Association in a Religious Community     Marie Prindeville

I have been asked what it means to be an associate in a religious community. I will try to articulate what is in my heart. After 2 years of formation, in 2001, I made my first covenant in the community of the Sisters of the Holy Family. The Sisters of the Holy Family were founded in San Francisco, Ca. in 1872 by Mother Dolores Armer.  Today our sisters serve in California, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, and Texas.  I am sure many of you from this area had the sisters for catechism, or day care..

I first remember my association with the sisters in the first grade. All through grammar school, I received my religious education from the sisters.  During my high school years at Notre Dame, I helped the sisters with release time classes.  I never lost contact through the years, or forgot the welcoming hospitable way they proclaimed the gospel message.

We are women with a simple mission – to seek out and advocate for the poor and needy, especially families, for the Kingdom of God.  As both women and men associates we try to live the charism of our community in all we do, family, parish ministry, and in our lives in the world.

In the years that I have been an associate, I have learned more fully what it means to live my baptismal call.  The strength love and support I have received from a group of dedicated holy women has been incredible.   It has helped me do my ministries here at St. Francis, especially as baptism coordinator, in a spirit of love, extending hospitality and welcoming to all families.

I feel so blessed to have been invited, and to have answered the call.  I t has truly made my life so much more meaningful, and I hope in some way you have felt the charism of our community in action.  Thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve.

The season of Advent, the time of preparation for the coming of Christ at Christmas and the start of the liturgical year in the Roman Catholic Church, begins on a different date each year.

When does Advent 2009 begin?

Answer: Advent 2009 begins on the First Sunday in Advent, November 29, 2009.

The Season of Advent

Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Each year, as the Church recalls this mystery – that Christ, who came once in the flesh, is prepared to come again. She urges us to renew the memory of the great love God has shown us.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Catholic Online) – Beloved, now is the acceptable time spoken of by the Spirit, the day of salvation, peace and reconciliation: the great season of Advent. This is the time eagerly awaited by the patriarchs and prophets, the time that holy Simeon rejoiced at last to see. This is the season that the Church has always celebrated with special solemnity. We too should always observe it with faith and love, offering praise and thanksgiving to the Father for the mercy and love he has shown us in this mystery.

In his infinite love for us, though we were sinners, he sent his only Son to free us from the tyranny of Satan, to summon us to heaven, to welcome us into its innermost recesses, to show us truth itself, to train us in right conduct, to plant within us the seeds of virtue, to enrich us with the treasures of his grace, and to make us children of God and heirs of eternal life.

Each year, as the Church recalls this mystery, she urges us to renew the memory of the great love God has shown us. This holy season teaches us that Christ’s coming was not only for the benefit of his contemporaries; his power has still to be communicated to us all. We shall share his power, if, through holy faith and the sacraments, we willingly accept the grace Christ earned for us, and live by that grace and in obedience to Christ.

The Church asks us to understand that Christ, who came once in the flesh, is prepared to come again. When we remove all obstacles to his presence he will come, at any hour and moment, to dwell spiritually in our hearts, bringing with him the riches of his grace.

In her concern for our salvation, our loving mother the Church uses this holy season to teach us through hymns, canticles and other forms of expression, of voice or ritual, used by the Holy Spirit. She shows us how grateful we should be for so great a blessing, and how to gain its benefit: our hearts should be as much prepared for the coming of Christ as if he were still to come into this world. The same lesson is given us for our imitation by the words and example of the holy men of the Old Testament.

Deacon Keith Fournier asks that you join with us and help in this vital mission bysending this article to your family, friends, and neighbors and adding our link (www.catholic.org) to your own website, blog or social network

Jeremiah 33:14-16; Psalm 25; 1 Thessalonians 3:12–4:2; Luke 21:25-28,34-36

As human beings, we do well with “either/or,” but we maybe weak at “both/and.” In fact, one of the tasks of our lives as we grow in wisdom, age and grace may very well be to move from “either/or” to “both/and” as we encounter the diversity and complexity of our world. One example is very present during the season of Advent: our God is a cosmic God, creator of the heavens and the earth. As the Hubble telescope keeps feeding images of a complex expanding universe, that cosmic sense of God keeps growing in our imaginations. Yet during Advent we are called to prepare for the coming of a God both cosmic and so very close to us that God actually became one of us as an infant born of a woman in a small town in an obscure oppressed nation on a medium-sized planet in an off-center galaxy in this universe. From the very personal to the very cosmic, our God is a God of “both/and.” Our challenge is to embrace both extremes in One God.

