Ogilvie celebrates its new namesake — St. Kateri

St. Kathryn Parish in Ogilvie hosted a diocesan celebration in honor of the canonization of St. Kateri Tekakwitha in Rome Oct. 21. The celebration began with a 10 a.m. Mass followed by a meal, children’s games and speeches. 

Benedictine Brother Xavier Schermerhorn, Bishop John Kinney and 

Father Bill Vos pray during the Mass. (Photos by Sue Schulzetenberg-Gully)

Father Bill Vos holds incense over the St. Kateri print as Bishop Kinney reads a blessing. A new stained glass window of St. Kateri was blessed after the print.

A display in front of the altar at St. Kathryn’s featured a print given to St. Kathryn’s from its sister parish, St. Mary’s in Mora. The print was also given to Bishop John Kinney and Bishop Rafael Conde of Venezuela as gifts from St. Kathryn’s.

A stained glass window of St. Kateri was made by Sally Young of Wahkon and installed Oct. 17 at St. Kathryn Church in Ogilvie.

Saint Kateri Tekakwitha

Saint Kateri Tekakwitha is one of seven individuals who were canonized in Rome today. She is the first Native American saint.

Saint Kateri is depicted in this detailed view of the oldest known portrait of her — painted about 16 years after her death — by Jesuit Father Claude Chauchetière, who personally knew her. (CNS Photo, Courtesy of the Cause of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha)

Pilgrimage to statue of Blessed Kateri

(Photo courtesy of St. John’s University Archives)

To commemorate Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha’s canonization in Rome tomorrow, an 11:45 a.m. pilgrimage is planned to the statue of Blessed Kateri, which is on the path to the Stella Maris Chapel in Collegeville, Minnesota. A litany will be prayed in her honor.

Those who would like to attend should meet at the Chapter House at St. John’s Abbey, Collegeville. The event may be cancelled in case of rain. For more information, call 320-363-3983.

Blueberry Peek-a-Boo Bars

Lynne Stritesky is baking three pans of these enticing blueberry bars to serve during the celebration Sunday commemorating Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha’s canonization in Rome that day. The St. Cloud Diocesan event will take place in Ogilvie at St. Kathryn Church, whose patron, Kateri, is the first Native American to be named a saint. The celebration, including a Mass starting at 10 a.m., freewill offering turkey dinner with “lots of trimmings” and program, is open to all.

The bars have a bit of a reputation in Ogilvie — Lynne dubbed them “ecumenical” as she got the recipe from a friend of hers, Sandy, who is the wife of the pastor of the Lewis Lake Covenant Church there. Lynne has made them for several community functions and church bake sales over the years. Those who attend the diocesan celebration could find making dessert decisions somewhat difficult  — they will need to choose between these tempting bars and blueberry or pumpkin pie and bars. Yum! CJK

Blueberry Peek-a-Boo Bars

(Lynne Stritesky)

1 cup butter

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

3 cups flour

1 can blueberry pie filling

Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan. Preheat oven to 350°F.

Cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour.

Pat one-half of the dough in the prepared pan. Spread blueberry filling over dough. Dot remaining dough over the top — it spreads out on its own. Bake in a 350°F oven for 35 to 40 minutes.

Yield: 15 to 18 servings

A note from Lynne: This recipe is so simple and most of the ingredients are items you generally have on hand. I always use margarine instead of butter and find it works out just fine. Sandy has substituted cherry pie filling for the blueberry.

Also, I always make a powdered sugar frosting to top the bars using butter or margarine, powdered sugar, milk and vanilla.

A note from Carol: Lynne and her husband, Gene, have been parishioners of St. Kathryn Parish in Ogilvie since 1977, when they moved to the area as newlyweds. The couple has four adult children and two grandsons.

Corn Relish

This colorful corn relish sounds delightful! It’s one of the dishes that will be served Sunday at the diocesan celebration hosted by St. Kathryn Parish in Ogilvie, Minnesota, to commemorate Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha’s canonization that day. It will taste delicious with the turkey, wild rice dressing, squash, cranberries and blueberry and pumpkin desserts! CJK

Corn Relish

(Lois Ripka)

10 cups corn, blanched

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped celery

2 1/2 cups white vinegar

2 cups water

1/2 tsp. turmeric

1 cup chopped green pepper

1 cup chopped sweet pepper (red, yellow, orange)

1 tbsp. salt

1 1/2 cup sugar

2 1/2 tsp. mustard seed

Combine all ingredients and bring to a boil. Continue boiling for 15 minutes.

Pack in sterilized canning jars; add lids and process in a hot water bath for 15 minutes.

Yield: 20 cups

A note from Carol: Instead of canning the corn relish, Lois Ripka, who is heading the dinner committee, has prepared it fresh for the celebration this week.

Wild Rice Dressing

Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha Statue
 (CNS Photo) 

Yesterday I mentioned the diocesan celebration this coming Sunday, hosted by St. Kathryn Parish in Ogilvie, Minnesota, to commemorate Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha’s canonization in Rome that day. After the Mass, those who attend will be invited to a freewill offering dinner including roasted turkey, wild rice dressing, baked squash, homemade corn relish, cranberries and desserts — blueberry and pumpkin pies and bars.

St. Kathryn parishioner Lois Ripka is coordinating the feast. “We’ve chosen foods that we think Native Americans would have eaten,” Lois said. “We’re expecting to feed around 200 people — it is a little mind boggling because we don’t really have any idea how many people will attend the event.

