Catholic alternate "Vacation Bible School" - The Vatican Express

why do we always use generic protestant programs? well, not eveyone does... From the Dominicans of the Eastern Province, comes:

THE VATICAN EXPRESS

Every summer, St. Patrick’s in Columbus has a huge Vacation Bible School. The numbers of kids and volunteers has steadily been increasing to the point of reaching nearly 200 kids. This year beat even that, with about 215 kids registered to hop on board the “Vatican Express.” Unlike many generic Vacation Bible Schools, St. Patrick’s looks to make their program explicitly Catholic. Hence the theme this year, the Vatican Express, which took the kids on a tour through St. Peter’s Basilica, led them to learn about apostolic succession and the Holy Father (and even get to “meet” him during the days), and helped them better understand what a great gift the Eucharist is. Throughout the week, the children were given catechesis, did crafts, and learned music to help drive home the teachings of the Church. One of the special projects the kids did was to write letters to the Holy Father, which will soon be sent to Rome. Some of these are so touching and really show what love children have for the Pope and the Church. Click on any of the slides below for a larger image: (Link)

Location change for August meeting!

Prioress Carolyn Reese writes:

To all Members: Because of the Church Festival at OLV in August, we have had to change our place for our monthly meeting. It will take place on Aug 18 at the Nazareth House at 4450 N Five Mile Rd. It is located close to McMillan and Five Mile (map) It will begin in the Chapel with Rosary and Liturgy of the Hours at 11AM. Lunch will be served to us at 12 noon at the cost of $8.00 per person. Sorry, no sack lunches! We want everyone to attend, if someone can not afford the cost, please let us know. Please do not miss the meeting because of this cost. I have to have a count on everyone attending by Monday, Aug 13th. This is per their request. Your lunch can be paid on that Saturday, but they need a count ahead of time. I will send it into Dorothy at the Nazareth House by noon that day. Any questions, let me know. Blessings, Carolyn

On July 13 the Dominicans met for the 8th annual Mary Magdalene retreat, and also to bury Mrs Kathleen Schuck OP, our beloved prioress. Fr Arnold Miller, parochial vicar of Our Lady of the Valley, where the chapter meets, was the guest presenter and he gave a presentation on the two Marys (Mother of God and the Magdalene).

The presentation was followed by dinner, and after dinner at dusk, we processed to the cemetery with Kathleen's cremains for the inurnment, which Fr Miller presided over.

Kathleen joins her husband Jim who went before her. We pray that together they will quickly enter the presence of God.

This weekend I stayed out at Chapter House Friday night; harvesting has started and I must say that it presents a very attractive morning view.

Our Lady of Mt Carmel

From the Friars of the Eastern Province -

Common Threads Today the Church celebrates the memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, a day that highlights the maternal protection of Our Lady over the Carmelite Order. There are numerous ties that bind the Dominicans and the Carmelites together... read the rest here

Aquinas Institute advance printing discount on Thomas!

I received the following message from professor Kwasniewski at Wyoming Catholic College. This is quite an undertaking; please consider supporting!

On Tue, Jul 10, 2012 at 8:31 PM, Peter Kwasniewski wrote:

Dear Mark,

Please forgive me for indulging in a bit of advertising.

Some years ago, a group of theologians at Wyoming Catholic College came together to establish The Aquinas Institute for the Study of Sacred Doctrine.

By now you may already know about the ambitious project that our Institute has launched -- nothing less than publishing, over time, the works of Thomas Aquinas, in Latin certainly, and whenever possible, in bilingual Latin/English editions, in a uniform hardcover format, beautifully printed, and (finally) at affordable prices. Our initial offerings are the complete Commentaries on Paul’s Letters, the Summa theologiae, the Commentary on John, and the Commentary on Matthew.

We are looking for pre-orders at this time to help offset the initial costs of printing. I come to you as a fellow Thomist, with the request that you would consider whether you might be able to pre-order one or more of the volumes being offered by our Institute, as a concrete way of promoting the great good of the present and future study of St. Thomas. The discount on preorders lasts only a few more days – till Monday, July 16, the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

Please take a moment to visit our website for details: www.theaquinasinstitute.org.

Yours in Christ,

Peter


PS -- If you could recommend these books also to some confreres, that would be a most helpful way to promote this apostolate!
peter.kwasniewski@theaquinasinstitute.org

The July Retreat will be a week early, and will be held at the Homedale Chapter House. The following note from Bonnie Fitzpatrick outlines the event:

We will have a short annual retreat this month...on the 13th & 14th at which time we will intern our sister and prioress, Kathleen Schuck.

The internment will be Friday night at dusk.  Please let me know if you invite other friends of Kathleen to join us.  We will gladly have them join us for a light meal, opening prayer, memory sharing,  and the internment at graveside before we return to the Chapter House for our retreat

Please bring your brevaries, water bottles (drinking and spray)  favorite pillow if staying overnight (please let us know ASAP so we can "book a bed" for you.) bug spray, easy food items for Friday night (salads...no BBQ!) and Saturday brunch/continental breakfast, and be prepared for some silence.  We are working on adoration through the night if possible,too. 

Since it is a short time, we will want to get as much spiritual enrichment as possible...

Your sister in Christ, and St Dominic,

Bonnie

PS: I am serving as coordinator so please keep in contact with me.