NEWS BRIEFS

Nov. 4, 2009 | The Catholic Sun

Bishop to dedicate shrine in Catholic cemetery

FLAGSTAFF — Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted will bless and dedicate a shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe at 2:30 p.m., Nov. 8, at Calvary Cemetery, 201 W. University. Fr. Pat Mowrer, pastor of San Francisco de Asís, will concelebrate.

The shrine, which includes a six-foot, 7,000 lb., hand-carved granite statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe, 128 cremation spaces and a five-foot, 2,500 lb. granite commemorative monument, is dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe and Flagstaff families interred in Calvary Cemetery prior to 1959. Back then, Calvary Cemetery was operated as a parish cemetery, under the administrative oversight of the parish pastor and parish council. When the cemetery underwent a restoration in the mid-1950s, several memorials were destroyed making it impossible to locate many of the graves.

“Now that the Diocese of Phoenix has been operating the cemetery, we are erecting the cenotaph to provide an appropriate monument for families to memorialize a loved one that was buried in the cemetery prior to 1959,” said Gary L. Brown, president and executive director of the Diocese of Phoenix Catholic Cemeteries and Mortuaries.

The shrine at Calvary Cemetery is named in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe because she is known as the Mother of Americas and the patron saint of the Diocese of Phoenix and Our Lady of Guadalupe Chapel, Flagstaff.

For more information, call (602) 267-1329.

Pregnancy resource center raising needed funds

The annual fundraising banquet for 1st Way Pregnancy Center, a pro-life resource clinic, takes place at 6 p.m., Nov. 7, at the Paradise Valley Doubletree. Gianna Jessen, a woman who survived her mother’s attempt to abort her, will be the featured speaker at the event. Jessen travels the country sharing her story of how abortion affects unborn babies and their mothers.

Kay Allen, director of 1st Way, said she is hoping for a big turnout at the banquet. “The pregnancy centers are the place where we are diminishing the numbers of abortions in this country. That’s the only place where that’s happening,” she said of 1st Way’s impact.

Allen said the current economic crisis is increasing the despair of women who feel they cannot have a baby.

For information about 1st Way’s banquet, call (602) 261-7522.

— Joyce Coronel

Marian Shop prepares for Advent, Christmas

The Marian Shop at St. Francis Xavier Parish is ready to help local Catholics prepare their homes for Advent and Christmas and get a jump on their shopping.

The Catholic shop is stocked with Advent wreaths, Christmas cards and ornaments. It also has nativity sets of various sizes and other religious-themed décor that will help keep “Christ” in Christmas.

Shop hours are Sundays 8 a.m.-1 p.m. and Mondays-Fridays 10 a.m.-4p.m., but The Marian Shop is closed on Wednesdays.

For information, call (602) 212-4509 or visit www.sfxphx.org.