June - August 2021

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY Council 1287 and Assembly 850

Rosary Beads Newsletter

Council 1287 Charles K. T. Saffa Assembly 850 2nd Tuesday of the month at 7:00 PM IMMEDIATELY AFTER COUNCIL MEETING Rosary starts at 6:30 PM

Meeting Location Parish Hall Blessed Sacrament , Lawton OK

COUNCIL WEBSITE https://uknight.org/CouncilSite/membersOnly1.asp?CNO=1287

GRAND KNIGHTS CORNER JUNE Brothers, 15 Council Meeting 6:30 PM. (Blessed Nominations for Council Sacrament Parish Hall) officers for July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022 are: 27 Pancake Breakfast 9:00 AM – 12:30 PM (St. Mary’s Cafeteria) Grand Knight SK Morales JULY Deputy Grand Knight SK Rich 13 Council Meeting 6:30 PM. (Blessed Financial Secretary SK Glowaski Sacrament Parish Hall) Recorder Br K.Martin 25 Pancake Breakfast 9:00 AM – 12:30 PM Treasurer SK Apriesnig (St. Mary’s Cafeteria) Warden SK Gonzalez AUGUST Advocate SK S. Glanzer 10 Council Meeting 6:30 PM. (Blessed Chancellor Br P. Martin Sacrament Parish Hall) Inside Guard SK Marini 22 Pancake Breakfast 9:00 AM – 12:30 PM Outside Guard SK Fertig (St. Mary’s Cafeteria) 3rd Year Trustee SK Wells 2nd Year Trustee SK Hutchinson MEDITATION 1st Year Trustee SK Ross "In times of spiritual coldness and We will vote on this slate at our June 8 laziness, imagine in your heart meeting and we continue to meet during those times in the past when you the summer so I hope to see everyone there. were full of zeal and solicitude in all things, even the smallest.

Vivat Jesus! Remember your past efforts and the energy with which you opposed those who wanted to obstruct your GK Milton Morales progress. These recollections will reawaken your soul from its deep sleep, will invest it once more with PRAY FOR the fire of zeal, will raise it, as it  Our deployed Knights were, from the dead, and will make  Our men and women in service it engage in an ardent struggle  All our Knights who are ill against the Devil and sin, thus  Knights’ families who are ill being restored to its former height."  All the departed souls of the Knights — St. Isaak of Syria and their families  All who are impacted by COVID-19

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ACTIVITIES CENTER OF FAMILY LOVE Pancake Breakfast 1981 CREW April 25, & May 23, 2021 Since the organization’s foundation in Check our newsletters 1981, the Center of Family Love has and Council calendar provided innovative day programs and to stay updated on residential opportunities that inspire pancake breakfasts. individuals with intellectual and physical disabilities. With a gift of just $19.81 each month, you will create a lasting legacy that will change 4th DEGREE NEWS the lives of individuals living with Nominations for Assembly disabilities for generations to come! officers for July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022 are: As a member of the 1981 Crew, your monthly gift provides for our resident’s ongoing needs including: adult diapers, Worthy Faith Navigator SK Sargent transportation, medical equipment, Faithful Captain SK Rich exciting adventures and so much more! Faithful Pilot SK Jay Fertig https://centeroffamilylove.org/1981crew/ Faithful Admiral SK Wells Faithful Comptroller SK J. Glanzer Faithful Scribe SK Apriesnig Faithful Inner Sentinel SK S. Glanzer Faithful Outer Sentinel SK Aguilar 3 Year Trustee SK Gonzalez 2 Year Trustee SK Furtado 1 Year Trustee SK Morales Assembly will meet after the June 8th, Council meeting to vote. EDITOR The Color Guard will be busy supporting Memorial Day at Sunset Gardens, and Corpus I’m taking the summer off Christi Procession at Blessed Sacrament. so you won’t see another newsletter until Labor Day. To have notices posted or to correct any errors in this newsletter please contact: [email protected]

