This could be a life-changing experience for a boy you know.
The St. John Bosco Catholic summer camp in NE Ohio will be held July 23-29. Boys from age 9 to 18 can come; younger if accompanied with a dad or guardian. Please note there is a registration deadline this year: June 15th. Email for more information and registration forms.
Grandparents, this is a great gift-giving opportunity–Christmas in July or however you want to frame it–whether you pay the fees or help with transportation or both.
Fr. Sandquist will offer Mass for First Saturday at 10 am, and will then preside over the Confraternity of Christian Mothers’ quarterly chapter meeting. Father will hear confessions for thirty minutes before Mass.
After Fr. Sandquist’s talk, the Christian Mothers are planning a “show and tell” of their favorite cookbooks and will discuss plans for bread-baking and canning workshops.
What a glorious day it was! We mission chapel folks had to continually pinch ourselves and ask, “Is this really happening here in rural Chelsea, Oklahoma? O, Lord, I am not worthy!”
We present this photo essay of our celebration of the great festival of Corpus Christi with sincere gratitude to Frs. Stephen Sandquist and Carlos Borja; seminarians Rev. Carlos Zepeda, Frater Aloysius Hartmann, Mr. Caleb Armour, and Phillip Lawrence; minor seminarian Evan Estrada; and Mater Dei Academy boys Joseph Wagner and Donald Pulliam,
The seminarians and boys arrived a couple of hours early to set up the outdoor altar and have choir practice. In this photo, Rev. Zepeda is directing, and from left to right are seminarians Phillip Lawrence, Frater Aloysius, and Mr. Armour.
“And Aaron was separated to minister in the holy of holies, he and his sons for ever, and to burn incense before the Lord, according to his ceremonies, and to bless his name for ever.” (1 Chron. 23:13)
“Who then can be able to build him a worthy house? if heaven, and the heavens of heavens cannot contain him: who am I that I should be able to build him a house? but to this end only, that incense may be burnt before him.” (2 Chron. 2:6)”
A rare glimpse of Jesus in front of His open Tabernacle Prison.
O Jesu Christ, Remember
O Jesu Christ, remember,
When Thou shalt come again,
Upon the clouds of Heaven,
With all Thy shining train;—
When every eye shall see Thee
In Deity reveal’d,
Who now upon this altar
In silence art conceal’d;—
Remember then, O Saviour,
I supplicate of Thee,
That here I bow’d before Thee,
Upon my bended knee;
That here I own’d Thy Presence,
And did not Thee deny;
And glorified Thy greatness,
Though hid from human eye.
Accept, divine Redeemer,
The homage of my praise;
Be Thou the light and honour,
And glory of my days.
Be Thou my consolation
When death is drawing nigh;
Be Thou my only treasure
Through all eternity.
Hymn text by Fr. Edward Caswall
Adeleigh, Evelyn, and Rosemary Breaux served as flower girls. After Mass, Rev. Zepeda arranged the remaining rose petals around the little outdoor statue of Our Lady of Fatima that you can see in the left center of this photo.
Here Evelyn and Rosemary have entered the shade of the pavilion adjacent to the chapel. Imagine if as in bygone days, we could process through the villages and towns with great crowds of fervent Catholics!
Fr. Sandquist found our canopy in storage at Mater Dei Convent. It could be of late 1940s, early 1950s vintage and a true glory in its day. It is heavy, made from moire taffeta. The top is solid red, and the underside is ivory and embroidered with the IHS in the center. The fabric is frayed along the long sides from the framework rubbing. It was missing its poles, hardware, and side supports. But elevated once more in our Lord’s service, it was gorgeous and edifying, and created all the pageantry that this great festival’s procession required. Thanks to Herb Haught for procuring new poles and creating a new framework to attach to them.
Blessed be God. Blessed be His Holy Name. Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true Man. Blessed be the Name of Jesus. Blessed be His Most Sacred Heart. Blessed be His Most Precious Blood. Blessed be Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. Blessed be the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete. Blessed be the great Mother of God, Mary most Holy. Blessed be her Holy and Immaculate Conception. Blessed be her Glorious Assumption. Blessed be the name of Mary, Virgin and Mother. Blessed be St. Joseph, her most chaste spouse. Blessed be God in His Angels and in His Saints. Amen.
Pray and sacrifice for priests. They pray and sacrifice so much for us.
“Humbly I adore Thee, hidden Deity, Which beneath these figures art concealed from me; Wholly in submission Thee my spirit hails, For in contemplating Thee it wholly fails.” Adoro Te Devote, St. Thomas Aquinas, Translation by E. Frey.
Many thanks to our canopy bearers, Mr. Michael Hartsock, Mr. Steve Breaux, Mr. Ben Brouse, and Mr. Ron Green.
We enjoyed a lovely meal together in the hall after the liturgical festivities. Crockpot Alley arrayed its aromatic wares of savory entrees and sides. The dessert table overflowed with sweet and creamy delights. Fr. Borja and the seminarians were in no hurry to leave, and the quiet joy of feasting, rightly-ordered, reigned.
Thank you to everyone who brought food and to all those in the background whose generosity helps make these days possible.
As we celebrate Christ’s Ascension today, we cannot but think of the mission of the Church and establishing the Reign of Christ the King. Here is an excerpt from The Kingship of Christ According to the Principles of St. Thomas Aquinas, by Rev. Denis Fahey.
. . .When an organism perishes and corrupts, it is because it had ceased to be under the action of the causes which had given it its form and constitution. To make it healthy and flourishing again it is necessary to restore it to the vivifying action of those same causes. So society, in its foolhardy effort to escape from God, has rejected the divine order and revelation; and it is thus withdrawn from the salutary efficacy of Christianity, which is manifestly the most solid guarantee of order, the strongest bond of fraternity, and the inexhaustible source of all public and private virtue. This sacrilegious divorce has resulted in bringing about that trouble which now disturbs the world. Hence it is the pale of the Church which this lost society must re-enter, if it wishes to recover its well-being, its repose, and its salvation.
“Just as Christianity cannot penetrate into the soul without making it better, so it cannot enter in public life without establishing order. . . .If it has transformed pagan society. . .so, after the terrible shocks which unbelief has given to the world in our days, it will be able to put that world again on the true road, and bring back to order the States and people of modern times. But the return of Christianity will not be efficacious and complete if it does not restore the world to a sincere love of the one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. In the Catholic Church Christianity is incarnate. It identifies itself with that perfect, spiritual, and, in its own order, sovereign society, which is the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, and which has for its visible head the Roman Pontiff, successor of the Prince of the Apostles. It is the continuation of the mission of the Savior, the daughter and heiress of His Redemption.”
Our Lady of Fatima Mission Chapel 