MISSIONARIES OF THE PRECIOUS BLOOD

Breaking News

Fr. Anthony Receives Award

Fr. Angelo Anthony, C.PP.S., director
of the Cincinnati Province, was
given the St. Joseph the Worker
Award by Calumet College of St.
Joseph for his tireless commitment
to the college and to the Missionaries
of the Precious Blood. Fr. Anthony,
said Calumet College President
Dennis Rittenmeyer, “exemplifies
quiet dignity and a faith-driven life of
service to others. Under his guidance
the college has cultivated its Catholic
identity while advancing its social
justice mission.”

In his acceptance speech, Fr. Anthony said,
“When we look at the life of St. Joseph we can see that his actions were rooted in the Word of God. He trusted and believed that God’s promises would be fulfilled. . . . May we greet tomorrow and everyday looking through the eyes of St. Joseph. May we heed the call to continually reconcile our head and our heart so that God’s plan for us will not be stifled, but rise out of the struggles of our inner doubt to a place of acceptance and peace, trusting that God’s Word will be fulfilled in ways we cannot yet imagine.

St. Joseph, model of faith, pray for us!”

Fr. Ranly Publishes
Spiritual Resources

Fr. Ernest Ranly, C.PP.S., formerly a Missionary to Peru and Colombia and now in residence at St. Charles Center in Carthagena, Ohio, has published a series of resources for people to learn more about Precious Blood spirituality.

The Spirituality of the Blood of Christ is a 51-page booklet that explores the spirituality of the Precious Blood. It includes discussion questions. Two smaller booklets, Novena in Honor of the Blood of Christ and The Way of the Cross of Our Lady of the Precious Blood, are also available. All are in English.To learn how to obtain copies of the books for your ministry site, contact Fr. Ranly at eranly56@bright.net

 

Cincinnati Province Elects New Leadership

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Missionaries of the Precious Blood, Cincinnati Province, have elected Fr. Larry Hemmelgarn, C.PP.S., as their next provincial director.

Fr. Hemmelgarn, 53, currently serves the province as its provincial secretary and director of mission advancement. He was chosen to lead the province during an assembly of C.PP.S. members held May 24-28 at St. Charles Center in Carthagena, Ohio.

A native of Philothea, Ohio, Fr. Hemmelgarn entered the Society in 1971 and was ordained on June 9, 1984.

In addition to his other responsibilities, Fr. Hemmelgarn is the chaplain of the Glen at St. Joseph in Dayton and serves on the mission advisory board of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.

Joining Fr. Hemmelgarn on the next leadership team will be Fr. Benjamin Berinti, C.PP.S., vice provincial.

Fr. Berinti, 51, a native of Pittsburgh, was ordained on June 22, 1985. He has been a campus minister at Saint Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Ind., which is sponsored by the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, and was formerly director of candidate formation for the province. He has been pastor of St. Andrew Church, Orlando, and the Church of the Nativity, Longwood, Fla. He is now a member of the staff of the San Pedro Spiritual Development Center in Winter Park, Fla.

Elected to the provincial council were Fr. Thomas Hemm, C.PP.S., the pastor of the St. Henry cluster of parishes in and around St. Henry, Ohio; Br. Robert Reuter, C.PP.S., a professor of philosophy at Saint Joseph’s College; Fr. Anthony Fortman, C.PP.S., pastor of St. John the Baptist Church in Glandorf, Ohio; Fr. Kenneth Schnipke, C.PP.S., the director of vocation ministry for the province; and Fr. Jeffrey Kirch, C.PP.S., professor of religion at Saint Joseph’s College.

All will serve four-year terms that will begin with their installation at a Mass celebrating the Feast of the Precious Blood on July 1 at St. Charles.

 

St. Charles to Host Biblical Art Exhibit

An exhibit of art from the first illuminated bible to be published in 500 years is coming to St. Charles Center, the motherhouse of the Cincinnati Province of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, later this summer.

