Double Decker

A recent visit to the website of the Italian State Railways showed that while the Italians are good civil engineers they still have problems with the English language. In an age of globalization there is something comforting about this.
For example, someone attempted to say :in addition to" the Frecce (arrow) class trains, but instead wrote "on top of the train." Quite a mental picture.
Ciao. Link HERE

Before and After

During the past six months we have worked, at times round the clock, on the remodeling of our church interior. Bishop Campbell dedicated the new altar on June 25. The next step will be the refinishing and installation of pews.

Time to Start Practicing

have been asked to participate in an organ concert on Sunday September 18 or this year at St. Joseph Cathedral in Columbus. I will play just one piece: the Franck Chorale in A Minor. I have begun practicing it at the piano to get it back under my fingers. I first learned the piece almost thirty years ago but you would never know it to hear me practice. It's going to take a while to get it up to speed. In the meanwhile, here is an excerpt from the piece, as played by a real organist.

What Are You Doing for Your Summer Vacation?

Launching Day

Bright and early on Tuesday morning, we hooked Vidi Aquam up to the tractor and watched her trundle down the road to the marine railway behind Coastal Marine for launching. There was some anxiety about whether the Yamaha outboard would behave itself, but the new fuel pump did the trick. No thanks to Yamaha for not telling anyone that they had updated their fuel pump design. I am trying to think of something that makes less sense than a sailboat owner worrying about an outboard motor and I can't come up with anything. Once at the Port Clinton Yacht Charters dock, we stepped the mast and I gave the decks a good washing. Then back to sunny Columbus the same day (had a construction meeting Wednesday 8 a.m.).

Mariological Society of America

We have just closed the 62nd annual meeting of the Mariological Society of America, held at the Franciscan Renewal Center just outside Scottsdale, Arizona. We had some really terrific talks, and were blessed by a visit from the Bishop of Phoenix, the Most Reverend Thomas Olmsted, who celebrated Mass for us last night and stayed for dinner. Here is an outline of the program.

The Mariological Society of America: 62th Annual Meeting:
The Virgin Mary in the United States and Canada
(Part I : Until 1900)


Tuesday, May 17, 2011
4:00 PM Meeting of the Administrative Council

Dinner
7:30 PM Welcome: Fr. Thomas Buffer
Fr. Emery de Gaál, Ph.D., University of St. Mary of the Lake/ Mundelein Seminary
The Marian Connection between the Americas and Europe: Our Lady of Guadalupe 1531-1900

Wednesday, May 18, 2011
7:00 AM Morning Praise, Eucharist
9:00 AM Opening Orientation: Fr. Thomas Buffer

Dr. Joseph White, Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.
Mary Immaculate as National Patroness: New Perspectives on the Decision of the Sixth Provincial Council of Baltimore (1846)

10:30 AM Lynn Marie Busch, S.T.L. Dallas, PA B
The Marian Spirituality of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha (1656-1680), Iroquois Virgin and Patroness of the United States Association of Consecrated Virgins

1:30 PM Fr. Neil Roy, STL., PhD. University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN
The Marian Legacy of St Marguerite Bourgeoys CND (1620-1700)

2:45 PM Bro. Lawrence Scrivani, SM, Pacific Grove, California

The Place Afforded to Mary in the Initial Evangelization of the Stone Age Peoples of New California, 1769-1824

4:00 PM Richard Bulzacchelli, S.T.L., Aquinas College, Nashville, TN
Crushing the Head of the Serpent: Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Triumph of Revealed Religion in the Aztec World

Dinner
Rosary Service (Guadalupe Chapel)

Thursday, May 19, 2011

7:00 AM Morning Praise, Eucharist

9:00 AM Dr. Wendy Wright, Creighton University, Omaha, NE

The Virgin Mary's Kaleidoscopic Heart: Southern California from the 19th to the 21t Century

10:30 AM Fr. Richard Gribble, CSC. Stonehill College, MA
Fr. Nelson Baker and Our Lady of Victory Basilica, Lackawanna, N.Y.


1:30 PM Edward Looney, Diocese of Green Bay, WI
Called to Evangelize: The Story of Adele Brice and
the Marian Apparition That Changed Her Life

3:00 PM Sharon Perkins, University of Dayton
Marian Devotion among Czech Catholic Immigrants to Texas from the 1860s through the 1940s

5:30 PM Eucharist: Most Rev. Thomas Olmsted

Dinner

Friday, May 20, 2011
7:00 AM Morning Praise, Eucharist

9:00 AM: Fr. Thomas Thompson, S.M.
Select Marian Bibliography 2011


9:30 AM Business Meeting.

10:45 AM: Pilgrimage to the St. Mary's Basilica (Phoenix)

Welcome Home

Pleaes continue to pray for all catechumens and candidates for full communion who will join the Church this Saturday night during the Easter Vigil. Here are a few of their stories:

US Catholic Church finds astonishing variety of people joining this Easter :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)