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Priests To Bring Blessing,
Piece Of Chalk To Homes
COUNCIL -
(Con’t From Page 1)
36th (Dec. 5, 6, and 7) — the
council Fathers also took steps
to reduce the number of pro
jects they will have to deal with
in the second phase of the coun
cil next September, and contin
ued discussion on the proposal
on the nature of the Church. At
the 34th meeting, a folder was
distributed to the Fathers out
lining how 73 projects reported
ready for the council agenda
could be reduced to 20 topics
that would represent the total
material to be submitted for
discussion during the council.
At the 35th general congrega
tion, Archbishop Felici review
ed the work on the first session.
He said that 587 Fathers had
spoken in the first 34 meet
ings and that 523 had submitted
written observations, so that
a total of 1,110 Fathers had
expressed their views up to that
time.
Compared to the grandeur of
the opening ceremonies, the
closing ritual (Dec. 8) was
simple. The Pope , who had
been ailing for almost two
weeks, was not present for all
of this session, but did appear
in the Council Hall to deliver
a 25-minute address to the Fa
thers. He told the prelates that
“a good beginning has been
made”; that the work of the
ecumenical council will go for
ward during the nine-month in
terval until September 8,
and that he foresaw the possi
bility that the council will end
by Christmas, 1963.
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio, (NC) -
To hundreds of homes here this
week, priests will bring a
blessing and a piece of chalk.
The blessing is for the house
and all who live in it. The white
chalk is for the inscription
the priest leaves on the inside
of the parishioner's front door:
19 plus G plus M plus B plus
63.
The inscription is made up
of the year separated by the
first letter of the name of each
of the three Wise Men—Casper,
Melchior and Balthasar. Some
families leave it on the door
$2 Million
To Church
LAWLER, Iowa, (NC)-Frank
E. Eickhoff, 76, a retired hard
ware store manager who died
December 9, has left two mil
lion dollars to church and chari
table institutions in the Dubuque
archdiocese and elsewhere.
The largest single bequest by
Eickhoff, a lifelong resident of
this community, was $500,000
for a new Catholic church here.
The present church was built
in 1871.
St. Joseph’s Hospital, New
Hampton, was bequested
$100,000. Other parishes and
charitable institutions in the
archdiocese will receive about
$295,000.
all year to remind them that
on the feast of the Epiphany,
(Jan. 6) Christ revealed him
self to the Gentiles—the Three
Kings- -for the first time.
The Epiphany custom dates
back at least to the fifth century,
and has been especially popular
since that time among the peo
ples of Central Europe: Poles,
Slovaks, Hungarians, Austrians
and Croatians.
During each visit, the priest
says in Latin:
“Peace be to this house. And
all who dwell therein."
He also says the Magnificat,
and prays in part:
“O God, who on this day by
the leading of a star didst mani
fest Thine only Begotten Son to
the Gentiles, mercifully grant
that we who know Thee now by
faith, may be brought to the
contemplation of the beauty of
Thy majesty. . .”
He also prays: “O Almighty
God, bless this home, that in it
may dwell health, purity, per
severance in virtue, humility,
godliness and meekness, the
observance of God’s law and
gratitude to God, the Father,
the SonJ* and the Holy Ghost;
and may this blessing remain
over this home and over all
those who dwell therein.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Amen.’’
This prayer, intoned in Latin,
is then translated into English,
or the language used in the
home.
Greetings
To
THE SOUTHERN CROSS
FROM
THE MISSIONARY
FRANCISCAN SISTERS
CHALK UP ONE BLESSING - Fathers Michael Ronik
(left) and George Franko, assistants at Holy Name parish,
Youngstown, Ohio, chalk up an Epiphany blessing over a
parishioner’s front door. The inscription: 19 plus G plus
M plus B plus 63 stands for the year separated by the first
letter of the name of the Wise Men - Caspar, Melchoir
and Balthasar. This custom dates back to the fifth century
and is popular among the peoples of Central Europe. (NC
Photos)
The Southern Cross, January 5, 1963—PAGE 3-C
NCWC Family Life Head
Lauds NIH For Research
WASHINGTON, (NC) - The
director of the Family Life
Bureau, National Catholic Wel
fare Conference, has commend
ed the National Institutes of
Health for supporting research
in human reproduction.
Father John C. Knott said in
a statement that NIH “should
be encouraged to continue and
intensify, if possible, its sup
port of continued basic research
projects” in this area.
NIH support of research on
human reproduction totals more
than $2.7 million in the current
year, according to a survey of
“research in reproduction re
lated to birth and population
control,” released (Dec. 29)
by NIH, research arm. of the
Public Health Service.
Father Knott’s statement
lauded this survey for its
"scientific objectivity.”
The report is a catalog of
some 400 research projects
now underway, describing the
projects and their sources of
support.
Describing its own position,
the report says it “neither
advocates nor condemns birth
control or any of the methods
described.”
The survey gives the total
expenditure by major support
ing agencies for 382 research
projects in the field of human
reproduction as $6,094,293 in
the current year.
Of this total, $2,787,161 was
spent by NIH to support 170
projects. This made NIH by
far the largest supporter of
research in the field. The re
port noted that the agency sup
ports more than half of all
biomedical research intheU.S.
The development of new birth
control techniques is not a
specific objective of NIH, the
report said. It added that the
government agency is con
cerned instead with “basic re
search on reproduction and with
disease rather than with birth
control as such.”
THE [HEW] MARCH OF DIMES
N1F
THE NATIONAL FOUNDATION
Greetings
And Best Wishes
To
The Southern Cross
Savannah’s Diocesan Weekly
From
St. John The Evangelist
Church
Valdosta
AUGUSTA
BEST WISHES
From
Columbus
Our Best Wishes On
The First Issue Of
ern
c,
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Sacred Heart Parish
Warner Robins