St. Charles will host the exhibit of art from The Saint John’s Bible from August 22 through September 10, 2010. The show will open Sunday, August 22, with a 3 p.m. Scripture service led by Fr. James Seibert, C.PP.S. and an exhibit introduction by Fr. Al Naseman, C.PP.S.

In 1998, Saint John's Abbey and St. John’s University commissioned renowned calligrapher Donald Jackson to produce a hand-written, hand-illuminated Bible. The Benedictine monks authorized Jackson and a team of artists, calligraphers and theologians to use the ancient techniques of calligraphy and illumination with an ecumenical Christian approach to the Bible rooted in Benedictine spirituality. The result is a breathtaking work of art and spirituality.

To learn more about the exhibit, visit the St. Charles website, www.st-charles-cpps.org

Saint Joseph’s College Receives
$40 Million Gift

Saint Joseph’s College, which is sponsored by the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, has received the largest gift in its 121-year history.

The college, in Rensselaer, Ind., is the beneficiary of a gift of 7,634 acres of farm real estate in a neighboring county, valued at over $40 million. The deed prohibits the college from selling the real estate, which is being given through the Juanita K. Waugh Revocable Living Trust. The college must protect environmentally important areas of the donated property.

On the property are 19 operational windmills, with an additional 13 to be constructed. Collectively the 32 windmills, once they are operational, will make Saint Joseph’s College the largest private landowner with the most windmills in the eastern United States.

The annual income generated from the farm real estate will provide scholarships to students in memory of Ms. Waugh.

 

Fr. Vince Wirtner, C.PP.S.,
Ordained on June 12

Two Others Make Commitment to C.PP.S.

Vincent Wirtner, III, C.PP.S., was ordained on June 12, 2010, in the Chapel of the Assumption at St. Charles Center, Carthagena, Ohio.

“Vince, today you’re just beginning to be a priest. It’s a lifetime of growing in the love of Jesus,” said Bishop Joseph Charron, C.PP.S., who presided. “Commit yourself to that humble, serving love that the Lord gives to you as a gift.”

 

 

 

Fr. Wirtner, a native of Fort Wayne, is the son of Vincent II and Charlene Wirtner, He thanked his family, friends and the C.PP.S. for walking with him on his vocation journey. “You have grown this priest,” he said in a brief thank-you message at the conclusion of the Mass.

He presided at Mass the next day, June 13, at St. Joseph Church in Fort Wayne, his home parish where he had been an altar server, music minister and youth minister.

Fr. Wirtner, who has been appointed director of vocation ministry for the Cincinnati Province, immediately embarked on other journeys after his ordination, first a mission trip to Kentucky with a youth group and then on to Rome for the C.PP.S. formators’ workshop. When he returns to the United States in August, he will also be in ministry at Precious Blood parish in Dayton.

At its May assembly, the province also celebrated with Robert Jansen, C.PP.S., and Joseph Hinders.

Robert Jansen, C.PP.S., was definitively incorporated as a Missionary of the Precious Blood during a liturgy on May 25, in the Chapel of the Assumption at St. Charles Center, Carthagena, Ohio.

Fr. Francesco Bartoloni, C.PP.S., who was attending the provincial assembly held the same week, presided at the liturgy and accepted Jansen’s commitment to the Congregation.

Jansen, 27, grew up in St. Henry, Ohio,
where he was a member of a Precious
Blood parish from birth. He is the son of
Paul and Judy Jansen.

The ceremony on May 25, which was
attended by many of Jansen’s family
members and friends, was a formalization
of what he already felt toward the C.PP.S.
Community, he said. “I feel like I really
am Precious Blood and the ceremony just
confirmed it,” he said. During the ceremony,
Fr. Angelo Anthony, C.PP.S., the provincial
director, presented him with a mission
cross that had once belonged to Jansen’s
former pastor, the late Fr. Joseph Pax,
C.PP.S.