How has your understanding of God grown in the last year?

On 31 October 2000, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) unanimously adopted Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security.

Palestinian Women

Resolution 1325 marks the first time the Security Council addressed the disproportionate and unique impact of armed conflict on women, recognized the under-valued and under-utilized contributions women make to conflict prevention, peacekeeping, conflict resolution and peace-building, and stressed the importance of their equal and full participation as active agents in peace and security.

UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION 1325 ON WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY

Sunila Abeyesekera, director of Inform, a Sri Lankan human rights organization, focused on the specific consequences of war and conflict for women

General Assembly has designated 25 November as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and has invited governments, international organizations and non-governmental organizations to organize on that day activities to raise public awareness on the problem (resolution 54/134 of 17 December 1999).  Women’s activists have marked 25 November as a day against violence since 1981.  The date came from the brutal 1961 assassination of the three Mirabal sisters, political activists in the Dominican Republic, on orders of Dominican ruler Rafael Trujillo.

Leymah Roberta Gbowee is the executive director of the Women Peace and Security Network Africa, based in Accra, Ghana. She is a founding member and former coordinator of the Women in Peacebuilding Program/West African Network for Peacebuilding (WIPNET/WANEP).

Baltimore, Nov. 18, 2009—The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, gathered in Baltimore for their annual meeting, invited Holy Cross Brother Paul

Brother Paul Bednarczyk

Bednarczyk, Executive Director of the Chicago-based National Religious Vocation Conference (NRVC), to present the results of the NRVC’s landmark Study on Recent Vocations to Religious Life, published this past August.

Bednarczyk outlined the study’s key findings including the need for collaborative efforts with dioceses, Catholic educators, and families in creating a culture of vocation within the Church. He asked for the bishops’ help “in promoting consecrated life as a viable, joyful, and grace-filled option for the men and women in your dioceses” and suggested three practical ways the bishops could do this:

• Meet with the major superiors and religious priests, brothers, and sisters in their dioceses to discuss the result of the NRVC’s vocation research.
• Make vocation promotion to all forms of ordained and vowed religious life a priority and speak often about vocations, especially to young people.
• Provide a component in their diocesan vocation offices for the promotion of religious priesthood and consecrated life in addition to diocesan priesthood.

Bednarczyk cited Pope John Paul II’s Vita Consecrata, in which bishops were asked to give religious priests, brothers, sisters and others in consecrated life a “place in the pastoral plans of the Diocese.” He added: “If religious life, like priesthood, is a gift to the local church, clergy, religious, and laity all need to share in the responsibility for its promotion.”

The bishops received an outline of the major findings of the NRVC’s Study on Recent Vocations to Religious Life in the United States, conducted by the Center for the Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), a Georgetown University-based research center.  Key among the findings is the dramatic 65 percent drop in religious vocations since their peak in the mid 1960s. The study also showed that new members bring increased ethnic and cultural diversity and a strong desire for communal living, prayer, and Catholic identity.

“Despite the challenges presented by the changing demographics,” said Bednarczyk, “our study affirms that the Holy Spirit continues to inspire and guide the Church as evidenced by the founding of new religious institutes, the multitude of charitable works established by religious, and most encouraging, the zeal and passion for the gospel and hope for the future embraced by our newer members.”

Fostering vocations to priesthood and religious life is one of the stated priorities of the Bishops’ Conference, and Bednarczyk noted that the invitation for him to address the bishops was “an affirmation of the priority this conference is giving to religious life and its future in this country.

