LADIES’ ANCIENT ORDER OF HIBERNIANS
ELIZABETH FAGAN DIVISION
MARY MARX, PRESIDENT
734-751-6185
March, 2011 NEWSLETTER
For those who would like to watch the St. Patrick’s Day parade click on the link below. Our group was in part 4.
Sisters,
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You to all members who helped with the St. Patrick’s Party last Saturday at St. Thomas a’Becket to benefit St. Patrick’s Food Pantry!! Thanks to Barb Weir and Sherry for attending meetings with me leading up to the event! Thanks to Barb, Sherry and Katie Bradford for shopping for beverages, desserts and raffle items and for lugging all those items into the Church! Thanks to Marna, Sherry and Sheila for decorating the gym Friday night! Thanks to Barb for putting the raffle baskets together and soliciting gift cards to add to them, and for coordinating the Trivia Contest! Thanks to Mary Ann, Donna, Patti, Cinda, Annie, Phyllis, Katie and Maureen Fagan for taking tickets, serving food, selling raffle and 50/50 tickets and just generally helping wherever needed!! Thanks to anyone I may have forgotten to mention!! A wrap-up meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 22nd after the 7 pm Mass at St. Thomas a’Becket (probably in conference room).
Thirteen members and two honorary members of our Division participated in the Detroit St. Patrick’s Parade and related activities on Sunday, March 13thdespite temperatures in the 30’s. As usual, a great time was had by all – especially because we were in the Second Division (out of six) and didn’t have to stand around a long time waiting to march down Michigan Avenue! I was glad to see our Division so well represented at the 10 a.m. Mass at St. Patrick’s before the Parade.
Now that the festivities of the Irish High Holydays are behind us, we can now turn our attention to Church’s High Holyday – Easter!
Hope to see you at our next meeting!
In Friendship, Unity and Christian Charity,
Mary
Think Recycle – Our division has held a collection drive for used cell phones, ink jets, toner cartridges, mp3 players, digital cameras, etc. which we send for recycling. We will be having a “push” for February to gather these items and send them in so bring your items to our February meeting or drop them off to Barb’s by the end of the month.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THOSE
CELEBRATING A BIRTHDAY IN MARCH AND APRIL!!
Kittie Higgins March 4
Karen StuardMarch 19
Kathy InmanMarch 22
Jenny MeersMarch 22
Laura ScanlonMarch 22
Carol BuzardApril 9
Colleen McDermott April 11
Marna AdamianApril 16
Mary ShortApril 16
Mary MorandApril 17
Mary McCroskeyApril 18
St. Patrick
Feastday: March 17
Patron of Ireland
b. 387 d.461
St. Patrick of Ireland is one of the world's most popular saints.
Apostle of Ireland, born at Kilpatrick, near Dumbarton, in Scotland, in the year 387; died at Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland, 17 March, 461.
Along with St. Nicholas and St. Valentine, the secular world shares our love of these saints. This is also a day when everyone's Irish. There are many legends and stories of St. Patrick, but this is his story.
Patrick was born around 385 in Scotland, probably Kilpatrick. His parents were Calpurnius and Conchessa, who were Romansliving in Britain in charge of the colonies.
As a boy of fourteen or so, he was captured during a raiding party and taken to Ireland as a slave to herd and tend sheep. Ireland at this time was a land of Druids and pagans. He learned the language and practices of the people who held him.
During his captivity, he turned to God in prayer. He wrote "The love of God and his fear grew in me more and more, as did the faith, and my soul was rose, so that, in a single day, I have said as many as a hundred prayers and in the night, nearly the same." "I prayed in the woods and on the mountain, even before dawn. I felt no hurt from the snow or ice or rain."
Patrick's captivity lasted until he was twenty, when he escaped after having a dream from God in which he was told to leave Ireland by going to the coast. There he found some sailors who took him back to Britain, where he reunited with his family.
He had another dream in which the people of Ireland were calling out to him "We beg you, holy youth, to come and walk among us once more."
He began his studies for the priesthood. He was ordained by St. Germanus, the Bishop of Auxerre, whom he had studied under for years.
