Submitted prayer petitions as part of the Diocese of Owensboro’s Disciples Response Fund annual appeal are seen in a basket at the foot of the altar in the Chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, in the McRaith Catholic Center. ELIZABETH WONG BARNSTEAD | WKC
Diocesan staff renew ‘holy work of praying for one another’ with submitted prayers
BY MIKE BOGDAN, SPECIAL TO THE WESTERN KENTUCKY CATHOLIC
Each year, as part of the Diocese of Owensboro’s Disciples Response Fund annual appeal, people from across the diocese send prayer petitions to the McRaith Catholic Center (the central offices/pastoral center of the diocese). Each day when the mail is sorted, these small cards are not treated in the same way as the bills and catalogs and advertisements which arrive, but with due reverence— gathered and placed in a small wicker basket that sits before the altar in the Chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, in the pastoral center.
The petitions on these cards vary. Some cast a long net: For those “suffering in any way from the pandemic.” Some are narrower in scope: For “members of my extended family who have suffered miscarriages this year.” Some center on an individual: “Especially for Anna.”
Though we don’t know Anna or what her needs are, the members of the pastoral center staff who wander into the chapel for private prayer and to read the petitions in the basket are able to present to God the heartfelt prayers, longings (and often tears) of people in our diocese. These petitions are also lifted up at Eucharist, Morning Prayer, and when the staff does daily prayer online. A broad communion beyond the limitations of physical presence and proximity is entered and honored.
After a year in the chapel, the prayer cards continue to be treated with reverence. This year, on Nov. 2 (All Souls Day), the 101st anniversary of the death of Fr. Paul Volk, (missionary to western Kentucky), prayer cards from last year were buried, planted, sown in the Ursuline Sisters’ Mount Saint Joseph Motherhouse Cemetery just a few feet from Fr. Volk’s grave.
Edward Wilson, director of the Archives for the Diocese of Owensboro and the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph, prepares to place the stack of prayer cards in the ground next to the tombstone of Fr. Paul Volk in the Ursuline Sisters’ Mount Saint Joseph Motherhouse Cemetery. COURTESY OF MOUNT SAINT JOSEPH
The sacred ground of the Maple Mount cemetery is a reliquary of sorts. Not only does it contain Fr. Volk’s remains, but also those of Bishop John J. McRaith, many of our diocesan priests, and those of Ursuline Sisters.
One of these sisters, Sr. Rosina Seldelmeier (d. 1879) was a German immigrant and missionary like Fr. Volk. Speaking no English, her holy work was to cut and gather grass with a scythe for the community’s cows. To help cast these chores in the light of benediction, she would often place a crucifix or holy picture on a tree near her. Years after her death, sisters would stumble upon these items, some even grown into the trees.
During these days when nature itself is reminding us of mortality, when we remember those who have “gone before us marked with the sign of faith,” let’s pray for our departed loved ones. Let’s ask for their prayers in a communion and solidarity unbroken even by death. Let’s renew our holy work of praying for one another. And let’s pray for people of our diocese who’ve asked for prayers for their needs and for their loved ones. Especially for Anna.
Special thanks to diocesan archivist and Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph archivist Edward Wilson for help with this article.
Mike Bogdan is the director of the diocese’s Office of Music. Learn more at owensborodiocese.org/music.
Originally printed in the December 2020 issue of The Western Kentucky Catholic.
