To Honor Our Mother

The beautiful tradition of honoring the Blessed Mother during the month of May has been carried out with a May Crowning and Eucharistic Rosary Procession by Milwaukee's Roses for Our Lady for the past 36 years.  This year on the day of the May Crowning the group was blessed with beautiful weather and the presence of Archbishop Listecki and four Milwaukee priests, we were treated to beautiful singing by the Andress and Urlakis sisters, we were delighted by many reverent First Communicants and were joined by many religious and laity.  What a beautiful day and wonderful way to spend Mother's Day honoring Our Blessed Mother!

Here are images and video of Roses for Our Lady's 36th Annual May Crowning and Outdoor Eucharistic Rosary Procession held on Mother's Day, May 8th, 2016 at the Archdiocesan Marian Shrine in Milwaukee.  Photo credits to Mary Anne Urlakis, Terry Boldin, Jazmin Trujillo and Mary Bender.  Video credit to Sylvester Markowski.  You may view the videos here and here or at the bottom of this post.

A Birthday Party for the Blessed Mother-UPDATED

Roses for Our Lady in Milwaukee has an annual tradition of celebrating the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary with a Mass or Holy Hour and an outdoor Eucharistic Rosary Procession each year. This year that celebration took place at Old St. Mary in downtown Milwaukee.

We are blessed to be joined by the Dominican Sisters, and this year they shared the facebook post with details of the event with the caption "Let's party!"  Doesn't that make you smile?  And it really is a party; a party that sends the devil running, as Fr. Tim Kitzke, Vicar General for the Urban Ministry in the City of Milwaukee and Spiritual Advisor for Roses for Our Lady, told us during his homily.

This year our procession walked right past a downtown location where a gentleman's strip club is being proposed.  Fr. Tim has been working hard to fight against that club being allowed a license, and has been asking for the help and prayers of everyone who attends Mass at Old St. Mary.  As our procession moved past the empty building of the proposed club we paused to pray a decade of the rosary there, and then Fr. Tim blessed the building with Our Lord in the monstrance.  At the very instant that he blessed the building, the church bells rung out.  It was a powerful moment of prayer! Fr. Tim said that he felt that the ringing of the bells was a sign from God.  Let's continue to keep the devil on the run as we invoke Our Lady's assistance in all that we do!

UPDATE:  The Milwaukee Common Council voted 3-2 against granting a license to the Gentleman's Club on September 17th.  Much thanks is due to Fr. Tim and all who worked and prayed to keep it away from our downtown neighborhood so close to Old St. Mary and St. John the Evangelist Cathedral, and most of all, thanks be to God for all of His blessings.  Story here and here.

(All photos courtesy of Jazmin Trujillo)

Pro-Life Eucharistic Procession

photo credit:  Tim Townsend

Milwaukee's Forty Days for Life Campaign closed out its fall season in a big way with its second Pro-Life Eucharistic Procession led by Milwaukee's Auxiliary Bishop Donald Hying.  The Sunday afternoon procession was marked by an unseasonably early snowfall and cold temperatures, but despite that, turnout was high with over 100 participants enduring the weather to offer sacrificial prayer for an end to abortion, and specifically, for the closing of Affiliated Medical Services and the success of the Women's Care Center which is directly across the street from the abortion provider, and which offers free help to women in crisis pregnancies, allowing them to keep their babies.

photo credit:  Tim Townsend

photo credit:  Tim Townsend

photo credit:  Tim Townsend

The rosary procession, which moved around the entire block where the abortion facility is located, and then ended at the Women's Care Center for benediction, was beautifully peaceful with the exception of a few anti-Catholic and vulgar remarks and gestures from passersby.  What a blessing it is to endure cold, wintry weather and crude comments for the sake of our faith!  How blessed we are to suffer these hurts in union with the suffering that our Lord endured on his walk to Calvary.

photo credit:  Tim Townsend

photo credit:  Tim Townsend

 I love the reflection in the door in this photo! It's as if Bishop Hying and Jesus are right inside of the door of death and are bringing peace and love within to remove the pain that resides there.
photo credit:  Tim Townsend

In his final remarks, Bishop Hying stated that he was moved by the fact that we stood in front of the abortion mill which is a present-day Golgotha, representing death and destruction, and then moved to the Women's Care Center which is a current form of the Resurrection, representing life and hope.  What a blessing the Women's Care Center is to young women in need of assistance during their pregnancies!  Please pray for its continued success and support it financially if you are able.

photo credit:  Tim Townsend

photo credit:  Tim Townsend

photo credit:  Tim Townsend

photo credit:  Tim Townsend

For more photos from this procession, all courtesy of Tim Townsend, visit Milwaukee's Forty Days for Life website here.

