This Week's Headlines

Remembering Fire at cathedral in 1912

With the front pews reserved for, and filled with firefighters from the city of Belleville, Bishop Edward K. Braxton blessed a refurbished canopy over the cathedra or bishop’s chair and a pulpit at St. Peter Cathedral, during a liturgy commemorating a fire that destroyed the church Jan. 4, 1912.

Bishop Braxton noted that on this day, Jan. 8, when the feast of the Epiphany was celebrated, it was 125 years and one day ago on Jan. 7, 1887 that the Diocese of Belleville was erected.

Pope Leo XIII signed documents establishing this diocese from the Diocese of Alton.

Bishop John Janssen, Belleville’s first bishop, had celebrated his 50th anniversary a little more than three years earlier, in 1908.
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st. augustine of hippo parish marks martin luther king jr., anniversary

The way St. Augustine of Hippo Parish in East St. Louis
has celebrated the birthday of Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr., has varied over the years — sometimes with more fanfare than others — but the message has remained the same: The dream must stay alive.

Pastor, Father Carroll Mizicko OFM, linked the Sunday readings to the call of Dr. King. As Samuel said: “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening,” so too did Dr. King answer the Lord in the same way so many centuries later.

Dr. King spoke to the people of his time, preaching non-violence, preaching justice for all.

Through his many speeches, King encouraged the people to hold fast to their dreams, to work peacefully for justice.
Father Mizicko referred to a 1963 speech Dr. King gave in Washington, D.C., when he encouraged the people to “go back to your homes knowing the situation will change. Do not wallow in the valley of despair.”
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bishop braxton reflects on msgr. eichenseer's death in advent

Calling this “a family affair,” six Goeckner sisters, originally from the Effingham, Ill., area, joined the Adorers of the Blood of Christ
between 1928 and 1944.

Two of the sisters have passed away — Sister Mary William and Sister Martha — but the remaining four sisters range in age from 81 to 99 years old. And they all put in time at the quilting frame daily although they said they didn’t work on Sundays.

The family work ethic was instilled in the Goeckners at an early age since the family with nine children — six girls and three boys — all grew up on the farm. Chores were part of life, and they talked about feeding pigs and chickens, milking cows and plowing fields behind a horse.
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St. john the baptist in red bud opens sesquicentennial

Marking 150 years of faith, Jan. 7-8 the parish family of
St. John the Baptist in Red Bud opened its anniversary celebration with a special liturgy reflecting on the people and events that shaped
the parish.

Parishioners and relatives of the parish founders — James Roscow, George Bessen, Anton Huegle, George Hoefflin and Anton Yaeger — carried candles to the sanctuary while other parishioners brought symbols forward.

A chalice and ciborium used in the early years of the parish as well as pictures of the first and second church buildings were carried to the front. School principal, Kris Hill, carried up an assortment of books from the early days of the school, now 146 years old.
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