Columbus St. Mary Magdalene Church, 473 S. Roys Ave., will commemorate the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene with a Mass at 7 p.m. Friday, July 22, celebrated by Bishop Earl Fernandes. The homily will be by Father Stephen McMichael, OFM Conv. A dessert-and-coffee reception will follow the Mass.
Father McMichael, a Franciscan friar, will be the presenter the following day for a day of reflection on St. Mary Magdalene from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., preceded by a pastries-and-coffee breakfast at 8 and including lunch at noon
He will give talks on Mary Magdalene in the New Testament and early Christianity; Mary Magdalene as a model of the medieval spiritual journey; Jesus’ appearance to Mary Magdalene after his resurrection; and Mary Magdalene and the Virgin Mary as mutual resurrection witnesses.
Father McMichael is the author of a book, soon to be published, titled Mary Magdalene in the Medieval Franciscan Spirituality: Beloved Disciple and Apostle of the Apostles. Copies will be available for signing.
Registration is required for the Mass, reception and day of reflection. The Friday events are free. The cost for Saturday’s program is $20 per person. To register, go to https://membership.faithdirect.net/OH624 or call the parish office at (614) 274-1121.
Indian Lake shrine to host Assumption Mass
After two years of cancellations because of COVID-19 concerns, the annual Mass honoring the Feast of the Assumption will resume at the Our Lady of Fatima Shrine overlooking Indian Lake on Saturday, Aug. 13. Father Shawn Landenwitch, pastor of Russells Point St. Mary of the Woods Church, will be the celebrant.
The Mass will begin at 6 p.m., with prelude music starting at 5:15. Parking will be available at St. Mary of the Woods Church, 464 Madison Ave., Russells Point. Shuttles will start at 4:30 p.m. from the church to the outdoor shrine, where seating is available for 300 people. Others may bring their own lawn chairs.
The shrine is 43 feet tall, with a 191/2-foot fiberglass statue of Our Lady of Fatima, one of the tallest Marian statues in the United States. It was dedicated in 1964, and a Mass for the Feast of the Assumption was celebrated there every year until 2020. The statue was repainted last year, and landscaping was added.
The shrine property is owned by the American Society of Ephesus, founded in Lima in 1955 by George Quatman. His family and St. Mary of the Woods Church continue maintaining the shrine in his memory. For more information, visit www.ase-gbqfoundation.org or www.saintmaryofthewoods.com.
St. Dominic youth group builds water filters
The Teen Spirit Youth Group of Columbus St. Dominic Church hosted a “Wine To Water” event that built 25 compact water filters for people who do not have access to clean drinking water.
Students from fourth to 12th grade and their parents took part. While putting the filters together, they learned about families, schools and health-care facilities worldwide where the filters will be sent.
These areas are hard-to-reach regions, refugee camps or areas impacted by natural disasters or drought where safe, sanitized water is limited or absent. A single filter can provide 12 people with clean water for as long as 10 years.
To prepare for the event, youth group members created parish awareness of global water issues and raised funds for the filter kits.
Wine To Water is a nonprofit organization that has changed lives by its distribution of portable water filters and other efforts to help people obtain clean water in 42 nations.