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Vermont Catholic Community Foundation tops $10 Million

Posted on October 31, 2017 by Vermont Catholic

(Vermont Catholic)Bishop Christopher Coyne smiles with other attendees at the Vermont Catholic Community Foundation meeting.

The Vermont Catholic Community Foundation has completed its first year of providing the Catholic community with a choice to establish endowments for what matters most to them and leave a legacy of faith for the next generation.

The foundation currently includes 32 funds and more than $10 million supporting Catholic ministries throughout Vermont, an increase of 12 funds and $2.5 million since June 30.

More than 70 people joined the Vermont Catholic Community Foundation Board of Directors and Burlington Bishop Christopher J. Coyne to celebrate a successful first year at an Oct. 25 meeting at Shelburne Museum’s Pizzagalli Center for Arts and Education.

Ellen Kane, executive director of the foundation, said that it was only because of the “support and trust of so many people in the room and the grace of God who makes all things possible” that during its first year the foundation was able to establish 20 funds and $7.5 million to support Catholic schools, parishes, cemeteries, ministries and charities throughout the statewide Diocese.

Kane added that most Catholic Dioceses have a community foundation separate from the Diocese to support the growth of their ministries and ensure the vitality of their parishes, schools and charities, because of a lack of funding sources for religious organizations. Out of 181 dioceses nationwide, 143 have a Catholic foundation. Many were begun in the 1980s and have grown from a few funds to several hundred.

“Imagine how the Catholic faith could grow in our state if every school, parish and ministry had an endowment fund that matured over time and provided a reliable source of annual income so they could focus on other things,” Kane said, “like providing scholarships to more students, increasing youth ministry and adult formation programs, providing more emergency aid to families in financial crisis, meeting the needs of more low-income elderly in our assisted living programs, and the list goes on.”

Jon Pizzagalli, newly appointed chair of the foundation’s board, said the foundation offers “an opportunity for the lay community to get involved in a way that wasn’t possible before.”

The foundation is comprised of a volunteer, mostly lay, voting board that will grow over time to represent every region of the state and give voice to the unique issues impacting each area.

“The days of the Catholic Church retreating are over,” Bishop Coyne said. “We have something to offer to the community, and we are here to stay.”

The Vermont Catholic Community Foundation is a separate 501(C)3 from the Diocese of Burlington and provides donors with a way to establish endowments for ministries that matter most to them and to leave a legacy of faith for the next generation.

To view the annual report and learn more about The Vermont Catholic Community Foundation visit: vtcatholicfoundation.org or contact Ellen Kane at ekane@vermontcatholic.org.

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Halloween Traditions that began in Ireland

Posted on October 30, 2017 by Vermont Catholic

(CNS photo/courtesy National Museum of Ireland)A Halloween gallery display is pictured at the Museum of Country Life in County Mayo, Ireland.

As the seasonal carving of pumpkins gets underway, an Irish folklife expert said there is evidence that the tradition, which is synonymous with Halloween jack-o-lanterns in the United States, actually began in Ireland.

Clodagh Doyle, assistant keeper at the Irish Folklife Division of the National Museum of Ireland, told Catholic News Service that records in the folklore archives at University College Dublin document what people traditionally did at Halloween in the past.

One tradition recorded, dating to the 19th Century, is the making of Halloween lanterns, usually with a turnip but sometimes a large potato.

However, Doyle threw cold water on the likelihood of finding evidence to link a particular emigrant with taking this tradition to the U.S.

“I don’t think we are going to find the direct connection, but we can definitely say they were being made in Ireland,” she said.

The Museum of Country Life in County Mayo, where Doyle is based, has two examples of these lanterns as part of its exhibition on Irish customs and traditions associated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, the predecessor of the modern Halloween holiday.

The ghost turnip, with its pinched angry face, was made for Halloween. The museum has a plaster cast made of the original turnip lantern, which was close to disintegration.

“The records we have for the lantern from Donegal show it was donated in 1943 by a schoolteacher in the village of Fintown, who said she was donating it because nobody was making this type of lantern anymore, though it was a tradition that was remembered in the area,” Doyle explained. The teacher’s lantern dated back 40 years, which would date it to the turn of the 20th Century.

Samhain’s association with winter and death in nature made it a time for remembering those who had died and a time for seeking protection for the home and the family. Holy water was sprinkled on around the threshold and on the family, animals and the farm.

