The Dominican friars of Columbus St. Patrick Church, 280 N. Grant Ave., will be hosting two events in honor of the 750th anniversary of the death of St. Thomas Aquinas.

A sung Mass in the Dominican Rite will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 9, the Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas.

The church’s inaugural Aquinas lecture will be delivered at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 12 in Aquinas Hall by Father Reginald Lynch, OP, assistant professor of dogmatic and historical theology at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington. He will speak about Aquinas’ writings on the Mass as a sacrifice in the writings of the Angelic Doctor.

The church also will be the site of a day of recollection with the topic “Eucharist: Sign and Sacrament” from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 6.

The speakers will be Father Gregory Pine, OP and Father Bonaventure Chapman, OP, known for their work with the Magnificat prayer guide, Pints with Aquinas, Catholic Classics, The Thomistic Institute and the “‘Godsplaining” podcast.

For more information on that event, go to www.godsplaining.org

The two March events are part of the triple jubilee in honor of the 700th anniversary of St. Thomas’s canonization (2023), the 750th anniversary of his death (2024) and the 800th anniversary of his birth (2025). 

The faithful may gain a plenary indulgence until Jan. 28, 2025 by making a pilgrimage to a holy place connected with the Dominican order and devoutly taking part in the jubilee ceremonies or devoting a suitable time to pious recollection, concluding with the Lord’s Prayer, the Creed and invocations of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Thomas Aquinas. 

Any church, shrine or chapel entrusted to the Dominicans can meet the requirements for the pilgrimage. In the Diocese of Columbus, these include Columbus St. Patrick and Somerset St. Joseph and Holy Trinity churches. The Dominican Sisters of Peace, the Dominican Sisters of the Immaculate Conception Province, and the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist administer various apostolates throughout the diocese. 


Mother Cabrini letters back in print

A book of 17 letters by St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, the first American citizen to become a saint, is being made available by Columbus-based Catholic Treehouse after being out of print for 80 years.

Letters From the Travels of St. Frances Cabrini includes the content from the original book and adds photographs, artwork, prayers and other material. 

The letters were written to members of the order she founded, the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, as Mother Cabrini embarked on her calling “to communicate the love of Jesus to those who do not know Him or have forgotten Him.” 

They were written on the deck of steamships as she crossed the Atlantic, enduring seasickness and storms and dodging icebergs. They also cover her adventures in the mountains of South America on the back of a donkey as she established new missions there, as well as descriptions of the American West from Colorado to California.

Mother Cabrini, who also is the subject of a just-released movie, wanted to have her order sent to China as missionaries, but Pope Leo XIII asked her to go to the United States instead to help the nation’s immigrant population. 

She and six other members of the order arrived in New York in 1889 and she spent the rest of her life in the Americas. She died in Chicago in 1917 at age 67 and was canonized in 1946.

The 363-page paperback costs $19.99 and may be purchased from Catholic Treehouse’s website at www.catholictreehouse.com or on Amazon. A Kindle version is available for $3.99 on Kindle Unlimited. 


Father Smith to lead pilgrimage

Father Stephen Smith, pastor of the Johnstown Church of the Ascension, will lead a 10-day pilgrimage to Catholic sites in Ireland from Monday, Aug. 19 to Thursday, Aug. 29.

The fully escorted motor coach tour will include stops in Galway, Dublin, Killarney and the Aran Islands, with the pilgrims viewing the Book of Kells and sites including Kylemore Abbey, the Knock shrine, Blarney Castle, St. Kevin’s Monastery, Trinity College, the Cliffs of Mohr, the Ring of Kerry, many castles and the beautiful countryside.

The cost is $3,587 plus airfare. For more information, contact Father Smith at [email protected] or Greg Kuns of Pinnacle Pilgrimages at [email protected].


Father Keller will be cruise chaplain

Father Paul Keller, OP, of Columbus St. Patrick Priory, director of the diocesan Office of Worship and Catholic Times columnist, will be the chaplain for a cruise to Catholic sites in Canada and New England from Saturday, June 28 to Saturday, July 6, sponsored by Catholic Answers.

Passengers on the Holland America Line cruise ship the MS Valendam will travel the St. Lawrence Seaway, stopping at Montreal, Quebec City and other sites and concluding in Boston. Daily Mass and confessions will be available.

