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By: Jennifer Willems - January 3, 2017 -
Featured Article
Blessed Sacrament School, Christmas, Karen Spring, Mickey King, Morton, pen pals, shut-ins
A group of fifth-graders from Blessed Sacrament School in Morton visit with their pen pals, Bill and Joann Anderson, after singing Christmas carols and delivering handmade Christmas cards and a gift to them. They were accompanied by their families and teacher Karen Spring. (Provided photo)
MORTON — Lessons in writing friendly letters aren’t always about developing good communication skills. In the hands of Karen Spring of Blessed Sacrament School, they help her fifth-graders to develop relationships with senior members of the parish, as well as a lifelong concern for others. “It works both ways,” Spring explained. “My class sees how […]
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By: Tom Dermody - January 3, 2017 -
Featured Article
baptism, Dr. Steve Smart, homeless, Kate Smart, Peoria, St. Bernard
Dr. Steve Smart holds candles as Msgr. Stanley Deptula presides during a triple baptism Dec. 4 at St. Bernard Church in Peoria. Dr. Smart and his wife, Kate (center, holding Marvin) were godparents for the children of Tiffany (right, holding Jayke) and Maricela (next to Tiffany, holding Anthony), young women they took into their home during times of need. (The Catholic Post/Tom Dermody)
Jayke, Marvin and Anthony began their journey to become saints on Dec. 4, the baptism day for the three well-behaved little ones at St. Bernard Church, Peoria. And after many dangerous detours, their mothers are back on the same path — restored to grace by the sacraments and through honoring Mary by observing the house […]
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By: Jennifer Willems - January 3, 2017 -
Featured Article
FertilityCare, OSF, Peoria, Sister Judith Ann Duvall, Women's Health and Advanced Fertility Center
Accompanied by Dr. Jillian Stalling and Dr. Elizabeth Cox, Bishop Jenky sprinkles holy water throughout the new OSF Women's Health and Advanced Fertility Center in Peoria. (The Catholic Post/Jennifer Willems)
In the days before the birth of Christ was celebrated, people gathered at the OSF Center for Health in Peoria to pray for all the holy families who would benefit from the new OSF Women’s Health and Advanced Fertility Center and OSF FertilityCare Center. “Grant that in this new office, the physicians and staff will […]
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By: The Catholic Post - December 23, 2016 -
Featured Article
Bishop Daniel Jenky, Christmas
This depiction of the Nativity is from a stained glass window at St. Mary Church in Canton. The Catnton faith community will not see the window this Christmas because the church remains closed for repair following the Nov. 16 deadly natural gas explosion in the city's downtown. (The Catholic Post/Tom Dermody)
Christmas, 2016 “Glory to God in the highest and PEACE to His people on earth!” My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ: On every great feast day and on almost every Sunday of the year, the song of the Christmas angels’ echoes down the ages in the Church’s sacred liturgy. As we celebrate the almost […]
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By: Jennifer Willems - December 16, 2016 -
Featured Article
Advent, blogger, Christmas, Coloring book, Katie Bogner, liturgical seasons, Teacher
Katie Bogner, a fifth grade teacher at St. Joseph School in Pekin, has designed a Coloring Book of the Signs and Symbols of the Liturgical Seasons. The Advent and Christmas drawings were colored by Olivia Draher and Addison Goessman.
PEKIN — With Advent comes the beginning of a new church year, and Katie Bogner has given families a new way to walk through it together. A fifth grade teacher at St. Joseph School, Bogner has designed a Coloring Book of the Signs and Symbols of the Liturgical Seasons. The book, as well as ideas […]
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By: Tom Dermody - December 15, 2016 -
Featured Article
Macomb, Msgr. Richard Pricco, senior status
Msgr. Richard Pricco, pastor of St. Paul Parish in Macomb since 1977, is pictured with a tabernacle in the parish rectory. (The Catholic Post/Tom Dermody)
MACOMB — When Msgr. Richard Pricco came to Macomb in 1977 he reassured members of St. Paul Parish, who had seen a rare revolving door of priests that year, that “I’m going to be here for five years.” Nearly 40 years later, still guiding St. Paul’s and approaching his 80th birthday and 55th anniversary of […]
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By: Jennifer Willems - December 14, 2016 -
Featured Article
Catholic schools, Distinguished Teacher, Kickapoo, Sally Martin
Sally Martin enjoys the playfulness of "my 10 little men" at St. Mary School in Kickapoo. "They're my energy," she said. (The Catholic Post/Jennifer Willems)
KICKAPOO — Walking into a classroom of 52 third-graders might seem like a daunting task, but for Sally Martin it was a defining moment in a career that has spanned five decades. Another came this month when Martin, who teaches a combined class of third- and fourth-graders at St. Mary School, was named one of […]
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By: Jennifer Willems - December 14, 2016 -
Featured Article
Alleman High School, Christmas, Congo, Kabunze, peace, Rock Island, St. Pius X
The Kabunze Family gathers in front of the fireplace of their Rock Island rental home, where stockings for each of them hang on the mantle. They are (from left), Enock, Annuarite, Maombi (mother), Solange, Filipo, Kasaika (father), Sarah, Grace, Riziki and Alfa. (Provided photo)
ROCK ISLAND — It isn’t uncommon to pray for peace on earth during the Christmas Season, but few people appreciate that gift in the way Kasaika and Maombi Kabunze do. The couple, who escaped from the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2005 with two small children, have spent the last 11 years in a […]
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By: Tom Dermody - December 14, 2016 -
Featured Article
Atchison, Benedictines, Giacabazi, Guadalupe, Mexico, Sister Mechtild, Swearingen
Led by her grandnephew Father Vincent Giiacabazi, SJ, Sister Mechtild Swearingen, OSB, left, renews the vows of her religious profession at Pan de Vida Monastery in Torreon, Mexico. (Provided photo)
Our Lady of Guadalupe is a thread running throughout Peoria native Sister Mechtild Swearingen’s remarkable 66 years of ministry in Mexico. The 1941 graduate of the Academy of Our Lady in Peoria, born Nora Jean Swearingen, was praying to Our Lady of Guadalupe when — in 1950 as a young member of the Benedictine Sisters […]
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By: Tom Dermody - November 30, 2016 -
Featured Article
Archbishop Fulton Sheen, Archdiocese of New York, beatification, body, canonization, Diocese of Peoria, sainthood, Sheen
The transfer of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen's remains is seen as a key factor in allowing the sainthood cause to move forward.
Hopes buoyed in the Diocese of Peoria by a Nov. 17 court ruling allowing the family of Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen to transfer the sainthood candidate’s remains from New York to Peoria have been tempered by the subsequent granting of an emergency stay to the Archdiocese of New York, which plans to appeal the […]
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