Tag: st

On
Carolyn Averill, For the Catholic Herald

St. Ambrose Academy to host extraordinary virtual benefit dinner

MADISON — On Saturday, Dec. 12, St. Ambrose Academy (SAA) is bringing the party to you.

We’re taking our annual gala virtual with the See the Joy Benefit Dinner @ Home Edition. And we invite you to host a watch party and join the fun!

Not just a Zoom conference

This is not just some Zoom conference though.

Instead of coming to a downtown Madison venue, you and your guests will gather at your home (or someone else’s!) to enjoy an interactive experience that will bring in a taste of the joyful, social atmosphere that is a hallmark of each SAA Benefit Dinner, which annually welcomes 600 or more friends and supporters.

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Jane Lepeska Grinde, Catholic Herald Correspondent

Cookie making adapts to current situation

Cookie Making
Good Shepherd parishioners J.P. Fedele and Eileen Alt, above, work the new machine that is being used this year for producing pfeffernuesse cookies.
(Photo by Jane Lepeska Grinde)

MADISON — Rather than a St. James Church basement full of “holy rollers” this fall, only six people are working each of the three weekly shifts to produce the traditional pfeffernuesse cookies sold at the annual fall festival.

For the first time in the 44 years of producing pfeffernuesse, the cookies are being “spit” out of a machine onto the large cookie sheets.

No hand rolling this year

“No hand rolling this year,” said the bulletin announcement to the disappointment of many of the regulars who enjoyed the time for socializing.

The machine, ordered online and previously used by a bakery, took some getting used to, said Paul Scott who oversees the cooking operation.

The machine temporarily replaces one that is a specially rigged sausage maker that produces ropes of dough that are then pushed through a special wire grating for rolling into nicely shaped balls.

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Kevin Wondrash

Remembering one of the best days ever

kevin-editorial

As I am looking at the calendar for October of 2020, and seeing we have a Friday, Oct. 16, coming up, I’m asking myself — How has it been five years already?

The last time October 16 fell on a Friday was in 2015.

My parish, St. Maria Goretti (SMG) in Madison, and the Diocese of Madison as a whole, had one of its most eventful days ever.

The relics of St. Maria Goretti came to the parish for nearly a 24-hour stay, part of the Pilgrimage of Mercy tour that had taken her relics around the country ahead of the Year of Mercy, which started later that year.

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Kevin Wondrash

St. Francis of Assisi, pray for us!

Hying logo

Francis of Assisi, whose feast day is October 4, remains one of Catholicism’s most popular saints.

Statues and pictures of him abound, especially in gardens and fields, and young people often choose him as their Confirmation saint.

He captures the imagination of artists, writers, poets, intellectuals, and common folk alike.

It is easy to romanticize his story, but like all saints, Francis shows us what happens when an individual gives everything to Christ.

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Bishop Donald J. Hying

St. Francis of Assisi, pray for us!

Hying logo

Francis of Assisi, whose feast day is October 4, remains one of Catholicism’s most popular saints.

Statues and pictures of him abound, especially in gardens and fields, and young people often choose him as their Confirmation saint.

He captures the imagination of artists, writers, poets, intellectuals, and common folk alike.

It is easy to romanticize his story, but like all saints, Francis shows us what happens when an individual gives everything to Christ.

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Kevin Wondrash

Life changes, turning corners: an old normal

kevin-editorial

This month, I said goodbye to a labor of love of mine for the past several years.

Since 2013, I had been the coordinator of the young adult group (20s and 30s) — on a volunteer basis — at St. Maria Goretti Parish in Madison.

As I’ve gotten older, the new people have gotten “younger,” many of my longtime friends have moved on from the group or moved away, and myself having less time and energy to devote to the ministry, it was becoming obvious and apparent that it was time to move on and let others take over from here.

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On
Bishop Donald J. Hying

God can shape us into who we are called to be, no matter the challenge

A startling truth that struck me as a young priest was the number of people I encountered in the parish who struggled with chronic depression, anxiety, chemical imbalances, a borderline personality, or other forms of psychological and mental challenges.

Many of them were married, held jobs, volunteered in the parish, and were remarkably productive but suffered profound anguish in their minds and hearts.

Sadly, a taboo still clings to psychological illness.

Most people can talk about cancer, heart conditions, and medical treatments of all kinds, but problems of the mind are often feared and denied.

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Brent King, Director of Communications, Diocese of Madison

St. Ambrose Academy to seek legal action after Dane County school order

MADISON — As you likely know, Dane County officials announced late on Friday, Aug. 21, that our Dane County Catholic classrooms could not open for in-person instruction for students in the third grade and above.

This was only 60 hours before many of our schools were slated to open.

As we have since March, the diocese and her schools have not wanted to defy state or county orders.

Accordingly, we have chosen to delay the first day of school for most Dane County Catholic schools until after Labor Day.

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Paul Merline, For the Catholic Herald

Preserving prayer and history in Roxbury

ROXBURY — What started as just another leak in a beautiful old church quickly became a mission of love for the faithful at St. Norbert Parish in Roxbury.

Recognized as the oldest parish in Dane County, with a continuous history dating to 1846, the current church saw its cornerstone laid in 1856.

The effects of time and a patchwork of repairs done over many decades were taking their toll.

Wind had caused the damage that led to the leak, and an inspection revealed the church needed a new roof.

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