Br. Paul Bednarczyk’s written and videotaped address to the bishops and the NRVC vocation study are available at www.nrvc.net.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

The National Religious Vocation Conference (NRVC) was founded in 1988 as a professional organization of men and women committed to vocation awareness, invitation, and discernment to consecrated life as brothers, sisters, and priests. The NRVC has approximately 1,100 members, most of whom are vocation ministers for religious congregations. The NRVC serves its members by providing continuing education, resources, and services for professional growth. Its publications include HORIZON and VISION Vocation Guide.

Advent

Advent (ad-venio in Latin or “to come to”) begins the Church year and consists of the four Sundays before Christmas. The Advent season is a time of preparation that directs our hearts and minds to Christ’s second coming at the end of time and also to the anniversary of the Lord’s birth on Christmas. Advent devotions remind us of the meaning of the season. Special Advent Devotions: the lighting of the Advent wreath each Sunday during Advent; the Advent calendar helps remind us of the season with daily thoughts and activities; Advent prayers prepare us spiritually for the birth of Jesus Christ.

Advent Wreath
The four candles represent the four weeks of Advent. Three candles are purple and one is rose. The purple candles in particular symbolize the prayer, penance, and preparatory sacrifices and goods works undertaken at this time. The rose candle is lit on the third Sunday, Gaudete Sunday, when the priest also wears rose vestments at Mass; Gaudete Sunday is the Sunday of rejoicing, because the faithful have arrived at the midpoint of Advent, when their preparation is now half over and they are close to Christmas. The progressive lighting of the candles symbolizes the expectation and hope surrounding our Lord’s first coming into the world and the anticipation of his second coming to judge the living and the dead.

Advent Prayers
Advent prayers call to mind our preparation for the Lord’s coming on Christmas and His second coming at the end of the world. The Advent theme of preparing one spiritually requires special Advent prayers focused on waiting, watching, and hoping for the Lord’s coming. Many Advent prayer books include daily prayers, while others involve the writings of popular Catholics including Pope John Paul II or Fulton Sheen. Other prayers are meant specifically to be said along with an Advent wreath.

† Advent prayer resources from USCCB Publishing

Advent Calendar
The Advent Calendar is believed to have been created in the early 19th century to mark the days of Advent leading up to Christmas. Advent calendars of today usually count down the 24 days of December ending on Christmas Eve. Popular amongst children Advent calendars are a joyful activity that helps children learn about preparing for Jesus’ birth. Some Advent calendars have doors to open that reveal some symbol of Advent or Christmas, while others have symbols that are individually placed on the calendar for each day.

Christmas
The season to celebrate the Lord’s birth, his manifestation to the world, and His baptism. The season begins Christmas eve and ends on the Baptism of the Lord, including the Epiphany of the Lord as well.

After a four year gathering of artifacts and information from religious women across the country, and under the guidance of the Smithsonian Institution ( as well as other experts from the fields of museum and public relations display), the exhibit “Women and Spirit: Catholic Sisters in America,” a project of LCWR, opened in Cincinnati on May 16, 2009. The exhibit was a stupendous undertaking and was brought about (as was also true of the history of women religious in the U.S.) by beginning with a vague idea about what was needed and blossoming into an amazing and overwhelmingly rich presentation of the work of women’s congregations in our country from 1727 into the present.  It is to be a three year traveling exhibit shown throughout the United States.  As of this writing, no specific place in California is yet publicized as a site for the exhibition.  Questions of security (many irreplaceable artifacts) and space have not yet been answered adequately in the Golden State.

The permanent portion of the exhibit is comprised of many small galleries.  These feature artifacts, photos, written text and films presented on TV monitors, to exemplify the themes and history of the work done in our country by Catholic religious women.  In the final portion, a cross section of contemporary religious speak directly from the screen, talking about the contemporary experiences of sisters living a consecrated life in a new century here, in this country.

