome that paved the way for St. Frances’ canonization.
If you are looking to get outside of the city, drive 25 minutes north of Seattle to the ferry terminal at Mukilteo and take the short ferry ride across Puget Sound to the Whidbey and Camano islands.
Coupeville, on Whidbey Island, is the second oldest town in Washington State and it has a fantastic main street lined with bookstores, wineries, restaurants and an iconic red wharf jutting out into the bay. While exploring the town, be sure to stop at historic St Mary’s Church.
DAY TRIPS FROM SEATTLE
Darrington, WA
A short drive north of Seattle is the town of Darrington, located at the base of the North Cascade Mountain range. The area offers some fantastic hiking and white water rafting opportunities in a beautiful mountain setting. Popular sites include the North Cascades National Park and the Mt. Baker National Forest.
In the midst of this beautiful setting is the little country Church of St. John Mary Vianney. It began as a mission church in 1916 and has the unique attribute of being built out of a bunkhouse that belonged to the Saulk River Logging Co. It is a welcoming parish that continues to invite all visitors to attend a Sunday Brunch after Mass and it is also the site of the “Healing Shrine of the Living Water.” This is a 14 foot cross that leans against the church roof, collects the rain water, and funnels it down into a pool at the base of the cross. The statue is meant to depict the flow of blood and water from Christ’s Sacred Heart and it pours out over a golden chalice sitting in the pool at the base of the cross, surrounded by a blue rosary containing Lourdes water and water from the Jordan River. It is a moving monument of Christ’s infinite love for us in the heart of the stunning northern Washington wilderness.
Lakewood/Fort Steilacoom, WA
South of Seattle and near Mt. Rainier National Park, the tallest mountain peak in Washington, is the town of Lakewood and its Fort Steilacoom Park, with its many trails, serene gardens and clear lakes. It is also here that you will find the oldest active Catholic Church in Washington State, Immaculate Conception parish.
Olympic National Park
“Sing to the Mountains, sing to the Seas, raise your voices lift, your hearts”
This popular hymn is epitomized in touring the Olympic peninsula west of Seattle, where the seas, mountains, and forests intersect into one of the most fascinating places in America. In one afternoon, you can explore mountain heights, temporate rain forests, and the rugged ocean front. It is truly a place to marvel at the natural wonders of God’s creations.
Vancouver, Washington – birthplace of the Church in the Pacific Northwest
At the southern end of Washington state along the Columbia River is Washington’s oldest city, Vancouver. It is also a gateway town to some of the most stunning natural attractions in Washington State, from the infamous volcano at Mount St. Helens to the rugged landscapes along the Columbia River Gorge.
Vancouver was once the hub of the western fur trade, established by the English Hudson’s Bay Company in 1825. Fort Vancouver played an important role in the establishment of the Church in the Pacific Northwest. After a long 4,500 mile journey from Quebec, Fr. Francis Blanchet landed at Fort Vancouver in 1838 and celebrated the first mass in the region inside the fort’s stockade for the French fur traders and pioneers in the region. Fr. Blanchet set up a chapel in an old store inside the stockade and went on to establish the first mission – St. James Mission – in the Oregon Territory, within the fort.
From this humble start, Fr. Blanchet led a truly remarkable expansion from a tiny mission on the Columbia River to the second archdiocese in the entire United States, within the span of eight short years. The Oregon Territory was booming at the time, with over 400,000 settlers moving west over thirty years along the 2,000 mile Oregon Trail from Independence, Missouri. With this rapid growth, Bishop Blanchet exceeded all expectations and convinced Rome to make Oregon an Archdiocese – only the second in the U.S. after Baltimore – and surpassing the much larger Catholic centers in New York, Philadelphia and St. Louis. Bishop Blanchet was a driven leader and catechist. Within his first six years, most of the native tribes had been catechized, over 6,000 souls converted, and 11 churches and nine missions established.
You can recall this rugged past at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site and at the Proto-Cathedral of St. James the Greater. The church was once the cathedral for what would become the archdiocese of Seattle and was established by Bishop Blanchet. Outside the rectory is a replica of the “Catholic Ladder,” an innovative teaching tool that Bishop Blanchet used for teaching the faith to the Indigenous peoples of the region.
Just down the street from the church is the Providence Academy, which was the headquarters and school for girls established in Vancouver by Mother Joseph and the Sisters of the House of Providence. Mother Joseph opened schools, orphanages, and hospitals across the Pacific northwest, often traveling to the rich mining camps of the region to raise money for her operations; she is so well beloved in Washington State, that hers is one of two statues in the US Capitol donated by the State of Washington. The Academy is open to the public for tours.
Directly across the Columbia River from Vancouver is Portland, Oregon. Amid the city’s plentiful craft breweries, food carts and museums is the National Sanctuary of Our Lady of Sorrows. It is centered around a 110 foot cave that Father Mayer had carved out of the cliffside; inside, a stone altar was built with a large depiction of the Pieta – one of the most iconic images that capture the sorrows of Our Lady. Over time, numerous little chapels, shrines and prayer gardens filled the expansive grounds.
CATHOLIC CONCIERGE 
Leave a comment