Birthplace: Parzham Bavaria
Date of Birth and Death: 1818-1894
Feast Day: April 21st
Notable: Capuchin Lay Brother
Life:
Born as Johann Birndorfer, the youngest of nine children, he grew up in a pious loving environment on a farm. He frequently sought silence and solitude to worship.
In his mid-teens, his parents died leaving him the farm and thereon led a life of prayer and charity. At the age of 31, he joined the Capuchins as a lay brother and took the name Conrad and took his vows in 1852. For the next 40 years, he served people from all walks of life as a porter at a friary in Alttotting Bavaria. He was committed to serving the 100,000 people who came sick, poor or hungry to the friary’s door every year.
He was a true servant of humanity. He greeted everyone with a kind gesture, a smile and a generous offering of food. He was especially committed to the children, particularly those who were abandoned, by gladdening their hearts. He seldom ate or slept preferring prayer. When he died, the children recited the Rosary which he taught them outside his window.
Prayer
Dear God, we beseech The to help us to serve as St. Conrad did – to know when to speak and to know the right things to say – to know when a gesture speaks more clearly than any words. There are so many who need comfort in these times. Help us to support then and love them through our actions and through our prayers. We ask this in thy loving name. Amen.
Birthplace: Hungary
Date of Birth and Death: 1242-1270
Feast Day: January 18th
Notable: Nun
Life:
Margaret was born a royal princess of Hungary with all of the privileges of that class. but she choose to live humbly as a nun. Her father was Bela IV, King of Hungary during the time when Hungary was under threat from various enemies such as the Mongols and the Turks. After her birth, her parents promised God that they would dedicate their daughter to Him if only He would save them from the invaders. Bela was victorious and at the age of three, Margaret was sent to live with Dominican Sisters. Later, her father built her a convent on an island in the Danube river.
As she grew older, she was sought out as a wife by the King of Bohemia but she vowed to disfigure herself rather than leave the convent and her spiritual life. Even though she was born a princess, she refused any special treatment because of her station and sought out the most menial and humiliating tasks. She undertook severe forms of penance including never washing herself which caused others to shun her. Lenten times she would fast for days threatening her health. Throughout her life, she remained gentle and playful. Still, the rigors of her life lead to her death at an early age.
Many miracles have been attributed to Margaret including saving the life of a servant. She has been noted for her humility and holiness.
Prayer
God our father,
please watch over the sisters of our Church.
Help us to remember to honor them for their devoted service to You.
Remind us that they have offered all of themselves to You and are
there to guide and help us.
Grant them the courage to continue in their work
and remain graceful women of the Lord. Amen.
Note
Taken with the mobile camera as Madeleine played shy for a change.
Took a trip last week to Mississippi for business and in the interests of saving some money, the company decided to book me on the Skybus airline, a new airline that is suppose to represent a new trend in air travel. This trend is price conscious travelers who for the price of a low rate ticket pays out of pocket for things that the airline ticket normally covers at other airlines. This include checking luggage, preferred seating and even refreshments. As a promotion to induce sales on routes some seats can go as low as $10 one way but those are few. As my ticket was a late purchase, I had to pay the near equivalent of a full fare which was $210 total.
As my trip was a one nighter, I did not have to check in any luggage; just my laptop and overnight bag. Save myself a few dollars there. As like everywhere now practically, I checked in at a kiosk to get my boarding pass. Standard security checkin as well. The gate for the airline at the Greensboro was a standard one though unlike the other airlines, it was just a booth with no electronic signs to indicate the flight and destination. Not sure if that was because they are a new airline or a cost reduction measure.
When it came time to board, the bus part of the name was a good indication of how things were going to be on this flight. As there was no assigned seating, people had to line like at a bus stop. If you paid a few dollars more, you can obtain priority seating which means you go in first. Otherwise, everyone gets whatever seat they want. For me, my concern was not getting a seat but space in the overhead bins for my carry-ons. Even though the trip was to Biloxi (called New Orleans on the website) flight was on a 140 seat plane, there was a large crowd and I was at the rear of the line. But my concerns were abated as when I got on the plane I saw plenty of open bins.
One thing Skybus did to maximise its revenue and lower costs is to squeeze as many seats on the place that it can take. It is a tight squeeze and if you were taller than average, you certainly were at a disadvantage. Reading a magazine on the plane was a bit of a contortionist act.
