BLOOMINGTON — A Mass of Christian Burial was offered Dec. 30, 2015 at St. Mary Church for Father Gregg Petri, OFM, a native son of the parish who had served as parochial vicar and director of Hispanic ministry there since 2003. Burial followed in St. Joseph Cemetery. Father Gregg died on Christmas Day, Dec. 25, […]
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New seminarian serving in U.S. Army deploys to Afghanistan
Deployment to the Middle East isn’t one of the usual steps for priestly formation in the Diocese of Peoria, but that seems to be the path on which God has set Monmouth native John Ayers. He wouldn’t have it any other way. “I’m not only going to Afghanistan to be a good soldier, but I’m […]
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Anne Kelley, president of the National Christ Child Society, admires a detail on a sleep sack with Judy Hayes, chapter president of the Christ Child Society of Central Illinois.
For love of the Christ Child, Mary Virginia Merrick made a layette to be presented to an infant in need, born on Christmas Day. That simple act of love and faith is repeated each day by the Christ Child Society, which she founded in 1887. Two chapters of the Christ Child Society cover the Diocese […]
Continue readingSTREATOR — It takes quite a bit of dough to make 2,000 rolls of rozek each year, but sales of the Slovak delicacy make a lot of dough and all of it goes to St. Michael the Archangel School. “We make about $20,000 a year for the school,” said Margaret Kmetz, coordinator of the parish […]
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Assembling the povitica are (from left) Tricia Parkin, who is rolling up a loaf of the Croatian delicacy, while Karen Cole, Julie Hopkins, Penny Ross, Charlene Oberle and Anita Crum attend to other parts of the process.
MANITO — It smells like Christmas when you walk into the parish center at the new Immaculate Conception Church when povitica is being made. The Croatian bread has become much more than a sweet treat the Bread of Life Bakers make at Christmas, according to Joan Mattson. “Our bread is our sustenance,” she said. A […]
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Barbara Rohr looks over the Nativities in just one of the curio cabinets in her rural Champaign home.
CHAMPAIGN — When city governments started to remove Nativity scenes from courthouses and public parks, citing the separation of church and state, Barbara Rohr went to work. “It’s the reason for Christmas and why we celebrate,” said Rohr, a member of St. Boniface Parish in Seymour. To make her point, Rohr has collected Nativities of […]
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Mark Csanda leads the students of St. Mary School in Bloomington through a rousing chorus of "Elijah," complete with movements, at a recent school assembly.
BLOOMINGTON — Each morning the students at St. Mary School gather in the gym to pray for and with each other, sing songs, hear announcements and recite the Pledge of Allegiance. The pledge doesn’t end with “liberty and justice for all,” however. Students and faculty seamlessly add the words, “I promise today to love, live, […]
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Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, celebrates the rededication Mass on Dec. 9 in the new sanctuary of the expanded and remodeled St. Patrick Church in Urbana.
URBANA — During a celebration that literally could not be contained to the worship space, the newly expanded and renovated St. Patrick Church was rededicated by Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, during a festive liturgy on Dec. 9. The result of more than a decade of dreaming, planning and fundraising that began with the parish’s […]
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Our first Issue
By: By Jennifer Willems CAPTION: Charlotte Harrison smiles as her new friend, Peggy Jacques — a Faith Community Nurse — takes her blood pressure at Sophia’s Kitchen in Peoria. (The Catholic Post/Jennifer Willems) —– It wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without a feast, so Sophia’s Kitchen in Peoria hosted a turkey dinner with all the trimmings on […]
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By: By Jennifer Willems CAPTION: On the last day of food distribution, Tina Sipula, founder and director of Clare House, responds to a well-wisher after thanking people for their trust in and support of Clare House. (The Catholic Post/Jennifer Willems. More photos have been posted on The Catholic Post’s Facebook page.) —– BLOOMINGTON — The […]
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