April 14: 29th Tidal Wave for St. Edward CCHS

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St. Edward High School Celebrates Service at 29th Annual Fundraiser

Tidal Wave: La Vita Bella Dinner, Auction tickets on sale until April 1

ELGIN--St. Edward Central Catholic High School will host its 29^th annual benefit gala on Saturday, April 14, 2018 at the Chicago Marriott Northwest, Hoffman Estates starting at 5:30 p.m.  Tidal Wave: La Vita Bella, chaired by parent volunteers, Vito and Maria Corso, celebrates the “beautiful life”
surrounding St. Edward Central Catholic High School students and families.

Attendees will enjoy dinner, drinks, silent and live auctions for more than 300 items, including vacation packages to Las Vegas and Sonoma, Cubs tickets, outdoor grills, a big screen TV, spa and restaurant gift certificates, and more. 

Tickets are $150 per person, or $1,350 for a table of 10, and can be purchased through April 1 by calling 847-741-7535, ext. 123.

Proceeds from the event benefit academic advances and provide scholarship funds for students in need to attend the nonprofit, college preparatory, Catholic high school located in Elgin, Ill. Founded in 1941, St. Edward Central Catholic has a legacy of academic excellence, with 96 percent of 2017 graduates attending a college or university and 4 percent enrolling in technical schools. Thirty percent of students receive a financial scholarship through the St. Edward Central Catholic Guardian Angel scholarship fund.

During the gala, St. Edward Central Catholic will celebrate members of the community who provide unwavering service to the 76-year-old college preparatory high school, including:

-          Ted Meyers, Class of ’78, Alumnus of the Year:  A fourth-generation lawyer and partner with Meyers and Flowers Trial Lawyers, Meyers exemplifies the qualities and values of a St. Edward Central Catholic education.  

-          Jackie Tabbert, St. Gregory the Great Award:  The St. Gregory the Great Award recognizes a St. Edward Central Catholic faculty member for his or her commitment to students’ education. Serving as the school’s culinary and fashion arts instructor for more than 25 years, Tabbert has influenced the career paths of many St. Edward students and remains beloved among the alumni.

-          Frank Celarek, Loyal Order of St. Edward Award:  Honoring a volunteer who goes above and beyond, the Loyal Order of St. Edward Award will be presented to Frank Celarek of Elgin. An active member of the Boosters’ Club and a steadfast advocate of St. Edward Central Catholic, Celarek has remained a champion for the school long after his children graduated.

-          Joe Bero and Son Plumbing and Piping, Patron of the Year:  Joe Bero Plumbing and Piping has been a supporter of St. Edward Central Catholic for multiple generations. This award recognizes the company’s commitment to the school and its students.

March 24, 25, 30: Passion play in Genoa

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GENOA--"The Mystery of the Passion of Christ" is a dignified, dramatic, theatrical performance of the Christ's Passion that will be performed at St. Catherine of Genoa Parish, 340 S. Stott St., here. 
Performed by 100 volunteers from Catholic and non-Catholic churches in the DeKalb Deanery and the surrounding area, the play promotes, evangelizes, educates, and makes its audience aware of the events surrounding the Easter Triduum based on the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and on the principles and doctrines of the Catholic Church. The Passion 
Performances will be at 1 p.m. on March 24; 3 p.m. on Palm Sunday, March 25; and 4 p.m. on Good Friday, March 30.
Cost: a donation
Info: Carole Serotzke at (815) 784-2355, secretary@st-catherine-genoa.org

March 17: First of Chrism Mass chorale rehearsals

Changes made in rehearsal schedule

ROCKFORD—Diocesan Chorale director Valerie Oestry says one rehearsal for the March 29 Chrism Mass had to be switched due to a conflict. 

The revised schedule is as follows:

Saturday, March 17, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at St. Catherine of Siena Parish, 845 W. Main St., West Dundee

Thursday, March 22, 7-9 p.m. at Cathedral of St. Peter, 1243 N. Church St., Rockford

Thursday, March 29, 9 a.m. call for 11 a.m. Chrism Mass, at Cathedral of St. Peter, 1243 N. Church St., Rockford

There is no rehearsal on Saturday, March 24, in Rockford.  