Later, Patrick was ordained a bishop, and was sent to take the Gospel to Ireland. He arrived in Ireland March 25, 433, at Slane. One legend says that he met a chieftain of one of the tribes, who tried to kill Patrick. Patrick converted Dichu (the chieftain) after he was unable to move his arm until he became friendly to Patrick.
Patrick began preaching the Gospel throughout Ireland, converting many. He and his disciples preached and converted thousands and began building churches all over the country. Kings, their families, and entire kingdoms converted to Christianity when hearing Patrick's message.
Patrick by now had many disciples, among them Beningnus, Auxilius, Iserninus, and Fiaac, (all later canonized as well).
Patrick preached and converted all of Ireland for 40 years. He worked many miracles and wrote of his love for God in Confessions. After years of living in poverty, traveling and enduring much suffering he died March 17, 461 at Saul, where he had built the first church.
Why a shamrock? Patrick used the shamrock to explain the Trinity, and has been associated with him and the Irish since that time.
In His Footsteps: Patrick was a humble, pious, gentle man, whose love and total devotion to and trust in God should be a shining example to each of us. He feared nothing, not even death, so complete was his trust in God, and of the importance of his mission.
The American Wake
A unique event then occurred which took place daily over all of Ireland for 75 years. Jerry and millions like him paid their last respects to their parents while they were still alive. A wake for the living, known to those who had one, as the "American Wake." It started in Ireland, which was the first place in the world where adult children were forced by economic and political circumstances to leave their parents and relatives, which for the vast majority, would not only be the last time that they would not only see each other, but in many a case might be the last time that they might even hear of each other due to the vagaries of ocean travel and the uncertainty of life in a new land with little reliable communications, especially for the poverty stricken and often illiterate immigrants from Ireland.
"The American Wake began at night time, in the house of the emigrant, and continued through the night until the early hours. The young emigrant would have previously visited friends and neighbors letting them know of the impending departure. All who were close were expected to attend.
They often were not occasions for merriment, but somber gatherings with serious conversation and advice for the young emigrant. In areas of acute poverty no refreshments were offered, but on rare occasions, a few neighbors brought a small quantity of poteen, but generally the dancing was absent.
Women noted for their ability to keen (wail or lament) would be called upon to acquaint listeners with the virtues of the emigrant and the suffering brought upon the parents by the departure. This eulogy was given in a high pitched wail, resulting in a room full of keening women and weeping men. For 'when money was scarce, travel slow and perilous, illiteracy widespread, and mail service highly uncertain and destinations only vaguely perceived, the departure for North America of a relative or neighbor represented as final a parting as a descent to the grave.'
In less poverty-stricken areas, the American Wake proved itself a more festive occasion. Baking, cooking and cleaning were all part of the preparations. Neighbors frequently contributed food and a half-barrel of porter or stout was available for the men. The kitchen furniture was moved and seating was provided around the walls for neighbors and friends. Song and dance followed, only to be interrupted by offers of tea, and stronger beverages. Jibs, reels, quadrilles, hornpipes, and Irish step dancing were the order of the day. The older people seated themselves around the hearth, while the younger ones took to the floor.
The next morning, the emigrant was accompanied by friends and family to the train station or the dockside for his embarkation." (Kelley, et al., Blennerville, The Gateway to Tralee's Past, pp. 147-50)
The sorrow of those left behind was equally acute as it was for those leaving - - -
Come back! Come back! Back to the land of your fathers! Let us hear once more the sound of the soft Gaelic in our halls; the laughter of your children beneath our roots, the skirl of the bagpipe and the tinkle of the harp in our courts, the shout of our young men in the meadows by the river, the old, heart-breaking songs from the fields, the seanchas here where our broken windows stare upon weed-covered lawns. Come back!Come back!The days are dark and short since ye went; there is no sunshine on Ireland and the nights are long and dismal.And there in the moonlit abbey by the river rest the bones of your kindred.
The group, most likely accompanied by other relatives and neighbors, no doubt traveled by local stage coach the half dozen miles or so to Tralee and there purchased a train ticket to the City of Cork in the County of that name in the southwest corner of Ireland.