Because religious life here has been so diverse and has been expressed differently in different regions of the country, the first gallery of the exhibit is a changeable one that will feature the religious congregations and works of that particular region with photos, texts and artifacts drawn from the local religious communities.  This local history introduces the viewer into the major, permanently mounted exhibit of the following several galleries.  These, in turn, culminate in the filmed remarks of present religious women and in a wall upon which over 650 congregations that have served in the United States have their names listed alphabetically.  I found us listed as Sisters of the Holy Family, Fremont, CA.

The exhibit is very well done, engaging and quite moving, very beautiful.  It does focus on hospitals, schools, orphanages and some social work, most particularly from the East Coast and plains states.  There is very little illustrating the religious communities of the West.  The service ministries that drew our own community’s attention are not dealt with or very lightly touched upon.  There is hardly a mention of catechetics and day care is barely represented –one picture of a New York Nursery School — and not much reflects home visiting, work with and for the retarded or non-institutional ministries.  Hopefully, we will be able to show some of the history of those missing ministries in the local gallery that begins the exhibit when it is shown in California.  I had to content myself with the thought that, after all, with 300 years of history, so many diverse communities, and so limited a space it must have been very difficult to adequately outline everything.  The categories of school and hospital convey much of what has been done.

The overall impact of the exhibit gives one a sense of tremendous history enacted by women simply doing the work to which their congregations were called in marvelously creative and adaptive ways.  The photographs and artifacts are fascinating, the texts interesting and helpful, the films arresting.  The interviews capture one’s full attention as individual sisters speak to the concerns of today and tomorrow.   The exhibit is well worth attending.  It truly reflects the amazing graces of God operating in the length and breadth of the United States.

Sister Michaela O’Connor, SHF
November 14, 2009

November 26 will be here soon!
How will you celebrate Thanksgiving Day? ____________________________________________________________

Historical Events in Church Annals for November 19

Pope from 461-468 and guardian of Church unity. He was born in Sardinia, Italy, and was a papal legate to the Robber Council of Ephesus in 449, barely escaping with his life from this affair. Hilary was used by Pope St. Leo I the Great on many assignments. When Leo died, Hilary was elected pope and consecrated on November 19,461. He worked diligently to strengthen the Church in France and Spain, calling councils in 462 and 465. Hilary also rebuilt many Roman churches and erected the chapel of St. John Lateran. He also publicly rebuked Emperor Anthemius in St. Peter’s for supporting the Macedonian heresy and sent a decree to the Eastern bishops validating the decisions of the General Councils of Nicaea, Ephesus, and Chalcedon. Hilary consolidated the Church in Sandi, Africa, and Gaul. He died in Rome on February 28.

461 A.D.
Pope Saint Hilary becomes the 46th successor of Peter when this Cagliarian-born priest succeeds the Pope Saint Leo the Great who he followed in political thought, deciding that a certain level of culture was needed in order to become a priest and that popes and bishops should not nominate their successors. Hilary would also institute an apostolic vicariate in Spain.

498 A.D.
Death of Pope Anastasius II, 50th successor of Peter, who had been elected on November 24, 496. During his two year pontificate he brought about the conversion of Clovis, King of the Franks, and of his people. It was the beginning of a long faith relationship with France. Unfortunately Anastasius was weak with the schismatics and was even accused of heresy. It was this Pope who the poet Dante Alighieri placed in hell in “Dante’s Inferno” but it was unfair for Anastasius was a good man who the opposition painted as weak and incompetent.

Benedetto Caetani was born in 1235 of a noble family in Anagni, Italy. It is believed that Cardinal Caetani, one of the greatest jurists of his age, pressured his predecessor, Pope Celestine V, a "simple-minded recluse," to abdicate and to simultaneously issue a papal resignation constitution legalizing a pope’s right to abdicate. Cardinal Caetani was quickly elected by the conclave on Christmas Eve 1294, and amid much pomp and celebrity, Pope Boniface VIII was elevated and coronated on January 23, 1295.

1302 A.D.
Pope Boniface VIII issues his famous “Unam sanctam” Papal Bull on the supremacy of the spiritual over the temporal power. It would have had even more impact had it not been for Boniface’s bitter fued with Charles IV, equally stubborn king of France.

