Out and About
Nov. 10, 2011Annual Mass and meal honor religious orders Available to meet with the bishop were, from left, Servant of Mary Sr. Theresa Sandok, Franciscan Sr. Tierney
Truman, and Mercy of the Holy Cross Sr. Celine Goessl. The meeting was arranged by the vicar for religious,
right, Franciscan Sr. Phyllis Wilhelm. Bishop Peter Christensen is also pictured.
HAYWARD — Nov. 4 marked the annual recognition Mass and luncheon for all men and women religious in the Diocese of Superior. St. Joseph Church, Hayward, hosted the event.
Bishop Peter Christensen met with three major superiors of congregations of women religious who serve the diocese.
“They discussed trends and needs of the local church and the evolving role of women religious in the diocese,” stated Sr. Maria Vinton, secretary for the diocesan Sisters’ Council.
Sr. Maria said discussion focused on a variety of topics including the movement in society toward polarization and the need to focus on what unifies us as church and society through supportive efforts while respecting human dignity.
One question was how can the sisters help, once again, to keep the human spirit alive and help people be successful as they did in the past through their founding ministries in the education and healthcare fields.
Sisters from 15 different congregations serve the diocese. Learn more about them at the Diocese of Superior’s web site — www.catholicdos.org — and click on “Religious Orders.”
New St. Francis statue settles in Merrill Wood carver Harry Wallace leads the effort in placing a statue he crafted. Its new home is outside the
Bell Tower Residence in Merrill.
A statue of St. Francis of Assisi now has a home next to Bell Tower Residence Assisted Living in Merrill thanks to the work of carver Harry Wallace. Sr. Peggy Jackelen, administrator of Bell Tower Residence knew an existing maple tree measuring 3 feet in diameter needed to be removed because it was dying. Once it was removed she felt that the remaining trunk might provide for a nice carving of St. Francis of Assisi. She contacted Wallace and he agreed to tackle the job.
During the process it was discovered that the trunk would not work, and he searched for another alternative. Thanks to the City of Merrill he received a maple log that he took to his shop and began carving into St. Francis in August 2010. After 14 months and more than 500 hours, the statue was completed. It was decided that the statue would be placed on the stump of the old maple tree.
With assistance from Scott Streich of Merrill, a logger and landscaper, the site was prepared by cutting the stump and erecting the statue in time for the feast of St. Francis in early October.
The statue depicts St. Francis facing Bell Tower Residence and holding a rabbit. It is located beside Assisi Hall behind Bell Tower Residence. A special blessing took place on the feast of St. Francis of Assisi.
Bell Tower Residence is a sponsored ministry of the Holy Cross Sisters USA Province, Merrill.
PBS ‘Catholicism’ series available from diocese
The Oct. 13 edition of the Catholic Herald ran a story about the television series called “Catholicism” that is being run on some PBS stations across the nation.
While no PBS stations serving the Diocese of Superior have scheduled this series yet, the entire series is available to borrow from the diocesan media library at the Bishop Hammes Center in Haugen.
For more information, contact Donna Pieper at dpieper@catholicdos.org or 715-234-5044. |
