Ohio
Pilgrimage to Venerate Relics of St. Maximina & St. Hyacinth
May 2026
Date TBA
North
Royalton, Ohio
Email us with questions at traditionalcatholicevents@gmail.com
The walking pilgrimage will begin at Station Road Bridge in Cuyahoga Valley National Park and follow a dedicated pedestrian trail all the way to the Stuhr Woods Picnic Area, a total distance of about 8.5 miles. Most of the walking pilgrims will first go to Mass at Sacred Heart of Jesus at 9am and then carpool together to the start of the pilgrimage.
2025 Pilgrimage Schedule
Friday, May 23
6:30pm - Holy Hour of Reparation at Sacred Heart of Jesus (CMRI) 450 Dennison Ave, Akron, OH 44312
Saturday, May 24
9am – Mass at Sacred Heart of Jesus (CMRI) 450 Dennison Ave, Akron, OH 44312 (40 minute drive from start of walking pilgrimage).
There will be the option to leave your car at the chapel and carpool with other pilgrims to the beginning of the walking pilgrimage.
11am
– Start walking pilgrimage at Station Road Bridge, 13513
Station Rd, Brecksville, OH 44141
12:30pm-1:30pm
– Lunch break at Blossom Hill Field House parking lot
1:30pm
– Pilgrimage resumes from Blossom Hill Field House 3500
Oakes Rd, Brecksville, OH 44141
3:00pm
– Pilgrimage arrives at Stuhr Woods Picnic Area (those not walking need to
arrive at picnic area by this time to caravan to monastery) Use
“Stuhr Woods Picnic Area” in map app
3:15pm-4:15pm
– Carpool from picnic area to nearby Byzantine Monastery to venerate relics and
tour monastery grounds
4:30pm - Optional early dinner at Jolly's Pizza & Scholarly Brewing, 6120 Royalton Rd, North Royalton, OH 44133 (5 minute drive from Stuhr Woods Picnic Area)
About
St. Maximina & St. Hyacinth
At the time when
Diocletian's persecution broke out, St. Maximina and her husband Montanus, a
priest, were living in Belgrade, in the Roman province of Illyria, the ancient
name for Yugoslavia. This was long before the law of celibacy was introduced in
the Western Church. It is not known if the young priest and his lovely wife
were born in Belgrade, or when they came to live there. All that is recorded
concerning this, is that they were living there when the vicious and cruel
persecution of Diocletian raged, in 304 A.D. The Emperor's edict obliged every
Christian without distinction to offer sacrifice to the Emperor and the gods.
It is the teaching of the Gospel that Christians are not to seek martyrdom.
Christ said, "When they persecute you in one city, flee into
another." And St. Polycarp wrote in 156 A.D., "We do not commend
those who volunteer to come forward, since this is not the teaching of the
Gospels. Martyrdom was to take place according to the will of God."
It was with this in mind that Maximina and Montanus fled the community at
Belgrade and started towards Sirmium, about forty miles distant. They were
overtaken by Roman soldiers, and led to stand trial on a high bridge above the
Sava River. Probus, Governor of Pannonia, was the judge who tried them. The
captives were given the choice of rejecting Christ or rejecting life. History
records the bravery of Montanus, though heroism in a priest was to be expected.
What deeply moved the great crowd gathered on that bridge was the fidelity and
apostolic courage of Maximina. In fact, she defended her faith so well that
Probus quickly terminated the trial. The sentence was death by beheading, to be
carried out immediately.
The sword flashed. Montanus was beheaded first, head and body falling into the
Sava. A moment after, St. Maximina laid down her life in the same way. Their
remains were lovingly removed from the river a few kilometers distant from
Sirmium, and transported to Rome, to the Catacomb of St. Priscilla, where they
were interred. Here the relics remained for 1,500 years.
In 1804 many tombs in St. Priscilla's were opened, and the relics presented to
the churches of Rome and elsewhere. With the special permission of Pope Pius
VII the relics of St. Maximina with a phial of her blood were presented to the
Sinibaldi family, and placed in the altar of their private chapel. For more
than a hundred years they were venerated in this chapel. In 1927 the Sinibaldi
family presented the relics to the Poor Clares of San Lorenzo in Panisperna,
Rome. They, in turn, with permission of Pope Pius XI, sent them to the Poor
Clares in Chicago in 1929. By a special rescript, dated June 18, 1929, the
Sacred Congregation of Rites declared these relics to be truly those of St.
Maximina, Martyr. For forty years St. Maximina had a place of honor in the
relic chapel of the Chicago Monastery.
When the Poor Clares moved to Hickory Hills, the relics were given to Fr.
Joseph Lauro for his missions in South America. However, because of the illness
of Fr. Lauro, the relics were given into the custody of Fr. Leo McNamara, of
St. Adrian's Parish in Chicago. Fr. McNamara rightly felt that St. Maximina
provided a much needed example, and he did all in his power to make her known.
The response was unprecedented. Many clients claim to have received favors
through the intercession of the martyr. Possibly the greatest consequence of
devotion to her has been the impact of her example. In our time of confusion
and defection, the visible presence, so to say, of the remains of a woman who
confronted evil with courage and gave her young life for Christ, has given
countless people the desire to live by faith. There can be no doubt that St.
Maximina has charm, and she seems also to have great influence over those who
invoke her.
The next chapter in the saga of St. Maximina has been her trip to Ohio, where
she is currently safeguarded by the Byzantine Poor Clares at the Monastery of
Holy Protection in North Royalton, Ohio. For various reasons, one of which was
the death of Fr. Lauro in 1971, it seemed best that she return to those who had
guarded her for so long. The sisters had undertaken a Byzantine Foundation, and
had settled in the Byzantine Catholic Diocese of Parma, Ohio, with the gracious
permission of the Bishop, Most Rev. Emil J. Mihalik. The relic of St. Maximina,
along with the relic of another young Roman martyr, St. Hyacinth, 109 A.D. were
relocated to a shrine on the Monastery grounds.
Although St. Maximina suffered martyrdom more than 1700 years ago, and her
relics have been removed to various places, all the bones of the entire
skeleton are in a remarkable state of preservation. They have been lovingly
clothed in magnificent garments, richly studded with jewels and gold braid,
while the skull, hands and feet are encased in wax forms, so arranged, however,
that the bones of the hands and feet can be seen. May St. Maximina obtain many
blessings for those who invoke her. (From Father Leo Franklin
McNamara)
"We beseech thee,
O Lord, through the intercession of Thy martyr, St. Maximina, look down upon
thy people that they may be strengthened unto piety, obtain to the remission of
their sins, be delivered from the devil and his deceits, be filled with the
Holy Ghost, and obtain life everlasting. Amen. (Prayer card
circa late 1960’s)
Fr. Vili Lehtoranta recently
wrote about Fr. Leo McNamara and St. Maximina here: Charity for the
Dead