Vigil for Life
Members of East Central Area Missouri Right To Life in Washington hosted a prayer Vigil for Life in front of the Franklin County Courthouse in Union July 16 (above). At least seven area parishes were represented, along with members of other faith denominations. Father Donald Morris of Our Lady of Lourdes and Deacon Tim Reis of St. Francis Borgia began the vigil with the Rosary, leading approximately 150 participants in prayer.
New president at De Smet Jesuit
Father Ronald R. O’Dwyer, SJ, has been named president of De Smet Jesuit High School, effective July 1. Father O’Dwyer had been serving as interim president of De Smet since January 2022. He spent three years at De Smet as part of his formation as a Jesuit in the early 2000s, teaching theology and running student activities. Since then, he has been teaching with Saint Louis University’s education department and served as director of SLU’s Billiken Teacher Corps. Father O’Dwyer will be formally installed as president at an all-school Mass on Aug. 25.
Aquinas grant
Aquinas Institute of Theology has received a $1 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to fund the Aquinas Path for Tomorrow Project. The project is funded through Lilly Endowment’s Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative, a three-phase initiative designed to help theological schools across the United States and Canada as they prioritize and respond to pressing challenges in preparing pastoral leaders for Christian congregations.
The goal of the Aquinas Path for Tomorrow Project is to strengthen the institute’s mission to educate and form the next generation of ministerial leaders who will share the Gospel of Jesus Christ by actively participating in the emerging cultures of a religiously disengaged world. Aquinas will establish a Center for Community Engagement and Evangelization, providing opportunities for continuing formation, especially in preaching, administration and community building, all of which are essential for engaging the emerging cultural realities of our time. The second goal is to develop a broad and inclusive institutional culture of philanthropy that will provide financial sustainability by lessening the school’s dependence on tuition revenue.
NFP Awareness Week
Natural Family Planning Awareness Week will be observed in the Archdiocese of St. Louis July 24-30. The archdiocesan Office of Natural Family Planning has scheduled five interviews, which will take place each evening at 7 p.m. on the NFP Office’s Facebook page (@stlnfp). Speakers and their topics include Monday, July 25, “The ‘Superfertile’ Side of NFP,” with Rachelle and Russell Brewer; Tuesday, July 26, “Talking to Parents and Teens about NFP” with Dr. Elizabeth Abraham; Wednesday, July 27, “Using NFP to Improve Health and Manage Infertility,” with the Carlsen Family; Thursday, July 28, “A Priest Speaks about NFP,” with Father Andrew Auer; Friday, July 29, “Stories from the Office of NFP” with NFP Office Staff.
The NFP Office also will host a Love and Life Celebration in honor of the anniversary of Humanae Vitae, on Sunday, July 31, at St. Mary Magdalen Church in Brentwood. Archbishop Mitchell T. Rozanski will celebrate Mass at 11:30 a.m., followed by a food truck picnic on the parish grounds. For more information or to RSVP, visit stlreview.com/3xvwlEH.
Novena to St. Clare
The annual Novena to St. Clare will take place Aug. 2-10 at the Monastery of St. Clare (Poor Clare Nuns), 200 Marycrest Drive in south St. Louis County. The monastery is located off Telegraph Road. The novena will begin each evening at 7 p.m. with night prayer and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.
Prayers and Pastries
The archdiocesan Mission Office will host Prayers and Pastries, a quarterly prayer and fellowship event, at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 2, at the Cardinal Rigali Center in Shrewsbury. Participants will meet in the chapel to pray the World Mission Rosary, which will be followed by a missionary reflection, coffee and donuts in the Lally Room. Please RSVP to [email protected] or call (314) 792-7655.