Cork's ocean port was called Queenstown in those days, named so by the English masters in tribute to the 7 1/2 minute or so visit by Victoria to Cobh in the 1850's. After Ireland became a country in its own right, Queenstown was renamed Cobh, Gaelic for "Cove", pronounced identically.
Thanks to Ray Marshall for this contribution.
FUTURE DIVISION MEETINGS:
Meetingsareheld in the Adult Formation classroom at St. Thomasa’BecketChurch, 555 South Lilley Road, Canton (Southeast corner of Cherry Hill and Lilley)at 5:00 p.m.
DATE / REFRESHMENTS / RAFFLE ITEMMarch 20, 2011
April 17, 2011 / Kittie Higgins
May ??, 2011
If lack of transportation is the only reason you cannot attend a meeting, please contact us and we’ll arrange for someone to pick you up and/or get you back home after the meeting.
ANNUAL LAOH DUES
LAOH dues of $30 are past due for 2011. Please give your check to our Financial Secretary, Sherry Brennan, as soon as possible. If there is a financial hardship, please let her or any other member know. We don’t want anyone to have a lapse in membership due to financial difficulties. Please remember to bring your green card to the meeting so Sherry can record your dues!
PLEASE REMEMBER IN YOUR PRAYERS:
David Burleigh Mr. Burke (Sherry’s Dad) Jim Buzard
Bernadette Darroh(Mother of Kathy Inman’s son-in-law) Ken Eaves
Mike & Gloria Fagan Betty and Doug Fayden Krystal Guzman
Gene Hennigan Katie Herzog Mae Hoelsher
Family of Erin Kurtz Duane Lucas Jack Lucas
Kathy & Terry Lynch Eileen & Herman MarshallMary McCall
Molly McCarville Catherine McDermott Pat McDermott
Family of Kevin McManamonKeith Murray Dan O’Brien
Vern Okopski Kristen Piatek George Richards
Jack and Joan Smith Chris Sweeney Capt. Sean Conlen
Kathleen SweeneyFred Tanari Barb Weir
Family of Rev. William J McGoldrock(The Harmonica priest)Our Families
Bob McGovern(Donna’s husband/Patti’s Dad)Amy Neilson(friend of Kelly Haar)
Patrick Lynch, Joe Barnes (Marna’s nephew), Joe Loftus(serving in Afghanistan) Sgt. William E. McCarville,
Capt. Shannon Schuerger, Capt. Jason Schuerger (Katie Bradford’s nephew and his wife),
Capt. Ty Scott (husband of Katie Bradford’s niece), James McManamon(Karen’s nephew)
and all those serving our Country in the military
The homeless, hungry and hopeless
SAVE THE DATE! The 7th Annual “A Chocolate Affair” will be held Sunday, October 9, 2011 at the Inn at St. John’s in Plymouth. This one-time deviation for our “first Sunday in October” was necessitated by a scheduling conflict with the Inn. So mark your calendars, more information to follow at our upcoming meeting. But, “be on the lookout” for bargain priced chocolate related items which can be found in abundance around Valentine’s Day, for our raffle items/baskets.
UPCOMING EVENTS
March 20, 20115 pm LAOH Elizabeth Fagan Division Meeting-Egg stuffing (bring large plastic
eggs and small wrapped candies and/or toys)
March 22, 20117 pmMass for Erin Kurtz
March 25, 20117:30 pm Blackthorn Live in Concert at the all new Starlight Theater, 7370 Highland Road, Waterford $13 in advance/$16 at the door
Proceeds benefit Elizabeth Lake Animal Rescue
April 29, 2011Convention Registration due today for a discounted price
May 21-22, 2011JointState Convention (LAOH/AOH) in Brighton, Michigan
More information to follow
June 3-5, 2011MotorCity Irish Fest at St. Valentine Church, Redford
More information to follow
October 9, 20117th annual "A Chocolate Affair" to benefit First Step will be held Sunday, October 9, 2011 at the Inn at St. John's in Plymouth. More details will follow.
Check out our new LAOH web site () where you can go for updated local, state and national news..
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