One Halloween tradition that has not survived is the making of small wooden or straw crosses. Four of these Halloween crosses are currently on display in the Museum of Country Life.

“I think it is was about protecting yourself from the dark season of the year, because it was a time of death for everything on the land,” Doyle explained.

Halloween also was known as “ghost night” or “spirit night,” when the souls of the dead were expected to return to the family home. This, Doyle points out, was linked to the remembrance of the faithfully departed on All Souls’ Day, Nov. 2.

“There was a belief that the dead of your family might want to come home on that night, so people set out a place or food as a welcome to them,” Doyle said. “People believed that there were a lot of souls of the dead walking around, trying to find their way, and that not all of them were going to be good — there could be evil spirits too.”

Halloween was also a favorite time for divining the future. Marriage divination was especially popular. Often, a ring was put into the traditional bairin breac cake, and whoever received the lucky slice was destined to be the next to marry.

But 77-year-old Father John McHale of Enniscrone Parish in County Sligo told CNS that, when he was a child growing up in North Mayo, he did not like the divination side of Halloween.

“It wasn’t nice, but it was common. They would bring out a saucer of clay and other things like the bairin breac with the ring in it. The one we all dreaded was the clay, as it was supposed to predict death.”

For children, the feast was mostly about games, while the young adults went about at night playing tricks on one another or on neighbors.

One side of Halloween that is no longer popular is the sacrament of confession.
“Practically to a person, all the adults went to confession that evening because they were doing the plenary indulgence for the Holy Souls on Nov. 2,” said Father McHale.

He said he thinks that, as the standard of living in Ireland has improved, Halloween has become far too commercial and laced with imports from the United States.
“I never heard the expression ‘trick or treat’ when I was growing up,” he said.
“And I never heard of evil spirits being around on Halloween night; what I did hear related to the souls of the family that needed prayer, because of the strong belief in purgatory and a belief in the power of indulgences to set them free from purgatory. You had that duty to make sure that you prayed for the souls of the dead on Nov. 2.”

Laity in Catholic Schools

Posted on October 30, 2017 by Vermont Catholic

(Vermont Catholic/Cori Fugere Urban)David Estes, principal of The School of Sacred Heart St. Francis de Sales in Bennington, stands in the school's multi-purpose room, one Sacred Heart Church.

When David Estes, principal of The School of Sacred Heart St. Francis de Sales in Bennington, walked into his first meeting of Vermont Catholic school principals in 1987, he looked around the room and saw one religious brother; the rest of the principals were women religious.

Now he is no longer the minority; Vermont has no Catholic school principals who are members of religious orders.

And according to Lisa Lorenz, superintendent of Catholic schools for the Diocese of Burlington, this years marks the first year there are no religious sisters on staff of any of the 14 Catholic schools in Vermont, though pastors and other clergy are “wonderful” about visiting the schools.

Father Scott Gratton is the new part-time vice principal for Catholic mission at Rice Memorial High School in South Burlington.

Staffing is just one change Estes – a husband and father of two — has lived through in his nearly 40 years in Catholic education – all at the Bennington school where he used to teach third and fifth grades.

“I have a lot of history” here, he said as he sat in a school office that was once a choir loft overlooking what was Sacred Heart Church.

The 1995 closing of the church located within the brick school building is but one of the changes Estes has witnessed. When Sacred Heart Church was merged with St. Francis de Sales Church, the Bennington parish became Sacred Heart St. Francis de Sales, and eventually the name of Sacred Heart School was changed to that of the parish.

Other changes he has experienced during his tenure at the school are numerous: the reinstatement of grades seven and eight and the addition of a preschool; the expansion of the school into the church space for use as a multi-purpose room; an increase in interest in Catholic education among non-Catholics seeking quality education and a safe, disciplined environment; and the retirement of the last Sister of St. Joseph to teach in the school.

“For decades, schools were staffed entirely by religious but as numbers of religious decreased, schools were staffed by very capable, committed lay colleagues who ministered with religious and understood/understand what Catholic education is about,” commented Sister of Mercy Marianne Read, a former Catholic school teacher, principal and superintendent in Vermont.

