National Shrine of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos

The church itself is beautiful inside. Decorated in classic Roman Catholic style, very relaxing and peaceful. Attached to church, is the actual shrine of Fr. Francis Xavier Seelos. There you can see his coffin and a nice statue seated on a bench, begging for an Instagram selfie ;) Across the courtyard from the church is a visitors, information, exhibit area dedicated to Fr. Seelos. You can learn about his missionary work, which ultimately led to his untimely death. Very cool. Worth the visit for any Catholic or history geek, like myself.

I have wanted to visit this shrine since I saw a feature about it on the news a few months ago.
This is a delightful visit for really anyone in the city, not just Catholics. When I walked in, I was greeted by a very nice woman who brought me into a room so that I could watch an 8 minute video about the life of Francis Xavier Seelos. I found it very educational, enjoyable and it familiarized me more with who this man was.
After the video, I went on a walk throughout the small area. There are pictures of Francis Seelos as well as areas where people can pray and meditate for their loved ones.
I really enjoyed the gift shop. Here you can buy books, medals, prayer cards and other religious artifacts that are not only related to Francis Seelos, but to many Saints as well. You can even buy religious statues here. I decided to purchase a prayer card that had been blessed and that contained a piece of cloth that had been touched to the Seelos relic. A previous review not withstanding, I don’t think that you can actually buy pieces of the relic. They do have many items, like my card, that have been touched to the relic and are considered blessed.
Unfortunately, the shrine itself is currently closed to the public, because the Church itself is under construction. The woman who works there was very sweet about it and asked me to call soon to check when it reopens so that I can visit the actual shrine.

The National Shrine of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos is located in St. Mary’s Assumption Church which was the first German Catholic Church in New Orleans and the state of Louisiana. The Catholic Church has beatified Father Seelos making him one step away from sainthood. I thought the small shrine space had a lot more information about Father Seelos than I expected along with a very robust gift shop. Many miracles are attributed to Father Seelos’ intercession and they sell «relics» of him so that you too can have a little slice of him. I visited this shrine with a friend of mine who was shopping for a unique New Orleans gift and I was unaware that there was still a trade in human body pieces so I was very surprised to learn that they actually sell small parts of the dear departed Father Seelos. I inquired what part of the body the «relic» was taken from and was told that they thought the piece my friend purchased came from the leg…
So if you need a «uniquely» New Orleans gift for the person that has everything this could be the spot you’ve been looking for.