Celebrating Our Blessed Mother's Birth

On Sunday, September 8th, Roses for Our Lady celebrated the Nativity of the Blessed Mother with an outdoor Eucharistic Rosary Procession at Saint Francis de Sales Seminary during our monthly Holy Hour for Vocations.  We were blessed to be joined by Roses for Our Lady's spiritual advisor, Bishop Donald Hying. We presented gifts of non-perishable food for a local food pantry in our Lady's honor, and then, following the holy hour, we enjoyed a birthday party.  The pictures below are courtesy of Mary Anne Urlakis and her family.

3 Reasons I Love Catholicism Vol. 5

Here I am at this wickedly late hour,  joining Micaela at California to Korea and sharing three of my favorite things about my beloved Catholic faith that are resonating within my soul this month...

1.  Confession and Forgiveness:  They go together, don't they?  That day when my daughter and I did battle over teenage fashion like mothers and daughters sometimes do, we were both left feeling emotionally raw from anger and sorrow and poor judgment.  Twelve-year-olds aren't the only ones who suffer from growing pains and the struggle to mature.

So the next night when Dad took the boys to the baseball game, mother and daughter headed downtown to Gesu's dark basement church for confession, and we stood in line, waiting to beg forgiveness from our Lord.  Ancient Fr. Herian came creaking around the corner in his cassock that hung limply from his bony frame and we each took our turn in the box.  I love that Fr. Herian.  He spoke of how confession is for encouragement and told me to spend the month of August praying for courage.  Then he pointed out the crucifix hanging on the wall above my head.  He asked me to look long and hard at Jesus suffering and dying there and to repeat after him three times, and together we prayed, "Jesus, crucified for me, have mercy on me, a sinner.  Jesus, crucified for me, have mercy on me, a sinner.  Jesus, crucified for me, have mercy on me, a sinner."  I left the confessional with a smile on my face to find my daughter who was silently kneeling as she offered her penance.  We embraced and sighed with contentment and peace.

Then we headed over to Cempazuchi, my favorite Mexican restaurant on Brady Street, part of "The Fashionable East Side", and we sat outside and ate and talked and laughed and prayed with the Angelus Bells ringing at St. Hedwig's across the street and watched the people walk past and we had a lovely time. The best mother/daughter time ever.  And all is forgiven.  And the mercy of our loving God warmed our souls and we relaxed in His love which embraces us both.

 2.  Processions:  There are times when this is not exactly on my favorites list.  There are times when processions cause me too much stress and worry and I fail to trust in the Lord thinking that I have to control everything.  That's because I'm the procession planner for Roses for Our Lady and the devil hates it when Catholics gather by the hundreds and bring the Eucharist out into the street and pray the rosary on a loudspeaker to draw attention to our beautiful faith.  So that evil one makes sure he gives me all he's got to try to keep me from getting my job done.  But he always fails because Our Lady's love is so much stronger than his ugly hatred.  She crushes his head every time.  So there are always difficulties and challenges when planning our Eucharistic Rosary Processions, but when the pieces finally fall together, it is a beautiful sight to behold, and I will do it again and again for the joy that it brings to my Mother who continually suffers from the sins of this world.

Roses for Our Lady's May Crowning Eucharistic Rosary Procession

Bishop Hying, Fr. Tim Kitzke, Fr. Enrique Hernandez, Fr. Paul Schneider, OFM Conv. (just before his ordination)

Fr. Matthew Widder with Our Lord

If you are in the Milwaukee area, you will want to join Roses for Our Lady and Bishop Donald Hying at our September 8th procession in honor of the Blessed Mother's Birthday and on October 6th in honor of Our Lady of the Rosary.   They will both be equally beautiful celebrations!  Details can be found here.

3.  Homilies:  A good homily is food for the soul. It has the power to nurture and inspire me to joyfully live my faith and will often remain in my thoughts throughout the upcoming week.  Of course, I've never heard anyone say that they love a dull, uninspiring homily, so I know I'm not alone in my love for a good homily.

The thing about a homily that makes it so special is that it's the breaking open of the Gospel reading, not simply a sermon about any topic that happens to be on the pastor's heart at the present moment.  Through the homily, we learn and understand a bit more about the Gospel and how we are called to live it in our daily lives. We are given a glimpse into the very heart of Jesus through the words of the priest.

What are three of your reasons for loving Catholicism?  List them in the comments or join Micaela and write your own blog post about them!

The World is Hungry

"The world is hungry for the Eucharist, adored and received! "
~Fr. Jim Kubicki, SJ

On September 9th, Roses for Our Lady sponsored a Eucharistic Rosary Procession during our monthly holy hour for vocations in honor of the Blessed Mother's birth.  Fr. Jim Kubicki, SJ, the national director of the Apostleship of Prayer, had the honor of carrying our Lord in the procession.  I posted this picture, taken by Eve Anna Urlakis, to Roses for Our Lady's facebook page and it has been shared 16 times including in locations across the world, which is incredible to me considering the fact that Roses for Our Lady is just a small, local group in the Milwaukee Archdiocese.

O Sacrament most holy, O Sacrament divine, all praise and all thanksgiving be every moment thine!  Praised be Jesus Christ in the most holy Sacrament of the altar, now and forever.  Amen.