Altars of Sacrifice:
"Then they took unhewn stones, as the law directs, and built
a new Altar like the former one" Maccabees 4:47
The first Wilderness
Outreach Altar of
Sacrifice was
constructed of unhewn
stones in the John
Muir Wilderness of the
High Sierra of
California in the
summer of 2007.
The Altar was built of 2 columns with a large stone
mensa for the top. The mensa stone weighed over
350 pounds and was awkward and dangerous to
move into place. Some of the men wanted to give up
on the stone and find another since it was so difficult
to pick up. Justin Bennet, one of the youngest of the
men, would have none of it. He walked up to it and
with all his strength picked up one end and said with
a loud grunt "c'mon men"! and with his urging they
picked it up, carried it into position and set it on the
columns of stone.
High Sierra 2007
Gila 2008
In June of 2008 Wilderness
Outreach journeyed into the Aldo
Leopold Wilderness. Unlike the
High Sierra, rocks were not in
ample supply. So the men used
logs for the base and found a
large rock for the mensa on a
nearby rock outcrop.
The Altar was built in an aspen grove at
the base of Reed's Peak. Mass was
celebrated in the evening at sunset when
the cool winds of the black Range
Mountains would start to blow through
the Aspens. It was as if the Holy Spirit
was whispering,
"Be silent and know that I am God."
High Sierra 2008
When we returned to the High
Sierra in 2008 we went higher and
deeper into the John Muir
Wilderness. As soon as we
established base camp Fr. Hoover
began searching the location of the
Sancturay and the Altar of Sacrifice.
And so the work began.
The Altar was built upon a shelf of grey white granite,
typical of the High Sierra geology. To the west of the
Altar was a natural seat of granite that the men would
sit on during the celebration of the Mass. Fr. Hoover
found two large pieces fo driftwood nearby which he
formed into a cross and placed on a large rock behind
the Altar.
Idaho 2008 The Shepherds Rock
After we arrived in base camp in
Idaho Fr. Coning and 2 men started
looking for an appropriate place for
the Sanctuary and Altar. One
location was near the camp and
easy to get to but there were no
building materials nearby. Jeff
McKenna insisted that we place the
Altar on a high ridge about 600'
above base camp. That meant that
at the end of each grueling day of
work, the men would have to hike
up the 600' to celebrate Mass.
Some of the men resisted but Jeff was drawn to the
ridge and kept insisting. Finally all the men and Fr.
Coning hiked up to the top. It was a phenomenal
location for the Sanctuary and the Altar. To the east
there was a view of at least 75 miles out into the Idaho
wildereness. To the west a small knoll with a natural
seating arrangement. On the north Mt Baldy towerd
and on the souht the Sancturary was framed in lodge
pole pines. When Fr. Coning saw the view and the
setting he stated without hesitation that this would be
the location of the Sancutary and where the Altar would
be built.
The next morning the men headed up to the
Sancturary and started building the Altar. One of
the men discovered that Steve Petesch, our
USFS leader, was Catholic, and invited him to
join us in constructing the Altar. As each man
found and brouhght his rock to the Altar, Steve
found a nice flat rock and when he picked it up
and turned it over, scripture was found written
on the face of the rock.
For God sent not His Son into the world
to condemn the world, but that the
world through Him might be saved.
Steve had found a rock written on by the "old
shepherd" Billie. Billie was a Scotsman who came
to America in the late 1800's after losing the love
of his life. He proceeded to live a life of
debauchery until he lost everything and found
Christ. The Holy Spirit "drove him into the
wilderness" of Idaho where he tended sheep and
wrote scripture on rocks for the rest his life.
Most of Billies rocks have disapeared through
the years from weathering and vandalism. No one
knew that Billie was in this location in Idaho.
Aldo Leopold Wilderness 2009
Fr. Brian Doerr and the seminarians
of Lafayette, Indiana, journeyed to the
Gila in 2009 to finish the trail clearing
on the Black Range Crest Trail. The
Altar was built upon some existing
rock in the darkness of the
Ponderosa pine forest near Mimbres
Lake.
A Cross was built and placed by one of
the seminarians.
It took 4 strong seminarians to haul
and set the Mensa stone.
Carson National Forest 2009
The Carson National Forest
expedition had several firsts; the first
to have 2 priests and the first to
build 2 Altars.
The first altar was built in a meadow
next to a mountain lake.
The second Altar was built on a the top of
a ridge that looked due east to the
Sangre De Christo mountains.
The second Altar was also the largest
ever built by a WO expedition. It
measured nearly 4' x 4' x 8'
San Pedro Wilderness 2010
The San Pedro Wilderness Altar
was built on the side of a mountain
saddle overlooking an meadow
surrounded by a blue spruce forest
at over 10,000' above sea level.
Our team was blessed with help and
support from Tim Chavez a member
of Los Hemanos, a devout and
strong Brotherhood of Catholic men.
With Tim's help the seminarians
and Fr. Matt Hoover completed
the Altar and Cross that would be
our focal point celbrating Mass
each day at sunrise.
Idaho 2009
The old dudes in Idaho 2009 could not
find another "Rock", but the view of the
Selkirks from the Sanctuary looking
over the Altar of Sacrifice was profound.
This was the first Altar that
incorporated the tools of work, a
shovel and a pulaski.
Kings Canyon 2010
On the
mountaintop above
Kings Canyon
there were many
Ponderosa Pines
and Cedars but not
many rocks in the
area of base camp.
We found one 48"
diameter
Ponderosa
oriented perfectly
north and south so
that the Altar was
facing east / west.
One seminarian
found a good large
flat rock for the
mensa and another
morticed it into the
pine.
Smaller logs were found,
cut and de-limbed for the
seating.
Kyle Neterer recites the readings for the day while Fr. Brian Doerr looks on.