Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine and Burial Chapel

Why pilgrims come

Visit the resting place and legacy of Blessed Stanley Rother

The Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine in Oklahoma City preserves the bodily remains of the first recognized martyr born in the United States. His tomb is set within the hand-carved altar of the shrine’s burial chapel, joining an Oklahoma priest’s rural roots to his pastoral life and death among the Tz’utujil people of Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala.

Father Stanley Rother served in Guatemala during years of violent repression. He learned the local language, celebrated the sacraments, trained lay leaders, and remained with his people as catechists and parishioners disappeared or were killed. Warned that his own name was on a death list, he briefly returned to Oklahoma but chose to go back, explaining that a shepherd could not run when the wolf threatened the flock. He was murdered in the rectory on July 28, 1981.

The shrine, dedicated in 2023, includes a large church, museum and pilgrim center, and the burial chapel. Its architecture recalls the church at Santiago Atitlán, while the chapel makes the martyr’s body the center of prayer rather than a historical exhibit. Rother was beatified in 2017; he is Blessed and has not yet been canonized.

Visit the museum before or after praying at the tomb so that the relic is understood through parish ministry, Indigenous community, and martyrdom. Current Mass, confession, museum hours, and special events are published by the official shrine and should be confirmed before travel.

Move from the museum to the burial chapel: learn the people and parish Father Rother loved, then pray at the altar that holds the martyr’s body.