Also during the assembly, Joseph Hinders re-entered the Community during a ceremony held May 25 in the chapel. Hinders is residing at St. Charles while he awaits the results of his request to the Vatican that he be readmitted to sacred ministry as a priest.

Fr. Angelo Anthony
To Present Program

Fr. Angelo Anthony, C.PP.S., will be one of the presenters in a series of sessions on Precious Blood history sponosred by the Spiritual Center of Maria Stein in Maria Stein, Ohio.

Fr. Anthony will speak on the life of St. Gaspar del Bufalo, founder of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, at the Spiritual Center on August 28 at 9 a.m. Call 419-925-7625 for more information or to reserve a seat.

Speaking later in the series will be Br. Tom Bohman, C.PP.S., on the Precious Blood spirituality of St. Gaspar and Fr. Francis de Sales Brunner, who first brought the Missionaries to this country. Br. Tom's presentation will be on March 5 at 9 a.m.

 

 

Precious Blood Convocation 2010
held in St. Louis

Members of religious congregations devoted to the Precious Blood of Christ met in St. Louis on July 26-29 to inspire each other to preach the Good News.

The Precious Blood Convocation, held at St. Louis University, was attended by nearly 300 priests, sisters, brothers, lay associates and friends of five religious communities who are in ministry in the U.S. and around the world. Participating were the Missionaries of the Precious Blood (Atlantic, Cincinnati and Kansas City Provinces); the Adorers of the Blood of Christ; the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood of O’Fallon, Mo.; the Sisters of the Precious Blood of Dayton, Ohio; and the Missionary Sisters of the Precious Blood.

The convocation, with was meant to inspire
participants to preach the gospel of God’s love
with greater passion, to people far outside
their normal sphere of influence. Its theme was
Who Will Speak the Word to Rouse Them? I Can,
I Must, I Will. Will You? The foundation was the
account in the Gospel of John of Jesus’
encounter with the Samaritan woman at the
well. It demonstrated Jesus’ willingness to step
outside the cultural and religious boundaries of
his day to preach and reach people whom
others would have ignored.

Keynote speakers Fr. Charles Bouchard, OP,
and Sr. Barbara Reid, OP, expanded on and
illuminated the convocation’s theme. Speakers
from the Precious Blood congregations tied
the story of the Samaritan woman at the well
to Precious Blood spirituality, which calls for the
reconciliation of all of God’s people.

Fr. James Urbanic, C.PP.S., and Sr. Mary Whited, C.PP.S., co-chaired the convocation, which was sponsored by the Precious Blood Leadership Conference.

The convocation closed with a liturgy with Fr. Francesco Bartoloni, C.PP.S., as presider. Those at the convocation were commissioned to go forth and spread the Good News, carrying to all people the living water that Jesus described to the Samaritan woman.

 

Juan Acuna Temporarily Incorporated

Juan Acuña González was
temporarily incorporated into the
Cincinnati Province of the
Missionaries of the Precious Blood
on Sunday, August 15, the
anniversary of the founding of the
Congregation.

During the Mass on the Feast of
the Assumption at St. Charles
Center in Carthagena, Ohio,
Fr. Larry Hemmelgarn, C.PP.S.,
provincial director, accepted
Acuña’s three-year commitment
to the Community.

Acuña will continue his formation with the Community in Chicago, where he resides. He will study at the Catholic Theological Union this fall.

Acuña’s mother, Odette Gonzalez, traveled from Santiago to be a part of the celebration. Acuña’s family members and friends around the world were able to join in the celebration by watching a live stream of the ceremony on the web.















“I am very happy for the step I took,” Acuña said. “It was a wonderful celebration in company of friends and family who have helped me along this journey that began years ago at St. Gaspar College in Santiago, Chile where I first met the Missionaries of the Precious Blood. It was great also that, thanks to the wonders of technology, my sister in Australia, and family and friends around the world were able to watch live the Mass and pray with the whole Precious Blood family gathered at St. Charles.”