Author: Kevin Wondrash

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Kevin Wondrash

Relics of popes available for veneration at Valley of Our Lady Monastery

Simon Peter holds the first place in the college of the [apostles]. . . . Because of the faith he confessed, Peter will remain the unshakeable rock of the Church. His mission will be to keep this faith from every lapse and to strengthen his brothers in it. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 552)

The Pope, Bishop of Rome and Peter’s successor, “is the perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of the whole company of the faithful.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 882; quotation from LG 23)

PRAIRIE DU SAC — During these difficult days in the Church, perhaps our friends the saints can help us and provide a guiding light. We celebrate the feast of the Chair of St. Peter on February 22, so it seems fitting to highlight the role of the papacy and the many popes who have been canonized.

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Kevin Wondrash

Scholarship Shower supports St. Vincent de Paul youth program

MADISON — The Madison St. Vincent de Paul Youth Service Council (YSC) has developed a unique scholarship program — one that contributes $1,000 to further education or training for a graduating student eligible to receive free/reduced lunch. It also supports the student’s family via rent credit and grocery store gift cards.

“After participating in a poverty simulation, YSC members realized the importance of supporting the student’s family, too,” explained Gayle Westfahl, advisor of the group.

“Removing the student from the household to focus on school might mean the family does not have the student’s income to help with bills nor their assistance with caring for siblings or older relatives. If a student knows that their continuing study also supports the family a bit, he/she might be more inclined to pursue long-term educational goals.”

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Kevin Wondrash

St. Ambrose Academy juniors and seniors attend march in Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Forty years ago, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., St. John Paul II affirmed the validity of absolute moral norms including prohibitions against sins such as perjury, adultery, and in this case, abortion.

Only six years after the intrinsically unjust Roe v. Wade decision was handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court, St. John Paul addressed not only the decriminalizing of abortion but implicitly warned against the cascading moral relativism it helps to engender.

He stated: “If a person’s right to life is violated at the moment in which he is first conceived in his mother’s womb, an indirect blow is struck also at the whole of the moral order, which serves to ensure the inviolable goods of man.

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Kevin Wondrash

Damian Lenshek named Director of Cemeteries

MADISON — Damian Lenshek, who joined the Diocese of Madison in October as Manager of Special Projects, has been named Diocesan Director of Cemeteries.

Msgr. James Bartylla, diocesan administrator, and Eric Schiedermayer, director of the diocesan curia, announced that Damian Lenshek has been appointed Diocesan Director of Cemeteries, effective immediately.

Lenshek will take over diocesan cemeteries, while continuing to assist with a number of diocesan projects in the chancery.

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Kevin Wondrash

Society of St. Vincent de Paul holds 27th annual Recycle the Warmth blanket drive

MADISON — For good health, school or work success, and general well-being, the warmth and comfort of a good night’s sleep matters to everyone.

But not everyone in our community has a clean, warm blanket to call his or her own this winter, so the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Dane County is holding its 27th annual Recycle the Warmth blanket drive to collect thousands of donated new and gently used clean blankets and other bedding to give away to families or individuals living in low-income households.

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Kevin Wondrash

Celebration for Sr. Lauretana Gorman

JANESVILLE — Sr. Lauretana Gorman, OP, will be retiring at the end of January after 62 years of consecrated Religious Life as a Sinsinawa Dominican and nearly 24 years of service at St. John Vianney Parish in Janesville.

In appreciation of her lifetime of service and many years spent at the parish, St. John Vianney Parish is hosting a retirement celebration during the weekend of January 26 to 27.

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Kevin Wondrash

Madison Catholic Woman’s Club to hold baby shower meeting

MIDDLETON — All women of the Diocese of Madison are invited to join Madison Catholic Woman’s Club (MCWC) members at their annual baby shower lunch meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 12, at St. Bernard Catholic Church, 2015 Parmenter St., Middleton.

Rosary and Mass begin at 10:40 a.m. followed by lunch and program. Marge Fenelon, nationally known speaker and author of several books on Marian devotion and Catholic spirituality, and a consecrated member of the Apostolic Movement of Schoenstatt, will present the program, “Our Catholic Love Stories: Evangelization and Apologetics.”

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