February 28 - Sts. Romanus and Lupicinus

For more information on these Saints, head to Saint-a-Day.

I went through the e-mail box today and realized that I have a lot of pending work to do. Since my trip to San Diego was cancelled for this week, I plan on digging through a few things I haven't been able to touch for a while later in the week.

If you'd like to be included in the Oral History section, sign up to participate. Contact us via e-mail to be included or call 314-378-7273. Afraid of microphones? Send us an e-mail about your experiences at St. Boniface. Include your name and phone number for confirmation.

February 27 - St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows

For more information on our Saint today, see Saint-a-Day here: http://www.daughtersofstpaul.com/saintday/m2.html#BM27

February 24 - February 24 - St. Montanus, St. Lucius & Companions

For more information on these Saints today, see Saint-A-Day.

Have a great Mardi Gras weekend, all! More fun next week!

February 23 - St. Polycarp

See Saint-a-Day for more information on St. Polycarp.

While here in St. Louis, the festivities for Mardi Gras will reach a fever pitch in the next few days, don't forget Lent is just around the corner.

For Mass times around the country, see www.masstimes.org. This is a small website based in Massachusetts that provides a valuable service for Catholics around the world.

If you find it useful, contribute to their online fundraising campaign, as they have a donor who will match all contributions up to $25,000.

February 22 - Chair of St. Peter

This seemed like a rather odd description of a feast day until I read these lines from Saint-a-day:

The feast of St. Peter's Chair at Rome reminds us that St. Peter started the Christian community in that city. The special chair is a symbol of the authority that was given to him by Jesus. Kings of old sat on thrones and ruled. Peter's chair is a symbol of his authority from Jesus to rule the Church.St. Peter was martyred for the faith, but down through the ages there has always been a bishop of Rome. He is the pope. The pope rules the whole Church, as St. Peter did, in Jesus' name. We call the successor of St. Peter the Holy Father.

February 21 - St. Peter Damian, new oral history

For more information on today's saint, see Saint-A-Day.

The latest Oral History interview is now available. Sister Mary Ann Eultgen SCC, former teacher and principal of St. Boniface school talked to me yesterday about her years at St. Boniface, the following years and her current and future plans.

Sister Mary Ann is currently a part-time pastoral associate at St. Anthony's Hospital in South County.

February 20 - St. Eucherius

Happy Presidents' Day to all.

I will be working on the Oral History section today.

For more information on today's saint, an eighth century Benedictine monk from Orleans, France, see Saint-a-Day.

February 16 - St. Onesimus

For more information on today's saint, see Saint-a-Day.

Regarding the St. Stanlislaus post yesterday, according to sources on KMOX radio today, there will no public discussion of the meeting between Fr. Bozek and Archbishop Burke.

Maybe we can see some reconciliation of this issue by Easter. One can only hope someone can pull a win-win out of this proverbial hat. (my 2 cents...)

I still have spots open for Monday's interviews. See the Oral History section on how to sign up and participate.

February 15 - St. Faustinus and St. Jovita

I'll be doing interviews for the oral history section next Monday, February 20th. Want to get on the list? See our Oral History page on how to sign up.

For something completely different, I saw an interesting article in the Post-Dispatch today.

Archbishop meets with St. Stanislaus priest
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/religion/story/
F561294C64B78D3686257116001F5A75?OpenDocument

On a similar note, William Bialczyk's father Stanley recently died. (Bialczyk was excommunicated in December 2005) My condolences to the family, who were supporters of a local retreat house, the White House Retreat Center, located in Oakville. Some of my ancestors, the Schierhoffs grew up on a nearby farm, where my great-grandmother and her siblings lived for many years. This fine retreat house, on the bluffs of the Mississippi River, is run by the Jesuits.

For more on the saints today, see this page.

February 14 - Sts. Cyril and Methodius

For more on today's saints, see Saint-a-Day.

Your webmaster is feeling under the weather today, so more information will be posted later.

February 13 - St. Catherine of Ricci

For more information on St. Catherine, see Saint-a-Day.

Did you know the St. Vincent de Paul Society in St. Louis has over 137 parish conferences and more than 2,500 volunteers who helped provide services to more than 236,000 people in the archdiocese last year? St. Boniface's conference operated for many years, right up until the closing, thanks to people like John Moynihan and Sr. Carolyn Brambilla.

In the news: SVdP St. Louis gets new director, Zip Rzeppa

http://www.stlouisreview.com/article.php?id=10100 (full article to subscribers only)

St. Louis also holds the distinction of being the first city in the US to establish a St. Vincent de Paul conference.

February 10 - St. Scholastica

Happy Friday to all!

I was at Mass today at St. Matthias again to see a group of the St. Boniface folks.

No plans are firm, but I'd suspect there will be a group of them (along with some St. Matthias parishioners) visiting Fr. Jim Gray at his new parish in Maplewood. I'd have met them at their post-Mass gathering, but I had to finish some work first.

I'm scheduling more interviews, so if you'd like to get on the list, let me know. If you have a photo you'd like to share, I will scan and return to you quickly.

Have a great weekend.

Feb. 9 - In today's History mailbag

See the latest letter from Father Peter Blake in the Oral History mailbag section.