“All lay teachers today in Catholic education understand that by the words spoken and by their presence to children and young adults, they can bring faith and hope and joy,” she continued. “Our lay teachers, continue the legacy of religious [congregations] and continue to build on a strong foundation, for they teach us that it is not just the crucifix on the wall or the statue of Mary or Joseph in the school building that makes a school Catholic. It is not just the priests, religious sisters and brothers or lay teachers we have that make a school Catholic. It is this and far more. It is the living out of the charism of the religious orders who taught in the schools. It is the teaching of Gospel values and striving to model the message of Christ on a daily basis, not just in religion class but witnessed to throughout the school day; it is our conscious participation in the life and mission of the Church that makes us Catholic.”

When the last Sister of St. Joseph at Sacred Heart School retired, Estes said there was concern about maintaining the Catholicity of the school, but the lay teachers and staff members live, teach and pray in ways that make it clear this is a Catholic school. “There is a joy here surrounded by the Catholic faith,” Estes said.

School Masses and prayer are key, he added. “When you see the students singing the Lord’s Prayer, they’re not singing. They’re praying. They mean it. It’s the presence of God here among everyone.”

Last year six students were baptized, an example of the evangelization role played by the school, once filled with only Catholic children. “We are evangelizing all the time,” Estes said.

Other changes he has witnessed through the years include the addition of technology and technology education to keep up with the changing times; the addition of athletic teams that build school spirit; more single-parent families and safe environment training for teachers, staff and volunteers.

“The gift of religious and clergy is truly a gift, and the gift of the laity is a gift,” Lorenz said. And having all-lay staffs in Catholic schools “is different, but this is a new time in our world” when there are fewer religious and clergy available to staff schools.

When Estes first came to the Catholic school, tuition was $50 a month; now it is $475. Though financial assistance is available, Estes said new ways of financing Catholic education need to be found.

As he looks to the future, Estes can’t help but look back on the changes he has experienced. “We’ve had a lot of change here at the school,” he said. “Change takes a lot of work, a lot of forethought and a willingness to change. …Change is a risk, but you have to go forward.”

–Originally published in the Fall 2017 issue of Vermont Catholic magazine.

Obituary: Deacon John Place

Posted on October 30, 2017 by Vermont Catholic

Deacon John F. Place, 77, died Oct. 23 after a year-long battle with cancer, his family by his side.

He was born in Burlington to the late Ralph and Mary (Soucy) Place.

He served in the U.S. Navy from 1957 to 1960. He married Joyce Larivee in 1960, and they celebrated their 57th wedding anniversary this year. He served as a deacon for more than 30 years.

Upon retirement from UPS he went to work with his son. In retirement he and his wife spent winters on St. George Island in Florida. An avid outdoorsman he enjoyed hunting and fishing.

He leaves behind his wife and his three children: Pamela Bolster (Jeff), Amy Place-Roux (Rejean) and Jon Matthew Place (Heather); his three grandchildren, Jacob and Sarah Roux and Noah Place; his nephew, Rob Larivee; his brother in-law, Robert Larivee; his brother and sister-in-law, Bernard and Marge Larivee.

There will be no visiting hours. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Tuesday, Oct. 31, at 11 a.m. at St. Francis Xavier Church in Winooski. Burial will be at a later date in the Vermont Veterans Cemetery in Randolph.

St. Therese Digital Academy Enrollment Increases

Posted on October 30, 2017 by Vermont Catholic

Enrollment at the Diocese of Burlington’s St. Therese Digital Academy has grown from four to 52.

Principal Lisa Lorenz attributes the growth to several factors including grant money from Our Sunday Visitor and the Catholic Communications Campaign of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, word of mouth, courses for the Lay Formation Program Institute for Missionary Discipleship, the building of the digital academy’s own curriculum and existing brick and mortar schools using its courses.

St. Therese Digital Academy is an online diocesan Catholic high school with a rigorous program grounded in the firm foundation of the Catholic faith. The academy works with parents in their role as the primary educators of their children by providing flexible options to assist with the diverse educational needs of students and their families. Its goal is to develop well-grounded disciples of Jesus Christ who possess 21st-century skills, equipping them to fulfill their roles as members of the Body of Christ within society.

The digital academy offers high school courses and theology for the Lay Formation Program, with projections for catechetical classes for ongoing professional development.

“We are rolling out our own courses. We are beginning our adult theology classes and have projected to roll out courses for the Diocesan Lay Formation Program as part of the Institute for Missionary Discipleship. In addition, our courses are being used in our existing [Catholic] schools now with increasing interest,” said Lorenz, who is also superintendent of Catholic schools for the Diocese of Burlington and principal of Rice Memorial High School in South Burlington.