Oestry sent these changes after the March 16 issue of The Observer went to press.

SATB vocalists are welcome to join the chorale and the Marian Central Catholic High School choir for the Mass.

Info: rockforddiocesechorale@gmail.com

March 10: Holy Angels Seraphim Ball in Aurora

AURORA-Holy Angels School here will hosts its 12th annual Seraphim Ball, March 10, 2018 at 6 p.m. at Pipers Banquets. 

This year’s Ireland-inspired theme, “Grand and Green,” promises to be a whale of a time for all. The gala will provide student parents, parishioners and local community members with a fun-filled way to celebrate and support a school committed to the spiritual formation and education of children in the Fox Valley area for over 100 years.

Guests will enjoy an evening of fundraising, music and spirits—including hors d’oeuvres, a three-course dinner, a live deejay, raffles, silent and live auctions, and a premium open bar—all while supporting Holy Angels Catholic School.

The school will also raffle off a $3,500 tuition credit for the 2018-2019 school year. Raffle tickets are $30 each or four for $100 and will be available for purchase from now until March 10th. All proceeds will benefit Holy Angels School and the winner does not need to be present to win. Classic or themed formal wear is encouraged (black or green tie optional). 

When: 6 p.m. silent auction and open bar, followed by dinner at 7 p.m.

Where: Pipers Banquets, 1295 Butterfield Road, Aurora

Cost: Tickets are $100 per person. 

Info: April Ray at april.ray.8676@gmail.com or Cathy Medernach at sandcat86@yahoo.com. 

March 15-18: Annual 'Nun Run'

ROCKFORD--Registration ends March 8 for the Diocese of Rockford Vocation Office annual Spring Nun Run. The "run" will be held March 15-18. Stops will be a various religious communities in Nebraska.
The vocational discernment “Nun Run” is for women, 17 years of age, college age and older who are interested in a religious vocation. They will be visiting sisters and nuns of different orders with different apostolates, hearing talks on discernment and religious life, spending time in prayer with our Lord, and meeting, sharing and praying with the sisters.
Cost is $90 and space is limited.
Registration deadline: March 8
Info: Vocations Office, 815/399-4300, ext. 375; dbarger@rockforddiocese.org; or www.rockforddiocese.org/vocations. Click on Nun Run in What's Happening on the left side of the webpage.

March 9: Time to Pick Mr. Marmion

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AURORA--On Friday, March 9, Marmion Academy's Student Council along with the Leadership Education and Development (LEAD) Program will host Mr. Marmion, a mock talent/beauty show to benefit charity. Three students from each class will compete in four different events and a panel of faculty and student judges will determine who will win the coveted 2018 Mr. Marmion crown! Several additional students will also showcase their unique talents throughout the evening.

This year's Mr. Marmion contestants are seniors Louie Auriemma of North Aurora, Austin Flanagan of Naperville and Jack Kirtley of St. Charles; juniors Christian Henkel of Batavia, Isaias Ponpa of Aurora and Ben Saloga of Sugar Grove; sophomores William Dietz of Geneva, Ben Okolita of Geneva and Joshua Pura of Naperville; and freshmen Ryan Fitzgerald of West Chicago, Zachary Hoschouer of North Aurora and Warren Swanson of Batavia.

Money raised through this event will be donated to benefit cancer research programs through St. Baldrick's Foundation and the Illinois Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Show time is at 7 p.m. at Marmion Academy's Alumni Hall located at 1000 Butterfield Road in Aurora. Tickets are $7 each or $5 if purchased in advance. To purchase tickets in advance, please contact Mark Malkowski at 630-897-6936 ext. 296 or email: mmalkowski@marmion.org. 

Mr. Marmion is a community event; all current students, prospective students, family members, friends and community members are invited to enjoy the show and support a wonderful cause.

Feb. 26: Call-in Day for Dreamers

Diocese of Rockford joins USCCB in National Effort

ROCKFORD--The Diocese of Rockford joins with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ president, vice president, and migration chair in encouraging Catholics to join in a National Call-in Day for Dreamers on Feb. 26. Below is the press release issued by the USCCB regarding this event. View a related video at https://youtu.be/z77N6mEWN4o.

