Richard Herbers comes from a long line of Boy Scouts. Joining his four brothers, father, seven uncles and seven cousins [...]

Holy Thursday’s Mass of the Lord’s Supper includes the washing of the feet. Meant to symbolize Jesus’ request that his [...]

St. Augustine said, “Faith has two beautiful daughters. They are named courage – to speak of things as they are – and hope, to see the way forward by which they may be changed.”

As a young girl in northern Wisconsin, Terri Gilliland lived a near idyllic life with her four siblings and outdoorsy parents. Carefree days playing tag, kickball and jump rope comprised her afterschool and summer activities. Vacations consisted of camping, canoeing  and hiking, but no matter the time of year, Sundays were set aside for Mass, family dinners, visiting relatives and fair weather picnics.
 
Gilliland, 49, naturally assumed this trend would continue after her marriage to Tracy, 28 years ago. A proud mother, she enjoyed watching her three children, Tiffany, TJ and Stacy grow and thrive into their teenage years, but about 10 years ago, keeping watch over her brood became more difficult.
 
Gradually, the faces of Tracy and her children began to blur; she had trouble driving at night, and her eyes became sensitive to bright lights. As Gilliland struggled to navigate in crowded and unfamiliar places, an unfamiliar feeling of terror overwhelmed her. A diagnosis of Retinitis Pigmentosa confirmed her worst fears; her vision was slowly deteriorating. The illness began by affecting her peripheral vision and would slowly progress toward the center of the visual field.
 
Dealing with the loss of her sight was difficult, but her husband’s near fatal motorcycle accident, and 16 year-old TJ’s diagnosis of brain cancer brought her to her knees.
 

Seven days a week, polkas and classic country songs entertain listeners in the Hartford area at 104.9 FM. Each day [...]

Maria Cribben celebrates after taking her turn bowling at Tower Lanes in Beaver Dam on Thursday, Nov. 4. Maria regularly bowls with a Special Olympics team and has an average score of 80, but has reached a high score of more than 100. More photos can be viewed at http://photos.chnonline.org. (Catholic Herald photo by Allen Fredrickson)Elaine Mullin doesn’t remember all the faces she encounters, but there’s one face she couldn’t forget. After attending eucharistic adoration for the first time at Sacred Heart Parish, Horicon, where she and her husband joined a little more than a year ago, Mullin saw Maria Cribben, who has Down syndrome, serving during adoration and Benediction, and found herself thinking about Maria even after she left.

“You couldn’t help but notice Maria’s subtle movements, actions, very full of grace and beauty when she is assisting Father…,” Mullin said in a phone interview with your Catholic Herald. “There’s just focus and there’s joy, and when you leave eucharistic adoration after the closure, I thought, well, there’s a smile on your face and there’s a smile in your heart.”

As a little girl, Jolita Frank remembers quietly practicing the Catholic faith with her parents. While they attended Mass on [...]

Sara Kierzek’s life motto is a sentence once uttered by Blessed Mother Teresa: “If we have no peace, it is [...]

For 40 of his 48 years, Lee Eldon McGraw has been a Special Olympian, participating year-round in events including bocce, bowling, basketball and swimming. This year he was awarded with a plaque and medal for “The Male Athlete of the Year for the Special Olympics for the Greater Milwaukee Area 8,” a region that covers Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington and Waukesha counties.

Looking trim and fit in a suit and tie on his recent day off from work, Lee, a Wauwatosa resident, said the award came as a surprise to him. He said there are about 100 people in his community regularly involved in the Special Olympics.

“I enjoy playing the sports and helping the athletes and coaches with what they need,” he added.

Lee noted it is his Catholic faith that helps drive his dedication to the Special Olympics and its participants.

Fr. Daniel J. Sanders, pastor of St. Benedict Parish, Fontana, baptizes Morgan Meeker during the Easter Vigil Mass at the [...]

The prairie grasses along Ottawa Avenue hadn’t yet given way to asphalt roads, subdivisions, and local businesses when Dousman and neighboring Ottawa’s first Catholic Church, St. Bruno, held its first Mass in 1852.

The nearest church was what is now known as St. Lawrence Parish in Jefferson. In those days, St. Lawrence was called “The St. Bruno Mission.” In 1852, the St. Bruno Mission Church was enlarged and officially named St. Lawrence.

“The first Mass was held in a private home, by visiting priest Fr. Michael Haider, pastor of St. Lawrence in Jefferson,” said Debra Hendrick, St. Bruno Parish historian. “The altar was constructed out of boxes, and built by the priest. The tiny parish became a mission of St. Lawrence Church.”

However, don’t get Hendrick started on today’s priest shortage! She explained that in the 1840s and early 1850s only about seven priests provided for the needs of 2,000 Catholics in the Wisconsin and Iowa Territories. Missionary priests rode on horseback over dirt roads doing missionary work, which consisted of baptizing, converting, hearing confessions, performing marriages and celebrating Mass.

“Now that was a shortage,” she said. “I like to ponder this sometimes, because it is not a new problem.”