Newsletter from the Oratory

SAINT FRANCIS DE SALES ORATORY EMAIL NEWSLETTER 2653 Ohio Avenue Saint Louis, Missouri 63118 www.institute-christ-king.org www.TraditionForTomorrow.com 314-771-3100 September 22, 2011 MONTH OF THE HOLY ROSARY – SEMINARY SOCIETY BREAKFAST VISIT OF ARCHBISHOP CARLSON  PORCH REBUILDING– 1888 BUILDING BATHROOMS MAINTENANCE BY DAVE GRIESHABER -  QUIZ: CAN YOU GUESS? Dear Faithful and Friends of St. Francis de Sales Oratory, OCTOBER – MONTH OF THE HOLY ROSARY Photo: Battle of Lepanto, by Paolo Veronese The first Sunday of October we celebrate the External Solemnity of Our Lady of the Rosary. The feast itself, celebrated on October 7, commemorates the battle of Lepanto in 1571, when a Rosary procession in Rome ordered by Pope Pius V turned the tide of war, and ended in the great sea battle victory of the Holy League against the fleet of the Ottoman Empire. Again calling on the powerful intercession of the Blessed Virgin to fortify us and help us in our daily battles, we will pray the Rosary daily before the Exposed Blessed Sacrament at 6:00 PM every evening in the place of Vespers at the Church. Please plan to join us as often as you can. SEMINARY SOCIETY BREAKFAST, OCTOBER 30, FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING Seminary Society Breakfast - October 30, 2010 The month of October ends with the Feast of Christ the King on the last Sunday, a feast instituted in 1925 by Pope Pius XI to remind us of the kingship of Christ and His sovereignty over all human affairs. This is also the patronal feast of the Institute, and on this feast we customarily ask for the support from all faithful for the Institute’s International Seminary in Gricigliano. As last year, we are planning a Seminary Society Breakfast after both Masses (8AM and 10AM) to draw attention to the activities and needs of the Seminary. Please mark your calendars, and watch for upcoming announcements regarding this Breakfast fundraiser. Be assured of edifying and entertaining surprises! VISIT OF HIS GRACE, ARCHBISHOP ROBERT J. CARLSON First Visit of His Grace, Archbishop Carlson - March 14, 2010 On Sunday, October 9, we will have the great honor of welcoming His Grace, Archbishop Robert J. Carlson on a visit to the Oratory. The Archbishop will preach at the 10:00 AM Mass, and be on hand to visit with the staff and the faithful at the reception following Mass. Since its inception at Pentecost, the life of the Church is always strengthened by the presence of the bishops, the successors of the apostles. The vibrant life at the Oratory has its source in the Sacred Heart of Our Blessed Lord, but would not be complete without the Episcopal blessing God has provided for us. It will be a pleasure and an honor to receive the visit of Archbishop Carlson. PORCH REBUILDING Architectural drawing of future porch by Tony Camacho    As you may remember, we began the mystery photo contest ("Can you guess - Where is this in the Oratory?") with the dismantled porch on the north side of the gymnasium building. The dilapidated structure was unsightly and broken, and long overdue for replacement. We have recently received the necessary city permit to allow us to complete this renovation. We are deeply indebted to Mr. Tony Camacho, an architect with the Legacy Design Group, who generously drew up the plans for us pro bono; we now have the blueprint for the construction of the new porch. There is much work to be done all around the campus and inside the church, and the small but steady progress would not be possible without the generous support of all of you, our benefactors and friends. Please continue to support the work of restoring St. Francis de Sales! Tony V. CamachoAddress: 2758 Accomac Street Saint Louis, Missouri 63104-2220 Email: legacydesigngroup@gmail.com Phone : 314-486-1846 Website: http://www.residentialarchitecturaldesign.com/ 1888-BUILDING BATHROOMS                With the return to the Wednesday classroom schedule on campus for the home school co-op, the students were greeted with renovated bathrooms and working hot water. Some of the co-op parents generously spent many hot summer days (and nights) improving the bathrooms on the second floor of the 1888 building. These bathrooms were in a bad condition from age and lack of maintenance. The parents provided the labor and materials to retile the floors, and clean and paint the walls. With the help of the Oratory’s contract plumber, leaky fixtures were removed and replaced, new valves were installed and hot water was piped to the sinks. These improvements make the co-op space more pleasant and useable for the students and families, and likely prevented further deterioration of the facility. We thank our co-op families for their tireless efforts and their generosity in maintaining and restoring our 1888-school building. MAINTENANCE BY DAVE GRIESHABER Mr. Dave Grieshaber We would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the invaluable contribution of our maintenance personnel, Mr. Dave Grieshaber, who has been taking care of the Oratory since 2006. Mr. Grieshaber grew up in the vicinity of St. Francis de Sales, and has intimate knowledge of every square inch of the church and campus. Dave has been instrumental in keeping the Oratory running, and all its antiquated support systems – most importantly the heating and cooling, in operable condition. As the Oratory is vast and old, this is no mean feat! We are very grateful for Dave’s dedication to the Oratory, and the daily coverage he provides from Monday through Friday, every week of the year. Thank you very much, Dave! CAN YOU GUESS – WHERE IS THIS IN THE ORATORY? Our previous contest was the image of St. Michael, found at the top of the gymnasium entrance. Thank you all for your participation. This week, we have once again a familiar image often in our field of vision when we come to the Oratory. Please check our blog to see this detail of our beautiful church, which is full of visual cues to draw our thoughts towards our ultimate destiny: Heaven. With my best sincere wishes and the assurance of my faithful prayers in Christ the King, Canon Michael K. Wiener Rector, St. Francis de Sales Oratory

Photos of Fog

LESS THAN A WEEK ago, I remembered the dense fog of northern California. “We never get that kind of fog in Saint Louis,” I thought. But providentially, the weather forecast predicted heavy fog over large parts of the Midwest. So I got up before dawn and took my camera to shoot some pictures.