February 9 St. Apollonia and the Martyrs of Alexandria

An interesting note: if you have a toothache, be certain to see our Saint-a-Day information here:
http://www.daughtersofstpaul.com/saintday/m2.html#BM9

If you are interested in Catholic prayer resources, check out one of the links below for further information.

http://www.catholic.org/clife/prayers/ General information

http://www.sacredspace.ie/ Prayer site in multiple languages run by the Jesuit community in Ireland

http://www.americancatholic.org/ General information site run by the Franciscans.

February 8 - St. Jerome Emiliani

Finally, I've posted an Oral History interview! (Work has been busy!) Hear Msgr. Norb Ernst.

For more about St. Jerome Emiliani, see this Saint-a-Day page.

February 7 - Blessed Giles Mary

More information on Blessed Giles Mary of Naples, Italy is here.

February 6 - St. Paul Miki and companions

Monday is here again.

Due to a hectic weekend, I have not yet updated the Oral History section. I will do that by the end of this week.

If you don't read Saint-a-Day, I like to post a short summary from there that tells you everything quickly. Here's a snippet from today's installment.

"St. Paul Miki, a Jesuit catechist, had been a great preacher. His last valiant homily came from the cross as he encouraged the Christian community to be faithful until death. It was February 5, 1597.

St. Paul Miki and his companions were proclaimed saints by Pope Gregory XVI in 1862.

Stop for a moment today to pray for Christians who are persecuted throughout the world."

February 4 - St. Jane Valois

From the St. Louis Review, 2/3/06

REV. JAMES C. GRAY is assigned pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish at Maplewood while retaining his assignment of Chaplain at Barnes Jewish Hospital, effective Feb. 13, 2006.

Good luck in your new assignment. Fr. Jim was the last pastor of St. Boniface.

February 3 - St. Blaise

Did you know....(from Saint-A-Day)

When the governor, Licinius, began to persecute the Christians, St. Blaise was captured. He was sent to prison to be beheaded. On the way, people crowded the road to see their beloved bishop for the last time. He blessed them all, even the pagans. A poor mother rushed up to him. She begged him to save her child who was choking to death from a fishbone. The saint whispered a prayer and blessed the child. He worked a miracle that saved the child's life. That is why St. Blaise is called upon by all who have throat diseases. On his feast day, we have our throats blessed. We ask him to protect us from all sicknesses of the throat. In prison, the saintly bishop converted many pagans. No torture could make him give up his faith in Jesus. He was beheaded in the year 316. Now St. Blaise is with Jesus forever.

I'll be working this weekend, so look for more updates next week. Have a Super weekend!

February 2 Presentation of the Lord

If you didn't already know it, this week is Catholic Schools Week. Here is a report from KSDK Channel 5 St. Louis in text and video.

A few photos from St. Boniface school days can be found in the Do you remember section. A great school recollection by Caroline Caho Weltig is in the mailbag of the Oral History section, and there are a couple audio files entitled "School days" here.

Do you wonder how we get all the information on what feast day it is every day for our title? Check out A Saint A Day (courtesy of Pauline Press.)

Thanks to Mark Abeln for featuring stbonifaceonline on his weblog Rome of the West, a site discussing Catholic issues.

February 1 St. Brigid of Ireland, news, sad note

Hello everyone!

I am still investigating a few more expansion topics for the site. Since the history of St. Boniface is so varied, it's been really fun evaluating what more to add. I've even been using some of those Genealogy links I posted recently.

Have an idea? Send it over.

In the news: The Supreme Court of the US now has a Catholic majority.

If you were ever a student at St. Boniface school in the late 1970s and 1980s, you probably remember Rosemary Oellermann as one of the lunch ladies who worked in the cafeteria. Mrs. Oellermann and her sister-in-law, Doris Krull, (my classmate Diane's mom) worked making lunch time interesting with homemade pizza and other good things, even if they occasionally had to serve those government lima beans no one liked.

Mrs. Oellermann was also my grandma's neighbor across the alley, so I don't remember a time when I did not know her. I had not seen her in a long time, but read this with sadness when I saw it in the paper yesterday. My condolences and prayers go to the Oellermann and Krull families today.

Oellermann, Rosemary A. (nee Krull), baptized into the hope of Christ's resurrection, on Sunday, January 29, 2006. Beloved wife of the late Roy A. Oellermann Sr.; dear mother of Sr. Rosemary CPPS, Ruth Ann Pritchard (Julian), Rita Ann Baker (Randy), Roy A. Oellermann Jr. (Erin); dear sister of Leo P., Robert J. Krull and the late Edward and Henry J. Jr. Krull; dear grandmother of Alan J. and James M. Pritchard, Bruce A. Baker, Roy III, Christina Megan, Eric and Olivia Rose Oellermann; dear great-grandmother of Jammie, Jeremy and Jacob Pritchard; our dear sister-in-law, aunt, great-aunt, great-great-aunt, cousin and friend to many.Services: Funeral from HOFFMEISTER SOUTH COUNTY Chapel, 1515 Lemay Ferry Rd. (63125), on Thursday, February 2 at 9:30 a.m. to Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, 4092 Blow St. (63116), for 10 a.m. Mass. Entombment Mt. Hope Cemetery. Donations to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundatuon. Visitation on Wednesday from 3 p.m.-9 p.m.