1523 A.D.
Cardinal Giulio de’ Medici is chosen 219th successor of Peter, taking the name Pope Clement VII. This Firenze-born pontiff would go on to reign for 11 years, but was unable to curb the bitter struggle between Catholics and the Lutherans of the Protestant Revolt. He would excommunicate King Henry VIII and the faith would be lost in England with the establishment of the State-run Anglican Church. Clement celebrated the 9th Jubilee in1525. 1544 A.D. Pope Paul III, 220th successor of Peter, officially announces the landmark 19th Ecumenical Council, also known as the Council of Trent in the Tridentine mountain village in northern Italy.

By Sister Geraldine Garbarino

When you experience a loss, especially at the death of someone close to you, you feel numbness. You cannot believe the person is really gone. I have experienced the loss of my father, mother, three brothers and three sisters. For some of the losses I was there preceding death, making it a little easier to say goodbye, and the grief process easier as a healthy acceptance later occurred of the new reality.

We are children of today and tomorrow but also children of yesterday. One should not destroy a beautiful part of life because remembering it hurts. The leaving is to strike the delicate balance between the yesterday that is remembered and the new tomorrow that must be created.

The hardest death was my sister Adrian. It happened over a weekend suddenly, so I did not get a chance to say goodbye. It took me three years to work out the emotions of my grief. Many discussions and much listening took place with the therapist, plus writing a letter to Adrian, and going to the cemetery in San Francisco to say goodbye at the grave. The trip to the cemetery at the time of her death was not a closure. Prayer and writing in my journal helped the healing, but I still miss the close relationship we had as sisters.

Our ultimate goal is to remember the loved one without pain, and to integrate the love into our lives, so the love does not die.

These thoughts were written in my journal of the time of my sister Adrian’s death November 18, 1997.

~

DARKNESS IS POWERLESS
BEFORE THE ONSLAUGHT OF LIGHT

–Norman Vincent Peale

Fayetteville mother’s arrest sheds light on human trafficking problem :: WRAL.com.

At their semiannual meeting on October 29, the Bishops of California issued a statement of appreciation for Women Religious in California.

Recounting their contribution to the Catholic Church in California, the Bishops said: “For nearly 200 years they have been faithful disciples and co-workers in bringing the message of the Gospel to the western regions of our country.”

They went on to say: “We…join our people in thanking Women Religious for being our ‘sisters,’ for their presence among us…and for the difference they have made in our lives.”

Thought you might enjoy the attached picture of the Blessing of the Animals.
I think I was telling the folks that “God was providing the Holy Water”!
It was really raining that day!

God Provided the Holy Water for the Blessing of the Animals!

(Sister Marie Ann Brent, SHF, in Alaska)

Discover your Mission through Prayer

Tuesday, November 17, 2009 @ 7:30
Cathedral of Christ the Light

Readings, Prayer, Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction beginning at 7:30pm. The opportunity to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation follows.

United Nations Millennium Development Goals

1. Eradicate extreme poverty & hunger

2. Achieve universal primary education

3. Promote gender equality and empower women

4. Reduce child mortality

5. Improve maternal health

6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

7. Ensure environmental sustainability

8. Develop a global partnership for development

 

Interregional African American Catholic Evangelization Conference November 12 - 15, 2009

Presented by The African American Catholic Commission
Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee

History, Heritage and Truth

Some people lambast Christianity as “a white man’s religion.” Worse yet, there have been Christians, Black and White, Protestant and even Catholic, who regard Catholicism as a “white church.” Amazingly enough, these myths and misconceptions remain entrenched in some people’s minds.

On July 24, 1990, the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus of the United States designated November as Black Catholic History Month to celebrate the long history and proud heritage of Black Catholics. Two commemorative dates fall within this month, Saint Augustine’s Birthday (November 13) and Saint Martin de Porres’ Feast Day (November 3). More importantly, November not only marks a time when we pray for all saints and souls in loving remembrance, but also a time to recall the saints and souls of Africa and the African Diaspora.

