On July 28, 2021, a special Mass was held in St. Mary’s Chapel at the National Shrine Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes to celebrate Blessed Stanley Rother’s 40th anniversary of martyrdom. More than 100 people attended the Mass, and a first degree relic and image of Blessed Stanley was present. At the end of the Mass, third degree relic mass cards were given to attendees.
Blessed Stanley Rother was martyred on July 28, 1981, in the Guatemalan village where he ministered to the poor. He was the first U.S. born priest to be martyred. He was beatified on September 23, 2017, in his home diocese of Oklahoma City.
Blessed Stanley was raised in Okarche, Oklahoma and ordained from Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in 1963. Monsignor Thomas Tewes, also ordained in 1963, was a classmate and friend of Blessed Stanley. Monsignor Tewes, C'59, S'63, a retired priest of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, was honored to serve as Celebrant at Blessed Stanley’s Anniversary Mass and wore a stole that Blessed Stanley had given him as a gift. “I want to thank Rector, Monsignor Andrew Baker for standing aside and allowing me to celebrate the 40th Anniversary Mass for the Martyrdom of Blessed Stanley Rother, in Guatemala. At 87 years old, I am the last living priest and classmate of Stan’s," Monsignor Tewes stated. "It was an honor to speak about him at the Grotto Mass. He was a humble and deeply spiritual priest. I was not worthy of the task, but 
was honored to have spent the night at the Seminary, 58 years since our ordination, and be able to talk about a fellow classmate and friend, Blessed Stanley Rother. I hope I live long enough to go to Rome for His canonization.” In the manner of the Good Shepherd, Blessed Stanley laid down his life for the Gospel and for His parishioners. He lived out his priestly vocation as a missionary, serving the parish of Santiago Apostol, in the Diocese of Slola-Chimaltenango in Guatemala. He arrived in 1968 and served for 13 years before meeting his violent death on July 28, 1981.
Devotion to Blessed Stanley Rother continues at Mount St. Mary’s, in his home diocese, in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, and throughout the country. Currently, we await his canonization as a saint, for the glory of God and for the benefit of the universal Church. To learn more about Blessed Stanley, listen to the Catholic Review radio interview with Msgr. Tewes and read the recent Our Sunday Visitor article.