USCCB President, Vice President, and Migration Chair Announce National Call-in Day for Dreamers for Feb. 26

WASHINGTON—Late last week, the Senate failed to achieve the 60 votes needed to move forward with debate on legislation to provide relief to Dreamers. Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, USCCB president; Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, USCCB vice president; and Bishop Joe S. Vásquez of Austin, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Migration, together issued the following statement:
"We are deeply disappointed that the Senate was not able to come together in a bipartisan manner to secure legislative protection for the Dreamers. With the March 5 deadline looming, we ask once again that Members of Congress show the leadership necessary to find a just and humane solution for these young people, who daily face mounting anxiety and uncertainty.
"We are also announcing a National Catholic Call-In Day to Protect Dreamers. This coming weekend, we will be asking the faithful across the nation to call their Members of Congress next Monday, Feb. 26, to protect Dreamers from deportation, to provide them a path to citizenship, and to avoid any damage to existing protections for families and unaccompanied minors in the process.
"Our faith compels us to stand with the vulnerable, including our immigrant brothers and sisters. We have done so continually, but we must show our support and solidarity now in a special way. Now is the time for action."

Galena sees first Catholics in northwest Illinois

As Illinois celebrates its bicentennial this year, The Observer will present occasional features from Rockford Diocese history books.

In 1820, just two years after Illinois was made a state, rich lead mines in northern Illinois gave rise to the town of Galena, “the cradle of organized Catholicity in the Diocese of Rockford.” Pioneers in the area were Irish Catholic immigrants. Bishop Joseph Rosati, D.D., had barely settled in St. Louis when the Catholics of Galena, also called Fever River, sent a letter dated April 29, 1827.  In the phrasing and spelling of an older English, it read in part, “The solicitude of the numerous body of Catholics assembled in this section of country inspires them with a confident hope that their numbers and their zeal for our holy Religion will entitle them to your favorable notice.
“Their means, to support a Priest, are ample, their dispositions are, certainly, corresponding with their means, and they rely with confidence, that, considering these two essential requisites, they are entitled to that favourable notice.”
It was signed by a committee of Patrick Walsh, Patrick Hogan, James Foley, John Foley and Michael Byrne, several names still common in the diocese.
After the exchange of several letters, in September, 1830, Father Joseph Lutz was sent to Galena and Prairie du Chien, Wis. When Father Lutz came to the territory that is now the Rockford Diocese, he was sent as a missionary.
The bishop of St. Louis sent the first regular pastor, Father John McMahon, to Galena on Aug. 22, 1832.
Source: 1924 Complete History Book of the Diocese of Rockford

Drawing of Galena in the19th Century.

Feb. 1-23: Check out FORMED

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DIOCESE--FORMED is an online platform that provides access to Catholic audio talks, movies, ebooks, and video-based studies from trusted providers like the Augustine Institute, Ignatius Press, Catholic Answers, the Knights of Columbus, St. Paul Center, Sophia Press and more.
All parishes in the Diocese of Rockford have free access to formed.org through Feb. 23.
For this free trial, simply go to www.formed.org and click LOGIN. Then enter email rockford@formed.org and password formed#18 in the spaces shown above. Click submit and look around.
Look for Catholic faith features in English and Spanish.

Feb. 15: Creighton fertility discussion in Rockford

(Photo courtesy https://www.creightonmodel.com)

ROCKFORD--OSF Institute for Women’s Health and Fertility will offer an introductory session to the Creighton Model Charting System The system is a means to help married couples avoid or achieve pregnancy, or help married or single women monitor their gynecological health naturally and effectively.
Creighton Model is a charting system with a user effectiveness rate of 96.8 percent. As a women learns to chart her cycle, NaPro Technology provides medical and surgical treatments to address reproductive and gynecologic abnormalities. These treatments don’t just mask abnormalities, the goal is to eliminate them completely.
As a Catholic health care system, OSF believes in offering alternatives to contraception and artificial reproductive technologies that are safe, effective and consistent with their commitment to the sanctity of life.
There is no cost to attend the session on Feb. 15 in the OSF St. Anthony Medical Center Foundation Room at 5666 E. State St., but registration is requested. (The session will be repeated March 15.)
Info: Mary O’Grady, RN, CFCP, 815/332-3015, mary.e.o’grady@osfhealthcare.org;  osfhealthcare.org/fertility

The first Catholics in Illinois were French

As Illinois celebrates its bicentennial this year, The Observer will present occasional features from Rockford Diocese history books.