Some people forget that Christianity did not originate in Europe and even express surprise when they learn that Black Catholic History began in the Acts of the Apostles (8: 26-40) with the conversion of the Ethiopian Eunuch by Philip the Deacon. This text is important for several reasons. First, it chronicles the conversion of the first Black African in recorded Christian history. Second, the text suggests that the man was a wealthy, literate, and powerful emissary of the Nubian Queen and also a faithful, practicing Jew prior to his baptism. Clearly, he was not an ignorant heathen. Third, the Ethiopian Eunuch’s conversion predates the conversions of Saints Paul and Cornelius. Most significantly, many cite this conversion as the very moment when the church changed from a Hebrew and Hellenist community to the truly Universal and Catholic Church.

Black Catholics trace their faith history back to Christian antiquity long before other nations heard the “Good News.” Christian Africa was indeed a “leading light” in early Christendom. Black Catholics point to three popes who were born in Africa: Saints Victor I, Melchiades, and Gelasius I. All three shepherded the early church through tough and tumultuous times in history. Black Catholics claim many Black Saints like Saints Cyprian, Zeno, Anthony of Egypt, Moses the Black, Pachomius, Maurice, Athanasius, Pisentius, Mary of Egypt, Cyril of Alexandria, Monica of Hippo, Augustine of Hippo, Perpetua, Felicitas, and Thecla. Some of these mystics, monastics, ands, martyrs literally made the church what it is today.

Not many people know that King Nzinga-a-Nkuwu Mbemba (Afonso the Good) of the Kongo and his subjects made their profession of faith thanks to the work of Portuguese missionaries one year before Christopher Columbus made his famous voyage in 1492, or that Pope Leo X consecrated the king’s son, Henrique, Titular Bishop of Utica in 1518 which was one year before Martin Luther nailed his list of ninety-five theses to the Church in Wittenberg. Bishop Henrique was the first native bishop of West Africa. However, he died in 1531. The Congolese Church and the hopes for an indigenous clergy died with him. Finally, the genocidal slave trade killed true evangelization in sub-Saharan Africa for several centuries.

Notwithstanding the moral crimes of chattel slavery, the French and Spanish missionaries ministered to their free and enslaved African population within their respective colonies. This ministry laid the foundation for Black Catholic communities within the United States, i.e. Mobile, Alabama; New Orleans, Louisiana; and Saint Augustine, Florida. It is important to note that many African-American Catholics cherish a certain Peruvian Dominican, Saint Martin de Porres, the only Black Saint from the Western Hemisphere to date.

Tragically, the American Catholic Church did not seriously commit its time and resources to minister to the African-American population during the ante-bellurn or post-bellum periods. However, God made a way!!! In spite of insuperable obstacles and opposition, African-American Catholics created a remarkable movement of faith and evangelization. Many courageous people played pivotal roles within church history like Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange, Mathilda Beasley, Daniel Rudd, and the Reverend Augustus Tolton. They witnessed their faith, ministered to their people, and left lasting legacies in the face of prejudice, ignorance, and indifference. One cannot read their stories without feeling tremendous joy, sorrow, and inspiration. They are truly heroic accounts!

Black History Month provides opportunities to learn and share the whole history and rich heritage of Christian Catholicism. Ubi Victoria Veritas! The Victory of Truth!

For more information about Black Catholic History, please read
The History of Black Catholics in the United States by Cyprian Davis.

A very inspiration and powerful plea for the environment.

This incredible speech was given by a 13 year old at the United Nations.

November 11 - Veterans Day

“O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath
But opportunity is real, and life is free
Equality is in the air we breathe”
Let America Be America Again.

Joseph Ambrose, an 86-year-old World War I veteran, attends the dedication day parade for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in 1982, holding the flag that covered the casket of his son, who had been killed in the Korean War.

Veterans Day is an annual American holiday honoring military veterans. Both a federal holidayand a state holiday in all states, it is usually observed on November 11.