New Life for Former Churches

Posted on October 25, 2017 by Vermont Catholic

(Vermont Catholic/Cori Fugere Urban)James S. Gardiner, owner of Atmosphyre, stands in his workshop in the former Our Lady of Lourdes Church in North Pownal.

When a church closes – no matter what the reason – it’s obviously difficult for its members. Sometimes former church buildings become a parish center when a new church is built or serve a larger, merged parish as a social center. Many former churches have been sold, experiencing a renaissance as a gallery, a workshop, a home or an artist studio. Some, alas, are torn down.

But as with any home, the former church building does not hold the memories. Rather, the community that worshipped there keeps those memories close; the individuals who received sacraments there treasure their recollections of their experiences of grace there.

Among the uses for former churches in the Diocese of Burlington are:

St. Benedict Church, North Hero
The GreenTARA Gallery is located in the former St. Benedict Church in the center of North Hero. Diane Gayer bought the former church last year and renovated much of it over six months. It is now an art gallery with coffee/tea bar and artist studios plus workshop space. The former church was built as a general store in 1823 and situated on the waterfront in the village of North Hero. It was converted to a Catholic church in 1888-89 and moved to its current location in 1947. It closed as a church in 2008. “Because of the 24-foot-by-50-foot spatial dimensions, the building exhibits the qualities of the Golden Ratio,” Gayer said. “The high vaulted ceiling brings in a lot of soft daylight, which we are careful to use as direct sunlight on art can be destructive.” Both the wood dais (where the sanctuary had been in the church) and the choir loft offer areas for larger art or activities or to create a quieter space under the overhang of the loft. “Additionally the church was quite simple in its details due to the time it was built and converted; this in turn allows it to make a very attractive art gallery,” Gayer said. The location provides lovely views of Lake Champlain to the east, and west to expansive fields of corn and open sky. The name GreenTARA keeps a spiritual nature to the business and is in keeping with the much needed healing in the world, Gayer said. Green Tara is the Tibetan goddess of compassion and enlightened activity. Additionally the activities, from the mix of exhibits and guest talks to workshops on green roofs and emphasis on local food, all have art and environment at their core.

Our Lady of Lourdes Church, North Pownal
James Gardiner has transformed the former Our Lady of Lourdes Church in North Pownal into his home and workshop for his business, Atmosphyre – a bathroom vanity and sink manufacturer. The designer said the space fits his needs perfectly “because when you are making stuff from nothing you want to be inspired.” He does plan to replace some of the colored windows with clear glass because he is “starving for natural light.” He has replaced the pews with a variety of tools, but the space still has the feel of a church. “The building was completely designed and built … to make a connection between man and God,” he said. “People are still mindful of God when they enter the building.”

Sacred Heart Church, Bennington
Sacred Heart Church in Bennington – located within Sacred Heart School – closed when the parish merged with St. Francis de Sales Parish and the new Sacred Heart St. Francis de Sales Parish took up residence in the larger, freestanding church. The space on the ground floor of the school once dedicated to the church became the school’s multipurpose room where music lessons take place, students eat, theatrical shows are performed and the school community assembles.

Sacred Heart Church, Bellows Falls
The former Sacred Heart Church in Bellows Falls, located just up the street from St. Charles Church, became a parish center after it closed. Now the Sacred Heart St. Charles Education and Social Center, it has classrooms for religious education, a soup kitchen to serve the needy and a parish hall for various functions. The building remains “very sentimental” to parishioners who once were members of Sacred Heart Church, said Herald of Good News Father Maria Lazar, administrator of St. Charles Church.

St. Columban Church, Arlington
The cornerstone of the former St. Columban Church in Arlington was brought from Mucross Abbey in Ireland; the church was named after the 7th-century Irish missionary abbot who founded monastic centers in France, Switzerland and Italy that became centers of evangelization and learning. When the church closed in the 1960s, the congregation moved to its new St. Margaret Mary Church. The former St. Columban’s was once home to a Norman Rockwell museum (the Saturday Evening Post artist lived in Arlington for 14 years) and most recently an artist’s studio and gallery.

Originally published in the Fall 2017 issue of Vermont Catholic magazine.