“Another woman in our parish has volunteered to roast 20 turkeys,” she continued. “We’ll make 20 recipes of the wild rice dressing from the diocese’s Centennial Cookbook, three big roasters of squash, homemade corn relish from this summer’s crop of corn-on-the-cob, and at least 10 pies. Most of the food will be made at the church but some volunteers will also bake pans of bars at home. Six women from our sister parish, St. Mary’s in Mora, have volunteered to help our committee by serving the tables.”

Lois said that the Centennial Cookbook is one of her favorites. This wild rice dressing recipe, submitted by Edie Flahave of Royalton, Minnesota, has seen the test of time. “I probably got this recipe about 1974 from Clara Rooney, a longtime resident of Royalton,” Edie recalled. “It’s quite an attractive dish — very pretty. I served it quite often with duck when my husband did more hunting.” CJK

Wild Rice Dressing

(Edie Flahave)

1/2 cup wild rice, prepared

1/2 cup white rice, prepared

 1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup diced onions

1 cup diced celery

1 cup diced mushrooms

1 cup hot water

1 (8 oz.) pkg. herb stuffing mix

1 (2 oz.) jar pimentos, drained

1/2 cup chopped parsley

Cook wild rice and white rice separately.

Melt butter. Saute onions, celery and mushrooms in the butter for about two minutes. Stir in the hot water and stuffing mix. Add the pimentos, parsley and the hot, cooked wild and white rice and combine all ingredients together.

Bake dressing in a greased casserole at 350°F for 30 to 45 minutes. (The original recipe suggests stuffing fowl with the dressing or baking it to serve with fowl.)

A note from Carol: The Centennial Cookbook was published in 1989, commemorating the diocese’s 100th anniversary. It is no longer available for purchase.

Lois (Voss) and her husband, John, are longtime parishioners of St. Kathryn’s. She’s originally from Ogilvie and he hails from Mora. They are parents to six adult children, grandparents to 15 and great-grandparents of two.

Edith Ann (Petron), who has gone by Edie since she was a child, was baptized, confirmed and married in Holy Trinity Church in Royalton. She and her husband, Bob, also a member there, have two adult children and five grandchildren.

Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, Lily of the Mohawks

Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, the daughter of a Mohawk Turtle clan chief and a Roman Catholic Algonquin mother, was born in 1656. Her parents and brother died in a smallpox epidemic when she was four. She, too, contracted the disease and was left with multiple scars and impaired eyesight.

Her childhood and teen years were difficult as unsympathetic non-Christian relatives in the Mohawk community in Ossernenon, in what are now Auriesville and Fonda, New York, raised her. She began studying Catholicism in private at the age of 18 and was baptized by a Jesuit missionary on Easter in 1676 when she was 20.

After her baptism, her family and village ostracized and ridiculed her — even threatening to kill her. The next year she fled, taking refuge at St. Francis Xavier Mission in the Mohawk Nation at Caughnawaga (Kahnawake), a Canadian village near present-day Montreal, Quebec. There, she lived a life devoted to her Catholic faith — often attending Mass at both dawn and sunset. Kateri was known for her gentleness, kindness and good humor. During the last years of her life she suffered from a serious illness. She died in 1680, at age 24, and was buried in Caughnawaga.

In the late 1800s, Native Americans began making appeals to the Catholic Church that she be recognized for her deep spirituality and devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. Blessed Pope John Paul II beatified Blessed Kateri, known as the Lily of the Mohawks, in 1980. Pope Benedict XVI announced February 18 of this year that she will be formally canonized in Rome on World Mission Sunday, Oct. 21.

In commemoration of Blessed Kateri’s canonization, St. Kathryn Parish in Ogilvie, Minnesota, will host a diocesan celebration that day. St. Kathryn’s was chosen as the site for the St. Cloud Diocesan event because Kateri, also known as Catherine Tegakwitha or Takwita, has been their patron since the parish formed in 1946.

Bishop Peter Bartholome, bishop of the St. Cloud Diocese at the time, named the parish St. Kathryn in her honor, saying that at least one parish in the diocese should revere her. He felt that one day she would become a saint and now his prediction is coming true.

 

The diocesan event includes a Mass celebrated by St. Cloud Diocesan Bishop John Kinney at 10 a.m. During the Mass a print of Blessed Kateri will be blessed as well as a stained glass window of her that will eventually be installed in the church. After the Mass there will be a special dinner and program and Native American games for children.

Visit FFF tomorrow to learn more about the dinner and recipes for some of the foods that will be served. CJK

Fall’s jolly orange giant

Oh how we love pumpkin season: 

Winter, Spring, Summer, Pumpkin.... 

We anxiously anticipate it every year! 

— Trader Joe’s “Fearless Flyer”

October’s Party

October gave a party;


The leaves by hundreds came —

The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples,


And leaves of every name.


The Sunshine spread a carpet,


And everything was grand,


Miss Weather led the dancing,


Professor Wind the band.

The Chestnuts came in yellow,

The Oaks in crimson dressed;

The lovely Misses Maple

In scarlet looked their best;

All balanced to their partners,

And gaily fluttered by;

The sight was like a rainbow

New fallen from the sky.

Then, in the rustic hollow,

At hide-and-seek they played,

The party closed at sundown,

And everybody stayed.

Professor Wind played louder;

They flew along the ground;

And then the party ended

In jolly “hands around.”




— George Cooper, “October’s Party”

Autumn’s cheerful countenance

“Autumn ... the year’s last, loveliest smile.”

― William Cullen Bryant