On the refreshment side, a menu was provided with a variety of snacks and light meals. A soda cost $2 which is essentially movie theatre prices. A small cheese and cracker tray went for $8 and a sandwich costs $10. Savvy and cheap travelers were probably better off eating at the airport before flying.
Essentially, that is all to talk about for Skybus. Their arrival anad departure times were off but that may be cause they do not have many planes so their schedule is pretty tight as one plane may service many stops in the course of the day.
I would probably consider Skybus in the future for travel to locations that do not need connections. Direct flights to destinations is really the only was to make the experience enjoyable. When scheduling for flights on Skybus, while the destination may say Chicago, the airport is actually in Gary Indiana. Most of the destinations are like that. Service on the plane is decent but I can not attest to their luggage handling but apparently they are slow to unload planes from what I overheard at the Biloxi airport.
All in all, a decent little airline.
Despite decidedly outplaying Duke on Sunday, Wake Forest is still not getting any respect from the people who do the rankings for NCAA basketball. While I did not expect the Deacons to get into the top 25, at the very least they should have received some votes. But on the AP and USA Today polls not one vote cast and on the computer rankings for teams getting into the NCAA Tournament, Wake is way down the list behind teams with weaker records and teams they have beaten already like Miami and BYU. No respect at all…. Democratic primaries tonight in Wisconsin and Hawaii. Consensus view is that Barack Obama should win both but Hillary Clinton is making a fight out of it so it may be closer than most people imagine. We should have results after 9pm…. Pondering a decision on furnishing the house. Should I make the attempt to put in wooden floors on the main floor? We are getting new furniture sometime soon so if there is a time to do any major renovation this is it but reflooring is costly and should wait for the future but it will be a pain to start moving heavy furniture around. We will see about that but we are definitely repainting the living room. Milk Chocolate walls just do not cut it for me. Just way too dark
Birthplace: Bratislava Hungary
Date of Birth and Death: 1207 – 1231
Feast Day: November 17th
Notable: Patroness of the Homeless, Nursing Services, Charities and others
Life:
St. Elizabeth was a Hungarian princess who was betrothed at an early age to a German prince and was married at 14 years old. Although she was surrounded by luxury, she a deep concern for those less fortunate than herself and provided food for hundreds of people at the castle gate every morning and visited the sick twice a day.
Her compassion was renown; once, she allowed a dying leper to rest on the bed she shared with her husband. When her husband heard about this, he tore off the bedcovers but instead of a leper, he saw the vision of the crucified Christ on the bed.
When famine and epidemic swept her land, she organised the relief for those in need through opening up the granaries and selling her jewels to build hospitals. This concern of her for those in need and her apparent boundless charity annoyed her family to no end and she received unending criticism after her husband died on the Crusades.
As a widow, she joined the third order of St. Francis in 1228 and continued her work for the poor for the rest of her life, brief as it was. Upon her death at the age of 24, she directed that all of her worldly good be given to the poor.
Prayer:
Almighty God, by those whose grace your servant Elizabeth of Hungary
recognized and honored Jesus in the poor of this world. Grant that we,
following her example, may with love and gladness serve those in any
need or trouble, in the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen
Birthplace: North Africa
Date of Birth and Death: 322-387
Feast Day: May 4th
Notable: Patroness of Wives and Mothers
Life:
Monica was born in 322 into a Christian family in Tagaste in North Africa. She was selected as a bride to a pagan man and for many years had to endure personal indignities from him and his mother. She ignored all of that and instead, concentrated on practicing good works by giving to the poor and helping the sick.
She had three children the eldest of whom caused her much concern despite being a talented scholar. She prayed constantly that her husband and son join her in worship. eventually, her faith and kindness ere partially rewarded as her husband and mother in law converted to Christianity. Still, her son lead a disreputable life. She sought the help of her local bishop who encouraged her. Eventually, Monica turned to Bishop Ambrose of Italy who brought her son to God by appealing to his intelligence instead his emotions. The son became so strongly drawn to the faith that he himself was canonized as St. Augustine.
St. Monica did everything in her power to ensure that her son, St. Augustine, grew up to be a good decent man. While despairing at times, she realised that she could not do everything on her own and was not afraid to ask others for help.
Prayer:
O Lord who taught Monica to persevere for the good of her family, help me
to be a better parent to my children.
Help e to have patience with them when they misbehave and give me
the strength to guide them gently to the right path. Permit me always to
forgive their misdeeds and keep me from speaking harshly or punishing unwisely.
Please help me to be a beacon of goodness for them as they grow to adulthood
and to be a good example to them in all that I say and do.