An Unbelieveable Blessing!

After Wednesday night Mass, the family had a wonderful opportunity to be blessed with a relic of Bishop Frederic Baraga!  Bishop Baraga, intercede for us!

We even had him as an overnight guest in our house Saturday evening.  My husband was at the cathedral for the Catholic men's conference and Father had asked him to transport Bishop's relic to our parish.


Bishop Frederic Baraga cause for sainthood is underway.

Bishop Frederic Baraga, first bishop of the Diocese of Marquette (from 1853 until 1868), was the first of many Slovenian missionaries to come to the United States to help build up the American Catholic Church.  Baraga's two successor bishops in Marquette, Most Reverend Ignatius Mrak and Most Reverend John Vertin, attribute their missionary vocations to him as well.  The seminarian, St. John Neumann, was inspired to come to America after reading Baraga's missionary accounts in Berichte, a publication of the Leopoldine Missionary Society in Vienna.

He wrote long and frequent accounts of his missionary activities including a three-volume diary.  He also wrote seven Slovenian prayerbooks and authored 20 Native American books which inlcudes his monumental Grammar and Dictionary of the Chippewa Language , still in use today.  He was the first bishop to write a pastoral letter in both the English and Chippewa languages. 

Praise Jesus for a thoughtful husband!

During many of my runs, I've come across fierce dogs; some chained up, some not.  I have also heard noises in the woods, too.  There have been bear and cougar sightings up here.  I have voiced my concern to my husband a few times.

This past Saturday, my husband attended a Catholic men's conference at the cathedral.  Since he was in a "big" town, he stopped at a outdoor store and purchased some pepper spray for me.


This morning, I went out for my normal four mile run with the pepper spray clipped to my running pants.  At mile two, a giant black dog thought he'd chase me down the street.  I'm not familiar with dog breeds, but he was big enough for my three year old to ride.  I heard the owner yelling, "Heal, Mojo!  Heal, Mojo!  Heal now, Mojo!"  I turned and saw that he was two feet from my ankles.  My pepper spray was in my hand, posed, and ready to fire.  Just as I was about to push down on the trigger, Mojo turned back.  My husband said that I should have sprayed anyway.  "A dog needs to learn not to chase a person when they are not on their property."  I don't know much about dog obedience.  I'm just thankful Mojo didn't take a bite out of me!

For the remainder of my run, I thanked the Lord for keeping me safe and for the thoughtfulness of my husband.

Wordless Wednesday