The Little Sisters of The Poor

 
Today, I read that The Little Sisters of the Poor will close their residence for the elderly in New Orleans and leave the city.

Since, I never heard of this order, I decided to google them to got extra information.

Catholic Vocations of Australia wrote under Little Sisters of The Poor page:

Little Sisters of the Poor

We were founded in 1839, when Blessed Jeanne Jugan, our foundress, opened her home to Jesus Christ in the person of an elderly, poor, blind woman. Following in her footsteps, we desire that our Hospitaller mission of humble service to our elderly brothers and sisters, witnesses to them the compassionate love and mercy of God. Hospitality to the elderly poor is the founding charisma of Blessed Jeanne Jugan that remains our inheritance.


Life in the Order

• We dedicate our lives to the service of the elderly.


• Serving the Gospel of life - we accompany those we serve with love, compassion and skilled care - strengthened by the strong contemplative dimension of our life.


• Mutual support in the accomplishment of our apostolate is offered in love-filled communities which unite Little Sisters of different nationalities who have only one desire and that is of continuing the charism of Blessed Jeanne Jugan, and of sharing her vision of faith, hope and love.

Well, I heard and learned of another nuns' order today. It was a good reading though.
 

Fr. Santa Claus

 
Do you want to meet Santa Claus? If yes, then you need to travel to Lake Tahoe. Here are more details:

A United Catholic Church priest and monk in the Order of Anam Cara has legally changed his name to Santa Claus. He lives at Lake Tahoe and has the requisite twinkle in his eyes, spirit of giving, naturally white beard, belly, glasses, red suspenders, and now the official name: Santa Claus.
...
Santa reminds us that, for many centuries, people have celebrated the Feast of St. Nicholas on December 6th and Christmas on December 25th. When the Dutch settled New York, they managed to combine both celebrations.

Being a priest and a monk, just as St. Nicholas was, Santa emphasizes that Christmas is and should be a celebration of Christ’s birth and that he is not responsible for the celebration’s commercialization.

For additional information and to view Santa’s “naughty and nice” lists, visit www.SantasLink.net.

Read more...

Well, seems like Santa DOES exist after all.
 

This Is Disgusting

 
I read the following report that boiled my blood:

In the cypress flats of Tangipahoa, a fervently religious area in the swamps north of New Orleans, local people still remember proudly how the Rev Louis Lamonica vowed to "take Tangipahoa parish for Jesus".

Thirty years later, the charismatic preacher's son and successor has certainly taken the parish by storm - but not exactly for Jesus.

In a case that has horrified Americans way beyond the Bible Belt, Louis Lamonica Jnr and eight members the Hosanna Church are accused of being members of a Satanic paedophile ring who ritually raped up to 25 children, as well as performing animal sacrifices.

Police say some of those charged - who include Lamonica's wife and a deputy sheriff - have already admitted devil worship inside the now defunct church on the outskirts of Ponchatoula, the parish's main town.

The discovery of badly rubbed-out pentagrams on the floor and eight boxes of hooded black costumes - allegedly used both in the abuse and in "morality tales" performed to prepare the young victims - bear out some of the claims.

...

Lamonica himself astonished police by walking into a neighbouring sheriff's office a few weeks ago and confessing out of the blue that over five years he and other church members had sexually abused boys and girls aged between one and 16 and taught them to have sex with each other, as well as with a dog.

Lamonica, 45, said he had drunk cat's blood and poured it over the bodies of his young victims, some of whom were the abusers' children. Local police say his claims have been confirmed by some of the victims, of whom half a dozen have so far been interviewed, and by some of the fellow abusers, whose names Lamonica freely gave to police.

Read more...

This is as bad as the Catholic priests abuse scandal if not worse.
 

To Burn or Not To Burn

 
There's a dispute over Pope John Paul II wish to burn his personal papers after his death. The Calcutta Telegraph reported:

Rome, June 6: Pope John Paul II'’s private secretary defended yesterday his decision to defy the man he served faithfully for 40 years by refusing to burn his personal papers.

Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz, who was at the Pope'’s side from his time as a Polish bishop until his death in April, said that although the late pontiff'’s will instructed him to burn the papers, he had not done so because they contained great riches.

....

"“Nothing has been burnt. None of it deserves to be burnt. Everything should be preserved and kept for posterity, for future generations -— every single sentence. These are great riches that should gradually be made available to the public,"” Archbishop Dziwisz told Polish radio.

However, he gave no timetable.

In his last testament John Paul II said that he was leaving behind no property other than personal effects, to be distributed “as is thought fit”.

...

He also believed that the material left behind will be “useful to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints as it considers the case for the beatification of the late Pope”, sources said.

Read more...

I agree with Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz's decision to keep the papers.
 

Relics In Texas

 
Since I live in Texas, I thought to post this piece of information:

JASPER - Tucked in a wooden cabinet at St. Michael Church exists a little-known treasure whose history remains a partial mystery.

Sealed inside an ornate gold cross called a reliquary lie three slivers of the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified, according to church leaders here. Though holy relics can be found throughout Catholic churches worldwide, relics of the true cross usually are

granted to cathedrals or larger-sized churches.

So how this small church of about 250 families obtained the holy relic and when it arrived are part of the missing pieces of the puzzle that the Rev. Ron Foshage of St. Michael hopes to piece together someday.

"It's something that's very difficult to get, and it's a great blessing for a smaller church community to have it," Foshage said.

....

Foshage said the St. Michael's relic, authenticated by 1958 Vatican documents, might have been brought in during the 1950s when the church was designated a parish. But some ministers from that time who might have known its history have since moved away or died, he said.

Relics are categorized in three classes. A first-class relic is an actual part of a saint, such as a small piece of bone or strand of hair. A relic of the true cross is considered first class.

Second-class relics can be anything the saint wore, such as a piece of a shirt. Third-class relics include a piece of cloth touched by a saint; they also can be pieces of cloth that have touched a first- or second-class relic.

Read more...

Well, I never knew there were three different types of lerics. Now, I know :-)
 

Beer Mat Ads to Recruit Priests

 
I'm not sure what to think of this idea:

The Roman Catholic Church has decided to use beer mats and posters as part of a campaign to recruit more priests.

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor will highlight the problem in his Westminster diocese in a letter to be read to church congregations.

...

The church is launching a recruitment campaign that will use beermats in pubs and posters on the London Underground to promote the priesthood.

Read more...

Promoting priesthood at pubs! Well, it may work. Who knows :-)