As long as Illinois and the vast territory east and west of the Mississippi was a possession of France and its civil government under the jurisdiction of France, the language, customs and institutions of the Illinois settlements were French, and the priests who labored in these missions were French. They were the Jesuits and the Fathers of the Foreign Missions or Seminary of Quebec.
The Illinois church was under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Quebec until the year 1784, when, on June 9, by a decree of the Propaganda de Fide of Rome, the newly federated United States became a separate ecclesiastical division, and the Very Rev. John Carroll was appointed Prefect Apostolic. In the year 1810 Illinois came under the jurisdiction of the new Bishop of Bardstown, Ky., and in 1827 of the new Bishop of St. Louis, the Rt. Rev. Joseph Rosati, D.D.
Source: 1924 Complete History Book of the Diocese of Rockford

Jan. 7-14: Events in the Rockford Diocese

Jan. 7 and 9: Boylan to host tax credit scholarship talk

Parents and others are welcome to attend one of two sessions about the new Illinois Tax Credit Scholarship Program scheduled at Boylan Central Catholic High School.
The first session will be Jan. 7 at 2 p.m. The second will be Jan. 9 at 7 p.m. Both will be in the school cafeteria on the campus at 4000 St. Francis Dr. in Rockford.
Elizabeth Heitkamp, assistant superintendent of the diocese's Catholic schools will present information and answer questions.
The event is free and open to parents of students in kindergarten through high school.

Jan. 10: Prayer breakfast in Batavia

The Servants of the Holy Heart of Mary will host a prayer breakfast, 9-10:30 a.m., Jan. 10,  at the Nazareth Spirituality Center, 717 N. Batavia Ave. Mary Cornell will talk about Pietra Fitness, a stretching and strenghthening class that integrates Christian prayer into the workout. A donation is asked for the continental breakfast. Registration is requested.

Info: Linda Isleib, 630/879-1296

Jan. 14: Dixon KC free throw contest starts

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Dixon area students age 9 to 14 are eligible for the annual Knights of Columbus Council 690 free throw contests. They will be held Jan. 14, Feb. 11 and March 11 at St. Patrick, 612 Highland Ave., in Dixon. Students must enter the council contest on Jan. 14 in order to advance to later events. Registration starts at 11:30 a.m. and competition at noon each day.

Sister who was inspiration for 'The Trouble With Angels' character dies

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SINSINAWA, Wis. (CNS) -- A funeral Mass was celebrated Jan. 2 for Dominican Sister John Eudes Courtney, who spent 68 years in religious life. Sister Courtney died Dec. 22 at age 95 at the Sinsinawa Dominicans' motherhouse in Sinsinawa.

She served as inspiration for the character of Mary Clancy in the book "Life With Mother Superior" by Jane Trahey, which was turned into the movie "The Trouble With Angels," starring Hayley Mills as Mary Clancy and Rosalind Russell as the mother superior. Trahey was best friends with young Mary Courtney when both were students at Providence High School in Chicago.

Also featured as a nun in the movie's fictional convent was Marge Redmond, who parlayed the role into a two-season stint as Sister Jacqueline in the television series "The Flying Nun."

Sister Courtney was born Sept. 26, 1922, in Chicago, the daughter of Harvey and Josephine Ogden Courtney. She made her first profession in 1949 and took final vows in 1952.

Primarily involved in teaching ministry -- including 30 years of high school English -- Sister Courtney taught at schools in the archdioceses of Chicago; Milwaukee; St. Paul and Minneapolis; and Omaha, Nebraska. She also taught in the dioceses of Nashville, Tennessee; Peoria and Rockford, Illinois; Helena, Montana; Arlington, Virginia; and Owensboro, Kentucky.

In addition, Sister Courtney worked in pastoral ministry and as a community organizer, prison visitor and librarian. Her last assignment before retiring from active ministry in 1993 was serving in the Sinsinawa Dominicans' motherhouse in the transportation department.

See more in The Observer, Jan. 12