Learn About Our Lady of Sorrows at Cudworth
About our Shrine
On a lonely hill near Cudworth, strange lights had flickered for years—but in 1909, three children finally came face to face with the unknown.
What they saw would haunt the community for generations…
The Story of Our Shrine
According to local tradition, in 1909 a mysterious light appeared to three children tending cattle on the hill south-east of the town of Cudworth. People in the area had been seeing unexplained lights on the hill for some time, but this was the first occasion anyone had encountered the phenomenon up close.
One of the children, Mikhailo, saw within the light a beautiful woman dressed in white, barefoot upon the ground. Around her neck hung a gold chain so long that the cross at its end nearly brushed the earth. She appeared very sorrowful, and the children rushed forward, hoping to help her. The woman slowly walked down the hillside to the west and then disappeared.
Crowds Gather
In response to this mysterious event, an altar with a cross and an icon was placed on the hill. Soon people began coming from near and far to pray. Eventually, however, the landowner—frustrated by the growing crowds—forbade access to the property. The hill fell silent, yet devotion to the mysterious woman continued to grow in the hearts of the people.
In 1937, during a time when the district was suffering from a terrible drought and a plague of locusts, a local farmer had a dream in which an old man appeared to him. The man instructed him to erect a cross on the hill where the beautiful woman had appeared. The day the cross was raised, the long-awaited rains finally came.
By the early 1940s, the parish priest, Fr. Lotocky, began to notice crowds gathering once again on the hill. When he asked why they were coming, he was told the story of the apparition. It was then decided that a shrine should be built at the site and dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows.
From Blessing to Restoration
In 1946, Bishop Basil Ladyka of Winnipeg came to bless the newly built chapel. That same year, the Ukrainian Catholic parish in Cudworth, Saskatchewan celebrated its first Mission. The faithful processed from their church to the shrine carrying a large cross and banners in a solemn act of devotion. After this great event, the local bishop attended the annual pilgrimages almost every year until around 2009.
Around 2010, serious structural damage was discovered in the chapel which compromised its safety. Out of concern for visitors, the site was closed until the problem could be addressed. About a decade later, the chapel was demolished and the shrine grounds were reopened for worship and pilgrimage. The years of closure were difficult for the site, and much work remains to restore and beautify its monuments.
Renewal and Hope
Today, pilgrims are once again coming in greater numbers. Each year the pilgrimage continues to grow, giving us great hope for the future.
The arrival of Bishop Michael Smolinski to the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Saskatoon, along with the establishment of the Monastery of the Three Holy Hierarchs nearby, has opened a new chapter in the history of the Shrine at Cudworth.
It is a great joy to see our bishop once again climb the hill for the annual pilgrimage and pray together with the faithful.
The shrine holds a special place in the hearts of the Ukrainian people of Cudworth and of Saskatchewan. Its preservation over the past 115 years has been made possible by the tireless dedication of generations who built, maintained, and protected this sacred place, ensuring that its story would never be forgotten.
Please consider supporting the continued restoration and preservation of this holy site.
To undertake a pilgrimage is to reach beyond yourself—toward history, toward spirit, toward a deeper sense of purpose—and to be transformed by the journey. To walk it is to step into memory not your own, but one carried by countless souls who have pressed the same prayer into the earth.
Fr Graham Hill CSsR
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