Talks by Father Keller and others will explore the origins of the Catholic faith in North America, beginning with the Jesuit martyrs and St. Kateri Tekakwitha. There also will be presentations on the involved question of the Church during the American Revolution, a relationship that grew more volatile as the nation matured.

The cost ranges from $1,987 to $5,988 per person (double occupancy) depending on the type of cabin or stateroom. For more information, go to www.catholicanswerscruise.com.


Serra Club lists essay winners

The Serra Club of Columbus has awarded $1,000 in tuition assistance to a diocesan high school for the 2024-25 school year to each of 10 eighth-grade boys whose essays were judged the most promising in the club’s inaugural priestly vocation essay contest.

All eighth-grade boys in diocesan schools were challenged to write an essay of 500 words or less on whether they thought God was calling them to the priesthood. 

Three recipients are from the combined Columbus St. Anthony/Our Lady of Peace School. They are Brandon Hernandez, Daniel Tibua-Mensah and Julien McElroy. Recipients from Worthington St. Michael School are Joseph Bogue and Robert Wickham. Other recipients and their schools are Kolbe Krezeczkowski, Columbus St. Andrew; Paul Thomas, Grove City Our Lady of Perpetual Help; Samuel Rogers, Columbus Immaculate Conception; Sebastien Vidal Lopez, Columbus St. Cecilia; and Thomas Dury, Columbus St. Agatha.

The club will sponsor the contest in the fall of 2024 for the next class of boys and looks forward to having submissions from every eighth-grade class in the diocese.


‘Catholics at the Capitol’ planned

The Catholic Conference of Ohio is planning a “Catholics at the Capitol” program for Tuesday, April 9 from 9:15 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Ohio Statehouse.

Catholics from across Ohio are invited to meet with elected officials and advocate for policies that respect life, focus on the poor and vulnerable and recognize families as the central social institution of society. The event is free and lunch will be provided.

The registration deadline is Monday, April 1. To register, go to https://www.votervoice.net/OHCATHOLIC/Events/7714/Register.


Dominican Sisters of Peace to host vocations retreat

The Dominican Sisters of Peace will host a “Come and See” retreat at the Our Lady of the Elms Motherhouse, 1230 W. Market St., Akron, from Friday to Sunday, March 15 to 17.

The program is for Catholic women ages 18 to 45 contemplating consecrated religious life. Its theme is “What do you want of me, Lord?” and it will give participants the chance to experience life as a sister firsthand.

Women in attendance will observe and interact with Dominican Sisters of Peace from Akron, Columbus and around the nation. Each participant will be paired with a sister as a spiritual guide during the retreat.

In the first part of the program, those involved will delve into the stages, tools and practical implications of discernment. In part two, participants will explore the meaning of a sister’s vows and how they are put into practice in daily life.

Since the retreat will be during Lent, it will include the Stations of the Cross, along with time for prayer and Mass, reflections, group discussions and more. 

The cost of room and board is covered for attendees and some scholarship money is available for traveling purposes, granted according to need. The Dominican Sisters of Peace have seven women in formation for consecrated religious life.

To register, visit the sisters’ website, www.oppeace.org, or contact Sister June Fitzgerald at (570) 336-3991 or [email protected].


Vocal training workshop set for April

The spring diocesan vocal training workshop will take place from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Hilliard St. Brendan the Navigator Church, 4475 Dublin Road.

Participants in the voice lesson-style workshop will work on strengthening vocal skills with exercises, new repertoire and a chance to practice chant singing. To make a reservation, email Dawn Beckman at [email protected].


Shepherd’s Corner needs help

The Shepherd’s Corner Ecological Center, a ministry of the Dominican Sisters of Peace, is looking for volunteers who will help turn hayfields into a thriving, biologically diverse ecosystem to help reduce pollution.

A program that will include digging holes in the morning and planting in the afternoon will take place from 9 a.m. to noon and 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, April 20. Participants should be 16 and older. Minors should be accompanied by an adult. 

For more information, go to www.shepherdscorner.org or call (614) 866-4302.

Shepherd’s Corner is located at 987 N. Waggoner Road, Blacklick. This program is being made possible through a grant from The Columbus Foundation.