At North Riverfront Park in Saint Louis.



Photography within fog does not obey the rules of the photographic Modernists: sharpness, great depth of field, and precise focus are impossible and pointless. Rather, we follow the earlier Pictorialist photographers, seeking strong composition and an emotional or even a spiritual approach to our subject.



Fog shrouds large things, like the greatest river in North America in this photo, or huge mountain ranges; it can also cover things of practical importance, like an oncoming vehicle on the road.

Fog is a natural symbol of unknowing, of the heavy veil that separates our experience and knowledge from reality. Sharp edges are lost, colors are muted, and our view is severely limited.



Fog is a cloud that has settled or has formed on the ground. Normally clouds have no obvious scale, they appear to be floating beneath a heavenly dome to which are affixed the stars, and so could be any distance away: our eyes give us little clue.



But when fog settles near the ground, you can sometimes reach up and touch that cloud's base, or even stand above it if it is not too thick. Within the cloud, your senses are confused: you cannot see far, your hearing is muffled, and the odor of the cloud itself, the humidity, fills your nostrils and you can even taste it and feel it.



At Columbia Bottom Conservation Area, located at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers.



Clouds are a symbol of divinity. God leads the Israelites as a pillar of cloud. The glory of God, shrouded by clouds, settles on Mount Sinai and on the Tabernacle. Mist, mystically speaking, is a symbol of the intersection of the divine and earthly.



In Sacred Scripture, clouds veil God from our sight, and are also a symbol for God's gifts: as rain from the clouds relieves a parched land, so grace refreshes our souls.



In fiction, the symbolism of fog can be used to good effect. The hard-boiled detective Sam Spade in San Francisco, and Sherlock Holmes in London, both seek out the answers to mysteries in the dark and the fog.



In more romantic styles of fiction, fog can have a presence, almost if it were a character in the story. What lurks nearby, unseen?



It is said that climate shapes character, as well as philosophy. The ancient Greeks preferred bright days of sunshine, and likewise their high philosophy is seen as being overly optimistic at man's ability to shape history and approach divinity. Northern stories and philosophies, set amid the cold and fog, tend to be more pessimistic, more dependent on unalterable fate.



There is a common contemporary philosophy that does not want to approach mystery. Especially when it comes to religion, this view accepts mysteries such as the Holy Trinity, but does not attempt to go deeper into them. Rather, these philosophers concentrate on practical matters, such as politics.



It is true that a fog restricts our vision, and the fog of divinity likewise veils our theology. As Saint Paul writes, we see through a glass, darkly. But to a traveler who must reach his final destination, fog must be navigated whether he wants to or not, despite his own personal standards for acceptable visibility.



And so likewise, we must navigate the fog of divinity if we want to reach our final destination. As Christians, we ought to humbly accept Revelation, as a driver must rely on his roadmaps when traveling though unknown territory.

A Spiderweb

"Theological Aspects of Beauty and Art"

MEET ME this Friday, when I talk about art and beauty:

SPEAKER SOCIAL September 23 Doors Open 6:30 pm / Speaker Begins 7:00 pm MARK SCOTT ABELN "Theological Aspects of Beauty & Art"

Please join us this Friday, when Mark Abeln, speaks to us on Catholic tradition in art (classical and medieval), the virtue of art, and the traditional definitions of art and beauty. A native St. Louisan and Catholic convert, Mark Abeln is a professional photgrapher, and has also been writing about Catholic culture since 2004 in his online blog, Rome of the West. While taking photos of some old churches, Mark became aware that his poor-qualtiy photos did not do justice to these worthy subjects, and so he was inspired to learn the art of photography, and the role of religion in contemporary culture.  This ultimatey culminated in the publication of Fr. William Barnaby Faherty's book Catholic St. Louis: A Pictorial History, which featured hundreds of Mark's color photographs of area churches. Coffee, Cappuccino, Espreso & More! Catholic St. Louis: A Pictorial History will be available for purhase!  No Cost - Goodwill Offering Appreciated! Woodstone Plaza 3920 S. Old Hwy 94 St. Charles, MO 63004 636-447-6000

Photos of Immaculate Conception Church, in Saint James, Missouri

HERE ARE PHOTOS of Immaculate Conception Church, in Saint James, Missouri. The church is located in Phelps County, and is about 97 miles southwest of downtown Saint Louis on Interstate 44. It is part of the Diocese of Jefferson City.




The parish was founded in 1870, and is made up about about 190 families.

The town of Saint James is not named after the Greater or Lesser Apostles of Our Lord, but rather after the James family, who owned an iron mine and smelter southeast of town. The remains of the ironworks can be found at the Maramec Spring Park. Saint James is located on Big Prairie; prior to European settlement, this area was frequented by the Shawnee tribe who had a cemetery here. The town of Scioto was laid out in 1859, being renamed Saint James the next year.

This region was settled by Italian immigrants in 1898, who set up a significant wine and grape industry. There a number of fine wineries nearby.



Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus: Holy, Holy, Holy.

The church was locked, but I was able to get this photo through the door.

Address:
316 East Scioto Street
Saint James, Missouri 65559