Fr. Vogel & St. Marguerite Bourgeoys

As Quebec began to flourish in the 17th century, there was concern in France that Quebec was too concerned with commercial enterprises. As a result Monsieur de Maisonneuve was chosen as the military leader and founder of the colony of Ville-Marie, which was later renamed Montreal.

Stories of hardships and dangers in Ville Marie that made other people shiver awakened a call from God in Marguerite Bourgeoys to serve the Indians and settlers who endured this adversity. In 1654 she met with the governor of Ville Marie and convinced him she was the person he was looking for to help start a school for the children.

When she arrived in Ville Marie, she found that few children survived to school age. She helped the remarkable Jeanne Mance, who ran the hospital, to change this tragedy. When she finally had children to teach, she had to set to up school in a stable.

During this time King Louis XIV set up a program to provide wives for French soldiers to establish lasting settlements in New France. These Fille du Roi or "Daughters of the King" were young women trained by nuns to be homemakers. When these women arrived in Canada, St. Marguerite Bourgeoys would bring them into the convent to live until they married. In the process she because a mother to these young women.

In 1670 Madeleine Chretien was one of these young women who arrived in Canada and lived with St. Marguerite until she married a soldier, Pierre Chicoine, three or four months later. Pierre amd Madeleine were Fr. Vogel's great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandparents (10 generations) on his mother's side. Their son Pierre Chicoine II was born in 1676, the same year that soon-to-be-named-St. Kateri Tekakwitha was baptized. Blessed Kateri lived 40 miles south along the St. Lawrence River from where the Chicoines lived.

There isn't any detail of their interaction with these saints, but Fr. Vogel suspects the strong Catholic devotion throughout the generations of his family may be rooted in the faith inspired by his ancestors like Pierre and Madeleine.

Although it is not celebrated on the US calendar, today is the feast day of St. Marguerite Bourgeoys. We thank her for listening to God's call and helping establish the faith in North America.

The North Wind

Sr. Delores Dolezal OSB did the Sacramental Preperation and taught second grade at St. Columbkille Catholic School from 1980 to 1987. Evidently the same wind hitting us has been blowing in Kansas where she now lives. Today she wrote us:

The North wind is blowing. We used to sing a song: "The North Wind Doth Blow and We Shall Have Snow." We do need snow. Farmers told me winter wheat does best with a covering of snow all winter long. I love snow. That reminds me, our deceased Sister Clementia, who taught at St. Columbkille, told me that she and the children (I bet they were boarders), would use sleds and slide down the hill in front of school. Every time I had playground duty at St. Columbkille, I'd look down that long hill and smile wide remembering Sister Clementia and the children sleigh riding down the hill. I wish I could have been there with her and the children.

We're working out the finals details, but Sr. Delores and two other Sisters will be visiting us as part of Catholic Schools Week.

Mommy & Me

In December, our preschoolers had a special "Mommy & Me" Day.

We met our moms at the door.

We served them a snack.

We sat down together to enjoy some warm cider and muffins.

 

Then we decorated gingerbread houses together.

It was a great day to spend with our moms and grandmas!

The Baptism of the Lord

In the Church's calendar, today is the last day of the Christmas season. Today we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus. This along with the visit of the Magi and the Wedding Feast at Cana are celebrated as "Epiphany" moments where the nature of Jesus as the Christ was revealed. It is still a wonder to ponder.

Blessing a home

Today, Epiphany, is a traditional time to bless a home. A family can do this themselves:

All make the Sign of the Cross.
Head of Household: "Peace be to this house and: to all who dwell here, in the name of tfie Lord.
All: Blessed be God forever.
Reader: In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things cme to be through him, and without him nothing came to be..... And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Fahter's only Son, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-3.14)
Using chalk, write on the outside of your house, above or next to an entrance:
(write the first half of the current year)

+20

Christus

Mansionem

Benedicat

12+

(write the other half of the year) Or you can simply use the first letters C + M + B. These words mean. "May Christ bless this house". (Each word could be written by a different member of the household.)
All: Lord God of heaven and earth, you revealed your only begotten Son to every nation by the guidance of a star. Bless this house and all who inhabit it. May we be blessed with health, goodness of heart, gentleness and the keeping of your law. Fill us with the light of Christ, that our love for each other may go out to all. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Science and Scripture

Are Science and Scripture compatible?

This is the subject of our BASIC (Beginning Apologetics Studies in Catholicism) session tonight at 7 p.m. in the Steinhausen Center.

A Saint Among Us

Today is the feast of St. John Neumann. As the fourth bishop of Philadelphia he oversaw the growth of the Catholic Schools from two to over 100. He is considered a Patron Saint of Catholic Schools. Because he was born 200 years ago, the Redemptorists are celebrating this as his Jubilee year.

After he was canonized in 1977, the National Shrine of Saint John Neumann was constructed at the Parish of St. Peter the Apostle in Philadelphia. His remains rest under the altar of the shrine within a glass-walled reliquary.

Mrs. Wilson's third grade glass is borrowing a relic of St. John Neumann and will have it in their classroom from his feast day through Catholic Schools Week.

Relics vary from a hair or bone of a saint to a piece of cloth touched to a saint. Relics can be a way to come closer to the saints and thus form a closer bond with God. A relic can never be sold.

Fr. Damian is talking to the Chancery about relics that may be available for our parish. We would like to be able to put a relic in the new altar as part of our remodeling.

Rats

In science the 7th grade students at St. Columbkille

Catholic School got to dissect rats.

 

It was a chance for some great hands on learning.



A College FOCUS

Shannon with some students and Sr. Virginia Joy of the Sisters

 of Life celebrating the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

During this day when many of us are busy watch College Bowl games, we'll look at the faith life of some of the students. St. Columbkille parishioner Shannon Zurcher is in her third year working as a missionarry for the Fellowship Of Catholic University Students (FOCUS). Supported by donations from people such as many of our parishioners she invites college students into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church. This year she is reaching out to students at UConn.

Of her work, Shannon writes:

As FOCUS missionaries, discipleship is our main goal with all the students we meet and work with here at UConn. In discipleship we share our lives with a few students by meeting with them throughout the week, teaching them how to live a full Catholic Christian life, and equipping them to be able to share their faith with their peers in college and wherever they go for the rest of their lives. This is the same plan Jesus had while He was on Earth. He invested His life in 12 men (His Apostles), taught them how to live, and to share His life with others through the power of the Holy Spirit.

At UConn we have 19 students in discipleship. Most of these students are starting up their own bible studies so that they can find new people to disciple themselves. Please pray that the Holy Spirit will work through us to raise up more Catholic leaders and laborers through discipleship. Pray for students who will be committed to proclaiming the Truth of Jesus’ love here at UConn and in the world. This school year I am discipling 5 girls. Tina, Kaitlin, and Rachel are Seniors, Liz and Jessica are Sophomores. They are all either discipling other women or working to find women to invest in and disciple.

To support Shannon, click here.

Theotokos

The Council of Ephesus was held in 431 to consider the relationship between Mary and Jesus. Some had advocated that Mary was the "Christotokos" or Mother of Jesus in His human sense but had a difficult time with the idea that Mary had given birth to God.

But Council affirmed that Mary is the mother of Jesus in both His human nature and His divine nature. Thus she can rightfully be called the Mother of God of Theotokos. We celebrate the Feast 8 days after Christmas on January 1st. It is a good time to ponder on what it was like for Mary to be pregnant with and give birth to God.