After we finished that first holy hour of prayer, one of the men had a shocked expression on his face and asked me what this was all about. I explained that we had been praying before the Lord Jesus Christ in his sacramental form — the Holy Eucharist.
Estill Turner previously felt the chapel was “boxy,” but now the eye flows upward and wraps the room cohesively. Stations of the Cross hang low enough to catch Kindergarteners’ interest with the drama of Christ’s Passion and a relic of Saint Pius X graces a corner shelf.
Founded during the First Crusade in the 11th century, the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre were formed as a military order, taking vows of poverty and obedience to the King of Jerusalem. However, the order’s military charism has been defunct for at least 500 years, and was modernized by Pope Pius IX in the 19th century. Since the papacy of Saint John Paul II, the order has been a public association of the faithful per canon law. Its chief charisms are to strengthen the practice of Christian life in its members, to propagate the faith, and to assist the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem and the Catholic Church in the Holy Land.
A thousand years have passed since the first Crusade launched to defend Christians under siege in the land of Christ’s birth. A group of modern-day knights and ladies — including dozens of Alaskans — continue the work as members of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre. “It all got started in the Holy Land — this is where Jesus was born, grew up, worked, lived, died and rose for us,” Sir Thomas McKiernan told members of Catholic international order of knighthood. “We have been entrusted to maintain the Christian presence there.”
Area Catholic schools are fuller than last year, with more families choosing Catholic education for their children across the Anchorage Archdiocese.
Judge Suddock explained that “for all practical purposes” his ruling empowers an abortion practitioner “unfettered physician discretion” in determining whether an abortion is medically necessary and thereby eligible for state-funded Medicaid reimbursements.
The annual Red Mass takes place on Sunday, Oct. 4 at 9:30 a.m. at Our Lady of Guadalupe Co-Cathedral in Anchorage. Held in many American cities, the Red Mass is a special liturgy for all who practice law, especially asking God’s guidance for attorneys, judges and politicians. Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schwietz will celebrate the Mass, which will be followed by a brunch and presentation at the downtown Marriott Hotel. Father Patrick Travers, the judicial vicar for all three dioceses in Alaska, will give a talk entitled: “The foundation of Natural Law in American Law.”
Anchorage’s oldest church marked a momentous milestone on Sept. 15 — that was the day Holy Family Cathedral turned 100. Celebration of the centenary reflected the joy and solemnity that many parishioners felt in being part of the mother church of the Anchorage Archdiocese. Marked by great festivity, the centennial Mass was celebrated by Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schwietz accompanied by 13 priests, including several former pastors of the cathedral.
Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schwietz has extended an invitation to area Catholics to attend the Oct. 8 St. Francis Stewardship Awards in Anchorage. The annual banquet honors Alaskans who serve the church in the spirit of Saint Francis.
On Feb. 11, 1779 two Spanish ships slipped away from the dock at San Blas, Mexico and sailed into the dark toward Alaska. Three Catholic priests had joined the perilous mission — Father Juan Antonió Garcia Riobó and Father Matiás de Santa Catalina Noriega, Franciscans from Mexico, and Father Cristóbal Antonio Díaz, a secular priest from Peru.