You are viewing an archived page on our old website. Click here to visit our new website.

Home | Join/Donate | Current Voices | Liturgical Calendar | What's New | Affirmation | James Hitchcock's Column | Church Documents | Search | Site Map


Voices Online Edition
Vol. XXIV, No. 3
Michaelmas 2009

Women for Faith & Family
Celebrating 25 years of service to the Church
1984-2009

Bishop Hermann Leads WFF in "Gospel of Life" Day

The Gospel of Life was the theme of a day of recollection sponsored by Women for Faith & Family on July 18, 2009, as part of its twenty-fifth anniversary observance. More than 80 attended the event held at the Cardinal Rigali Center in St. Louis.

Bishop Robert Hermann, auxiliary bishop of St. Louis, led the WFF day of recollection for the second year.

Bishop Hermann gave three in-depth reflections on Pope John Paul II’s key encyclical, Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life). This 1995 encyclical is a profound teaching on the fundamental Christian truth that all human life is linked to God and thus is sacred from its very beginning.

The bishop guided the group through the encyclical’s four chapters. He stressed the responsibility of every person to build a “culture of life”, and the obligation of all Christians to communicate the truth about human life to others by our actions as well as by words — and to be willing to suffer for this truth.

The day’s events included a Votive Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary, celebrated by Bishop Hermann, and choral recitation of morning and evening prayer (Lauds and Vespers) held in the beautiful gothic-style chapel of St. Vincent de Paul in the Cardinal Rigali Center.

Father Samuel Weber, OSB, director of the St. Louis archdiocesan Institute for Sacred Music, composed chants for the English texts for the Divine Office, and led the group in singing. The chapel is ideally suited for choral recitation of the Divine Office, as it was originally built for Kenrick Seminary with antiphonal seating, or choir stalls, common to religious or monastic churches and like the chancel area of gothic cathedrals.

Participants recited the Rosary together, and began the Novena for the Protection of the Unborn. In addition to Bishop Hermann and Father Weber, five priests heard confessions in the afternoon: Monsignor Timothy Cronin, Monsignor David Ratermann, Monsignor Thomas Woracek, Father Harry Voelker and Father Donald Henke.

Bishop Hermann’s talks were recorded, and are available as a set of 3 CDs. The set may be purchased ($15 + $4.00 shipping) from St. Joseph Radio, 3895 Cambridge Crossing Drive, St. Charles, MO 63304, or phone 636-244-0089.

A study guide for Evangelium Vitae, prepared as an aid to individuals or groups in understanding this important papal encyclical, is available from Women for Faith & Family (online: www.wff.org/EvangeliumVitaeStudyGuide.html).


Related News Release: 2008

Related News Release: 2009


**Women for Faith & Family operates solely on your generous donations!

WFF is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Donations are tax deductible.


Voices copyright © 1999-Present Women for Faith & Family. All rights reserved.

PERMISSION GUIDELINES

All material on this web site is copyrighted and may not be copied or reproduced without prior written permission from Women for Faith & Family,except as specified below.

Personal use
Permission is granted to download and/or print out articles for personal use only.

Quotations
Brief quotations (ca 500 words) may be made from the material on this site, in accordance with the “fair use” provisions of copyright law, without prior permission. For these quotations proper attribution must be made of author and WFF + URL (i.e., “Women for Faith & Family – www.wf-f.org.)

Attribution
Generally, all signed articles or graphics must also have the permission of the author. If a text does not have an author byline, Women for Faith & Family should be listed as the author. For example: Women for Faith & Family (St Louis: Women for Faith & Family, 2005 + URL)

Link to Women for Faith & Family web site.
Other web sites are welcome to establish links to www.wf-f.org or to individual pages within our site.


Back to top -- Home -- Back to the Table of Contents

Women for Faith & Family
PO Box 300411
St. Louis, MO 63130

314-863-8385 Phone -- 314-863-5858 Fax -- Email

You are viewing an archived page on our old website. Click here to visit our new website.