 

It is also celebrated as Armistice Dayor Remembrance Day in other parts of the world, falling on November 11, the anniversary of the signing of the Armistice that ended World War I. (Major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 with the German signing ofthe Armistice.)

 

U.S. President Woodrow Wilson first proclaimed an Armistice Day for November 11, 1919. The 11th of November in each year is a legal holiday; “a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as ‘Armistice Day’.”

In 1953, an Emporia, Kansas shoe store owner named Al King had the idea to expand Armistice Day to celebrate all veterans, not just those who served in World War I. King had been actively involved with the American War Dads during World War II. He began a campaign to turn Armistice Day into “All” Veterans Day. The Emporia Chamber of Commerce took up the cause after determining that 90% of Emporia merchants as well as the Board of Education supported closing their doors on November 11, 1953, to honor veterans. With the help of then-U.S. Rep. Ed Rees, also from Emporia, a bill for the holiday was pushed through Congress. President Dwight Eisenhower signed it into law on May 26, 1954.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veterans_Day

 

 

 

The first convent outside the
San Francisco Archdiocese
was dedicated in Los Angeles,
on this day: November 11, 1921!

The Sisters of the Holy Family, founded in San Francisco, California in 1872, is an apostolic religious institute of pontifical rite.

It is an apostolic institute because Father John Prendergast (pictured below) and Miss Lizzie Armer founded it to seek out with compassion the poor and needy, especially families, for the kingdom of God.

In the spirit of the Holy Family of Nazareth the sisters strive to live and work in simplicity, hospitality of heart, faith and charity. They are witness to the good news and stand against conditions that demean or undermine the dignity of persons or the sacredness of the family.

Archbishop Alemany

By their lives of service, in which action and contemplation were integrated, the congregation’s founders have given it a model for continuing personal conversion and compassionate service of others. John Prendergast described this congregation’s members as “gleaners for the Kingdom.”

St. Charles Borromeo

Feastday: November 4, Patron of learning and the arts.

1584

Charles was the son of Count Gilbert Borromeo and Margaret Medici, sister of Pope Pius IV. He was born at the family castle of Arona on Lake Maggiore, Italyon October 2. He received the clerical tonsure when he was twelve and was sent to the Benedictine abbey of SS. Gratian and Felinus at Arona for his education.

In 1559 his uncle was elected Pope Pius IV and the following year, named him his Secretary of State and created him a cardinal and administrator of the see of Milan. He served as Pius’ legate on numerous diplomatic missions and in 1562, was instrumental in having Pius reconvene the Council of Trent, which had been suspended in 1552. Charles played a leading role in guiding and in fashioning the decrees of the third and last group of sessions. He refused the headship of the Borromeo family on the death of Count Frederick Borromeo, was ordained apriest in 1563, and was consecrated bishop of Milan the same year. Before being allowed to take possession of his see, he oversaw the catechism, missal, andbreviary called for by the Council of Trent. When he finally did arrive at Trent(which had been without a resident bishop for eighty years) in 1556, he instituted radical reforms despite great opposition, with such effectiveness that it became a model see. He put into effect, measures to improve the morals and manners of the clergy and laity, raised the effectiveness of the diocesan operation, established seminaries for the education of the clergy, founded a Confraternity of ChristianDoctrine for the religious instruction of children and encouraged the Jesuits in his see. He increased the systems to the poor and the needy, was most generous in his help to the English college at Douai, and during his bishopric held eleven diocesan synods and six provincial councils. He founded a society of secular priests, Oblates of St. Ambrose (now Oblates of St. Charles) in 1578, and was active in preaching, resisting the inroads of protestantism, and bringing back lapsed Catholics to the Church. He encountered opposition from many sources in his efforts to reform people and institutions.

He died at Milan on the night of November 3-4, and was canonized in 1610. He was one of the towering figures of the Catholic Reformation, a patron of learning and the arts, and though he achieved a position of great power, he used it with humility, personal sanctity, and unselfishness to reform the Church, of the evils and abuses so prevalent among the clergy and the nobles of the times. His feast day is November 4th.