Local News
Local children’s book author found inspiration in Blessed Mother
By NADIA MARIA SMITHCS&T Staff Writer PHOENIXVILLE – When Jeannine Norris found out her 4-year-old daughter had a brain tumor, she leaned heavily on Mary for strength. Norris, a member of St. Mary of the Assumption Parish, reflected on how much courage Mary had knowing that her Son would be hers only for a night, […]
89 years of serving God at the altar
By Christie L. ChicoineCS&T Staff Writer JAMISON – John Lally is not the average altar server. At age 89, he serves the 9 a.m. Mass at his parish, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Monday through Saturday. And on some Sundays – the only day Lally isn’t a server – he’s a lector at the 10:30 a.m. […]
Serving St. Louis Parish for 35 years
By Christie L. ChicoineCS&T Staff Writer YEADON – Whether she’s answering the telephone, greeting the needy at the rectory door or rescuing a youth accidently locked in the church, Helen Abram, an administrative assistant at St. Louis Parish in Yeadon, Delaware County, handles the routine and the unusual with a happy and humble heart. “I […]
Sister devoted 22 years to religious dialogue
By Christie L. ChicoineCS&T Staff Writer After serving for 22 years as the assistant director of the archdiocesan Office for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, Sister Josephine Kase, I.H.M., is now serving the Church in upstate Pennsylvania at the I.H.M. House of Prayer in Nesquehoning, Diocese of Allentown. “I am grateful to the Archdiocese for the […]
Happily seeing red
By Christie L. ChicoineCS&T Staff Writer PHILADELPHIA – Father Sean P. Bransfield is arguably one of the most ardent Phillies fans among the Philadelphia Archdiocese’s priests. The day after his beloved baseball team captured the World Series crown, he was beaming. “It was one of the happiest nights of my life,” he said of the […]
A lifelong connection to St. Helena School
By Lou BaldwinSpecial to The CS&T BLUE BELL – Sister Cathe Shoulberg, a Religious Sister of Mercy, is in her 21st year as principal of St. Helena School, Blue Bell, but her association with the school goes way back. “I went to St. Helena School from kindergarten,” she said. “I started when I was 3 […]
Family stays busy at church, work, home
By Lou BaldwinSpecial to The CS&T PHILADELPHIA – You’ve heard the saying, “If you want something done, give it to a busy man.” At St. Cecilia Parish in the Fox Chase section of the city, that busy man is usually John Doherty. Other than celebrating liturgies, there aren’t many activities he or members of his […]
Little Flower senior sees her future in education
By Lou BaldwinSpecial to The CS&T Nicole McGarry, a senior at Little Flower High School, knows exactly what she wants to do after college. She wants to be a high school teacher. The eldest of the four children of Debra and Michael McGarry, she is a 2004 graduate of St. Martin of Tours School in […]
Police Officer Mariano Santiago honored for valor
By Lou BaldwinSpecial to The CS&T PHILADELPHIA – Police Officer Mariano Santiago will never forget Oct. 30, 2007. That’s the night he took a bullet from a would-be killer, but lived to tell the story. “I still get pain from it, especially at night,” said Santiago, who firmly believes his survival is due to the […]
Retiree recommits to his Catholic faith
By Lou BaldwinSpecial to The CS&T FLOURTOWN – If you arelooking for James Longon and his wife Ann during the winter months, they won’t be in St. Genevieve Parish. They’ll be snowbirding in Ave Maria, Fla., in the community former pizza baron Thomas Monaghan has developed around his Ave Maria University. “We love it […]