After a two-year hiatus caused by COVID-19, the Catholic Record Society is announcing the return of its spring lecture and luncheon program.
Father Robert Jager and Dr. Myroslava Mudrak will give a presentation on “The Byzantine Catholic Church and Ukrainian Heritage” on Sunday, May 22 in the conference room of The Catholic Foundation, 257 E. Broad St., Columbus.
Lunch will be at noon, with the program at 1 p.m., followed by a brief business meeting. The Museum of Catholic Art and History, located in the same building, will be open at 2 p.m. for anyone wishing to tour it.
Father Jager is pastor of St. John Chrysostom Byzantine Catholic Church in Columbus and the St. Barbara Byzantine Catholic Community in Dayton and is encouraging formation of a Byzantine Catholic community in Cincinnati. He has been a priest for 20 years and has been at St. John Chrysostom since 2019, one year after coming to the United States from Kosice, Slovakia, where he was a pastor and secretary to Bishop Milan Chautur, CSsR.
Mudrak is professor emeritus of art history at Ohio State University. Her scholarly interests focus on eastern Europe, Russia, Ukraine and the former Soviet Union in relation to philosophical and stylistic developments in the West.
The luncheon and talk are open to all. Those wishing to attend the luncheon are asked to make an advance registration and send a check for $25 per person, payable to the Diocese of Columbus, by Friday, May 13 to Catholic Record Society, 197 E. Gay St., Columbus OH 43215. There is no charge to attend only the lecture or business meeting.
Parking is available in front of the Catholic Foundation building and at meters along East Broad Street. Meters are free on Sunday. Overflow parking is available behind St. Joseph Cathedral, across the street from the building.
For more information, contact Mike Finn at (614) 268-4166 or FCoolavin@aol.com.
Our Lady of Fatima Mass, procession set
A Mass, procession through downtown Columbus and benediction for the feast of Our Lady of Fatima will be held Friday, May 13.
Mass begins at 6 p.m. at Columbus Holy Family Church, 584 W. Broad St., and the procession will leave the church at approximately 7 p.m. and travel down Broad Street past St. Joseph Cathedral before turning toward Columbus St. Patrick Church, 280 N. Grant Ave., where benediction will be led by Father Stephen Dominic Hayes, OP.
Participants may park at either church. Shuttle buses will travel between the churches. Those who are unable to walk are invited to attend Mass and benediction.
Men’s pilgrimage to Somerset planned
The diocesan Catholic Men’s Ministry will sponsor a one-day pilgrimage to the Perry County village of Somerset, “the cradle of Catholicism in Ohio,” on Saturday, May 21 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Somerset was the site of the first Catholic Mass in Ohio in 1808 and the state’s first Catholic church, St. Joseph Church, which was dedicated 10 years later. The current St. Joseph Church, the parish’s third worship site, was dedicated in 1843 and rebuilt in 1866 after an 1864 fire. Dominican friars have been part of the parish since its founding and also celebrate Mass at another Somerset church, Holy Trinity, near the village’s downtown.
The pilgrimage program will include Mass, intercessory prayer, rosary, and talks by Father Andre LaCasse, OP, pastor of both churches; Jeff Silleck, business manager of the parishes; Bill Noll, principal of Somerset Holy Trinity School and sixth-generation St. Joseph parishioner; and John Swartz of Columbus St. Agatha Church. Breakfast and lunch will be served and there will be a tour of the museum at St. Joseph, which includes artifacts of early Catholic life in Ohio and a model of the original church.
There is a $20 fee. Registration is available online at www.CatholicNensMinistry.com/Pilgrimage or by mail to John Schechter, 4193 Gavin Lane, Columbus OH 43220. Make checks payable to Catholic Men’s Ministry. For questions, contact Schechter at (614) 565-0824 or jschechter@sbcglobal.net.
Dominican Sisters of Peace elect leader
Sister Pat Twohill, OP, was elected to a second six-year term as prioress of the Dominican Sisters of Peace at their third General Chapter last month in Columbus. The event was delayed for one year because of the COVID pandemic.
Sister Anne Lythgoe, OP, was elected to a second six-year term as first councilor. Also elected to the congregation’s leadership team for six years were Sisters Carol Davis, OP, Cathy Arnold, OP, and Susan Leslie, OP. They will succeed Sisters Therese Leckert, OP, Gemma Doll, OP, and Gene Poore, OP, who will complete their terms on Aug. 7.
A highlight of the first day of the meeting was a webcast launching a yearlong celebration of the 200th anniversary of Dominican women religious in the United States. On Easter Sunday, April 7, 1822, four women began serving in what was then the frontier community of Springfield, Kentucky. From those four grew the Dominican Sisters of St. Mary Magdalen, eventually known as the Kentucky Dominicans. This congregation was part of the union that created the Dominican Sisters of Peace in 2009.
Blessings of Bikes to take place at shrine
Knights of Columbus Councils 741 in Portsmouth, 14346 in Wheelersburg and 1404 in Ironton are sponsoring a Blessing of the Bikes at noon Saturday, May 21 at Our Lady of Fatima Shrine, 557 Old U.S. Route 52, Ironton.
A rosary will begin at noon and the blessing from Father David Huffman, pastor at Ironton St. Joseph and St. Lawrence O’Toole churches, will follow. The Knights are sponsoring a cookout afterward.
The free event is open to motorcycle, bicycle, tricycle and antique automobile owners of all faiths as well as those who do not ride.
Donations will be accepted for the upkeep and preservation of the open-air shrine, which is maintained by the local Knights of Columbus Councils and Assemblies.