It happens every December.  St. Francis Parishioners walk into the church on a Monday before Christmas and it has changed.  Window and choir loft swags, trees, wreathes, column decorations, a nativity scene and thousands of beautiful lights that weren’t there during Sunday Mass.  A few days later, dozens of beautifully arranged poinsettias appear.  It must be the work of elves!

The existing St. Francis Catholic Church was dedicated in May of 1884.  But that was about sixteen years before it was completed to the point we recognize today.  By 1900 the stained glass windows, taller steeple, and majestic altars were completed.  But electric power was not available until around 1915.  Early newspaper articles refer to gas jets that lit the church prior to electricity. Evergreen Christmas wreaths and live trees were illuminated with candles—a frightening thought by today’s standards.

​But there was an earlier church.  The original log and frame mission church, built in 1848, was located about 215 feet west of our stone church.  That church, with the mission that surrounded it, has been called “The Beacon on the Plains” and the “Cradle of Catholicism in Southern Kansas.” While the open-timber bell tower certainly was not decorated with a strand of electric lights, there can be no doubt that the Sisters of Loretto and the Jesuits recognized the birth of Christ with decorations that accented a nativity scene of some kind.

During the late 19th century the Jesuits and Lorettos departed and the Passionists took possession of the stone church.  The Passionist priests, brothers, and students had to contend with the early flame-based decorations until electricity was installed—and early electric tree lights might have been nearly as dangerous as the candles.  Those of us who are older remember more conventional decorations from the Passionist era.   But as time passed, our parish was handed from the Passionists to the diocese.  It was then that parishioners took over the job of decorating.

To say the annual decorating process is well organized is an understatement.  Our church maintenance men, Larry and Charlie, set up the inside and outside cribs during the week before the interior decorating begins.  Typically, on Sunday morning, after 10:00 Mass, a small crew starts moving tubs and boxes of decorations, and crib statues, down the narrow curved stairs from the old upstairs.  At about noon a small army of 20 or more youth and adults start showing up to move the marked boxes to the appropriate areas and begin unpacking decorations.  Over a period of about 3-4 hours wreaths, window and column decorations, trees, and other items are set up and plugged in. Among the most cherished features in the sanctuary area is the Memory Tree that is placed directly in front of the west altar.  A few days later a nursery truck delivers dozens of beautiful poinsettias that are arranged by another small team of parishioners.  Many of those plants honor the memory of past parishioners whose pictures are on the Memory Tree.

A Slideshow of the 2016 Setup Illustrates the Annual Process ...

And there you are!  That is how one of the most beautiful and photographed holiday church displays in our region happens.  A few weeks later, the elves show up again and reverse the process.  It is just that simple!  Simple?

Come to think of it, maybe those elves are really angels.

HOLY DAY OF OBLIGATION:
Friday, November 1st, is All Saints Day, which is a Holy Day of Obligation.

The Mass schedule is:

• Thursday, October 31st at 5:00 p.m. at St. Ambrose,

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• Friday, November 1st at 7:30 a.m. at St. Francis and 7:00 p.m. at St. Francis.

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• There will be no 8:30 a.m. Mass at St. Ambrose on Thursday.​

The Feast of The Assumption.
Thursday, August 15th is the Feast of The Assumption of The Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven.  As such, it is a Holy Day of Obligation.  Holy Day Mass schedules, at both churches, are:

St. Francis, St. Paul:

• Wednesday Evening, August 14 — 7:00 p.m.
• Thursday Morning , August 15 — 7:30 a.m.

St. Ambrose, Erie:

• Thursday Evening, August 15 — 7:00 pm

Thanks to Lois Carlson for photos.

For more information about the Daughters of Isabella, including Circle 239, follow THIS LINK.

The familiar Life Saver candy was invented in 1912 by Clarence Crane of Garrettsville, Ohio. He was looking for a hard-candy alternative to chocolate that melted during hot Ohio summers.  Their shape was similar to life rings used on boats and around swimming areas.  As they became popular, a roll of the candies was a "lifesaver" for the occasional sweet-tooth attack.

New Meaning.
In recent years, the word "Lifesaver" has taken a more literal meaning.  Knights of Columbus members, across the nation, don their familiar aprons and meet parishioners at church doors, after Mass, with the cash-can in hand.  Being handed a roll of the candy is a reminder that you can make a difference in the lives of women facing crisis pregnancies.  

The difference an ultrasound machine makes is frequently the difference between a mother keeping or aborting her baby. It is hard to deny the humanity of an unborn baby when confronted with a face, a nose, a heart, ten fingers and ten toes.  In January of 2019, the Knights of Columbus announced that it's Ultrasound Initiative had donated 1,000 ultrasound machines to pregnancy centers around the world.

Closer to home, the Kansas State Council recently announced installation of two ultrasound machines in pregnancy crisis centers, with another scheduled by the end of April; and four more possibilities in the next 9 to 12 months.   Local Life Saver Sunday proceeds support clinics such as A Better Choice Pregnancy Center in Wichita.

So remember, when you see a Knight in the apron, with his can, ... digging into your pocket a little deeper will make a difference!

Photo is from KofC.org "Building a Culture of Life."

The above is from the publisher's back-page summary of their booklet of articles, meditations or short prayers.  The booklet includes a brief one page reflection for each day of lent, plus the Stations of The Cross and other material intended to guide us through Lent and into the Mystery of Jesus Christ.

The St. Francis Altar Society has purchased these books and they are available, to parishioners, in the back of both St. Francis and St. Ambrose Catholic Churches.  Pick up a copy of the companion for your family as part of your Lenten Reflection.

​PARISH SCHOOL OF RELIGION NEWS (& Reminders):

Click to Enlarge.

The St. Francis Catholic Church Christmas decorations have been admired in our area for decades.  They are easy to take for granted.  However, few people realize that the work on this annual project starts as the previous year's decorations are taken down.  For example, during the past year new choir loft and communion rail garlands were purchased and prepared to replace older worn garlands.  Well used, but rumpled, ribbon arrangements were replaced with new materials that were lovingly tied during warmer months.  Also, planning for better ways to control lighting circuits was thought out early.   By the time the thousands of lights are illuminated, on Christmas Eve, dozens of parishioners have spent hundreds of man-hours preparing and installing,

 Our joint parishes website, www.stfrancis-stambrose.org, has been up and running for more than two years. The web page and its companion Facebook page "@StFrancisAmbrose" are excellent tools to familiarize new parishioners with our churches, describe parish organizations and policies, and keep folks informed about St. Francis and St. Ambrose activities.  The web page, combined with the sharing power of Facebook, have put our joint-parishes information, events and accomplishments in front of a lot of people.

Here are some website use statistics since we secured our domain name and hosting service on September 27, 2016:

• Total Page Views "Hits" — 81,681
• Total Unique Visitors — 36,665
• Page Hits During the Past Month 4,044

​This might seem like more traffic than two rural parishes would produce.  But much of our page information, and event advertising, is "pushed" to family, friends and other organizations through Facebook groups and pages like: Southeast Kansas Catholics, Hometown St. Paul, Meanwhile in Walnut, The Stewardship Way of Life (Diocese), our youth organizations and others.

Links add up and people do recognize us as an active, vibrant church family!

Note:
1 The Knights of Columbus and St. Francis Altar Society pages have been updated recently and should be OK.

*Father David's next assignment is ​as pastor of St. Paul University Parish, Wichita State University.