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Church Clips by Dolores Madlener

Dolores Madlenera column of benevolent gossip

  • Destination Lourdes, France:

    Less than two weeks after she was freed with 14 others after being held six years by Colombian rebels, Ingrid Betancourt , former Colombian presidential candidate, made a pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes . Betancourt, 46, journeyed with her mother, sister and two children. French TV showed her walking to the Marian grotto on July 12. Greeted by the bishop of Lourdes, she said she had made a rosary from buttons and old string during her captivity.

  • ‘Lourdes of Lithuania’ —

    In 1457 a diplomat built the first church in the area of Siluva, Lithuania, and gave the land to the Catholic Church. Traveling to Rome, he brought back an ornate painting of Mary and the child Jesus and put it in the sanctuary. It became a famous shrine until the Protestant Reformation . In 1532, as Calvinists began confiscating Church property, a wise parish priest buried the painting. For the next 80 years Siluva was Calvinist. Then in 1608 some young shepherds heard the sound of crying. Near a rock they saw an apparition of Mary holding Jesus . The scared kids ran and told their parents and Calvinist pastor. When the minister went to the rock to disprove “this Roman superstition,” the crowd heard and saw a weeping lady. She said, “I want the faith to return to this sacred soil.” People returned to the Catholic faith and a decade later on Sept. 8, Mary’s birthday, more than 11,000 people received communion at Mass at the scene of the apparitions. Tradition says a local blind man, more than 100 years old, recalled helping the parish priest bury a chest filled with church artifacts. Brought back to the field, his sight was miraculously restored , and he showed the villagers where to dig for the chest. Along with vestments and chalices, they found the painting, which is venerated to this day in Siluva. Mary brought Lithuania back to the Church. Today Nativity B.V.M. Church at 6812 S. Washtenaw Ave., has a novena at 7 p.m. on the second Friday each month before a gold-plated replica of Our Lady of Siluva , over the main altar. To mark the 400th anniversary of the apparitions, the arch’s Lithuanian community will hold a special novena from Sept. 8-14, with prayers in Lithuanian and in English at various times and parishes. Nativity BVM will have an evening bus service available to go to other locations. See ad on Page 18 this issue for more details.

  • Echoes of WYD:

    Incase you missed it, here’s a bit of what Kevin Rudd , prime minister of Australia, said to World Youth Day crowds: “Some say there is no place for faith in the 21st century. I say they are wrong. Some say faith is the enemy of reason, I say, also they are wrong. Because faith and reason are great partners in our human history and in our human future. … Some say only that which they see wrong in Christianity and in the Church, I say let us speak also about what is right in Christianity and the Church.” Catholics make up the largest religious denomination in Australia.

  • Animal crackers —

    LifeNews.com says Spain’s parliament is considering granting human rights to apes, chimps and orangutans. The Great Ape Project was dreamed up by a Princeton professor who proposes infanticide for baby humans. (Oh, btw, the next World Youth Day will be held in Spain in 2011.)

  • Four seasons —

    The Catholic Mission Office in the arch has lightweight cottonblend clergy vestments, (stoles and chasubles) for the four liturgical seasons, made by Franciscan Sisters in Ecuador. Call (312) 382-3322 for more information.

  • Parish potpourri —

    Recycling efforts by St. Kieran (Chicago Heights) parishioners has earned over $500 from aluminum cans alone. Over the past year they’ve chalked up $2,400. . . . Father Robert Miller , pastor of St. Dorothy’s (S. Eberhart) is on vacation to Gettysburg with relatives. As a former president of our local Civil War Roundtable he’s a great tour guide. . . . Paul French , music director at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church (W. Belmont) conducted the Grant Park Music Festival Apprentice Chorale July 16. The program was broadcast live on WFMT-98.7 FM. . . . Mary Prete of St. Giles Parish (Oak Park) was named pastoral musician of the year by the National Associations of Pastoral Musicians . A cantor/musician, she is also former owner of Alverno religious goods store.

  • On the road to Peru —

    Two parishes in the arch recently led mission-type trips to Peru, land of ancient empires, with mountains, rain forests, bustling cities — and 89 percent Catholic. Father Ted Dzieszko , pastor of St. Constance (W. Strong) and parishioners were on pilgrimage June 8-24, “through the poor but hospitable country of Peru. Every day God cared for us, with beautiful weather, and despite many dangers, we all returned safe and sound.” . . . Father Pat Cecil , pastor of St. Patrick Parish (Wadsworth) spent time again this year in Piura, Peru, with a team of missionaries. His parishioners here contribute to help families there. Girls from a local orphanage presented a handmade altar cloth in gratitude to bring back to St. Patrick’s. . . . Angela Punzi , former secretary here to Cardinal John Cody , is heading for the northern part of Peru in her work with the Focolare Movement.