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young or old. A 2014 CDA Long-Term Disability Claims Review had a number of notes: More than 1 in 4 of today’s 20-year- olds will become disabled before they retire, 76% of us live paycheck to paycheck; less than 5% of all disabling accidents and illnesses are work related. That means 95% of those are not covered The weather is getting nicer and we will be by Worker’s Compensation. You’re on spending a lot more time outside with your own 95% of the time. Turn to Social cookouts, ball games, etc. and of course, Security; but Social Security’s report on yard work! Now when you get outside to SSDI says that only about 40% of get that work done, please, please be applicants are awarded benefits. Couple careful! I’m reminded of two acquaintances that with 69% of the private sector who were up on ladders in the spring. In workforce having no long-term disability both cases, the ladder slipped, and each income insurance and it’s no wonder gentleman sustained two broken arms! Out disabilities are the #1 cause of mortgage of commission for quite a while. But there foreclosures. are many hazards that can put you out of commission…and that brings me to the What to do? Let’s get together and find important part of my message this month. out. Do you need disability income Protecting your greatest asset! insurance? If so, how much? Maybe you have some at work…is it enough? Is it Your greatest asset is your ability to work taxable? Is it the right kind? Let me and earn an income! Take your annual suggest you put your mind and your income (probably fresh in your mind with family's mind at ease. Life is unpredictable, tax filing day extended into May) and pandemic or not. Let’s plan for the multiply it times your remaining years of worst…but expect the best. We can’t see working. A 35-year-old making $50,000 a what the future will bring, I’m here to help year will earn $1.5 million in the next 30 you plan for the unexpected. Let’s make years…. if he never gets another raise! sure that if you or your spouse are sick or You have lots to protect. But what if you’re hurt and can’t work, that your family can sick or hurt and can’t work. Maybe it’s stay in the home you’ve provided, pay the something simple like the gents above…a utilities, buy groceries…make sure the set of broken arms. But one of my basics are covered. members laid his motorcycle down on his leg…off from work for two years! That’s a Meanwhile, stay safe and healthy. lot of house payments to miss. Luckily, his disability income policy came to the rescue. Vivat Jesus! It can happen to any one of us. And disability does not discriminate; man or woman; Black, white, Hispanic or Asian;

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JULY Edward Alexander Shaun Bailey Robert Pirtle

Rev Lawrence Kowalski

Cpt Felix Peterson, Jr JUNE Alan Glanzer Michael Rich Leonard Stoner Robert Simmons Vincenzo Formisano John Broussard Richard Lance Wade Daniel Letourneau Steven Monostori Joshua L Lewis Carl Leon Stephen Gouthro AUGUST Brian Moore Michael Richter Martin Olivas Rev Rayanna Narisetti Christopher Castillo Armando Aguilar Morrie Fanto Daniel Flores Anthony Glydwell Ryan Upchurch Donald Kraft Martin Goodman James Cerrone Robert Conwell, III Thomas Leon Glenn Waters Carrick Porter Alexander Dolphin Jason Roberts Phillip Puckett Peter Sittenauer Stephen Burnley, II Cpt Frank Varsolona Ernesto Endaya Cleveland Brisby Alexander Emrich Pedro Campoverde Roger Sessom Rev Duc Joseph Vu Anthony Gonzales Norman Lockhart

James Apriesnig

John Dorsey Ryan Williamson

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Pancake Breakfast April 25, 2021 (Photos by SK Hutchinson)

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Pancake Breakfast May 23, 2021 (Photos by SK Hutchinson)

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Our Diocesan History (Part 1 of 9) Benedictine Beginning: 1875-1891 Benedictine Beginning: Although Catholics had been here and there in what is now for some 300 years, it was not until the French Benedictine of the of Pierre-qui-Vire entered in 1875, that there was an official, permanent Roman Catholic Church presence.

The came to Indian Territory out of sheer zeal. The area was considered inhospitable and unfertile ground for the Catholic Church. Apparently, there was no great effort on the part of American bishops to have responsibility for this wild, frontier land. In these beginning years, when a Roman Catholic voice spoke publicly, or correspondence was written in the name of the Church, or a community of Catholics called together to form a church, it was almost always done by a Benedictine .

Isidore Robot: The Founder

About a month after six convicted murderers from Indian Territory had their necks snapped simultaneously on the Ft. Smith gallows, Father Isidore Robot and Brother Dominic Lambert rode from that forlorn town toward the tiny settlement of Atoka, Indian Territory. It was October, 1875.

Isidore Robot, the man who was the founder of the Catholic Church in what is now Oklahoma, was a 38-year-old Benedictine monk when he entered the Indian Territory. He was an intense, energetic priest dedicated to near contradictory ideals of austere monasticism and the apostolate. Above all he was a man of formidable faith.

During his 11-year tenure in Indian Territory, Isidore Robot founded Sacred Heart Abbey (including mission church and school) in Indian country; formed churches among the coalminers at Krebs, Lehigh and

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McAlester, and completed the railroad line church at Atoka begun by Arkansas ; and served as Prefect Apostolic (the chief officer of a missionary area) of Indian Territory for a decade.

The bare recital of facts does not give justice to the memory of Isidore Robot. Sleeping in tents or in packing boxes during extremely cold weather; spending many weary days on horseback; suffering repeated misunderstandings and rebuffs; constantly lacking money for important projects; writing long letters to beg funds or explain his positions; rising at 3 a.m. in the frontier darkness to begin prayers; working through painful conflicts within his own small community of monks - these were the day-by- day lot of Isidore Robot.

Under the stress of the monastery-missionary life Isidore Robot's health failed. His life a mixed pattern of visible successes and failures, Father Isidore died on February 15, 1887 in Dallas, . He was 49 years old.

First Places: Atoka and Sacred Heart

Atoka

The priest-brothers, Fathers Michael and Lawrence Smyth, Catholic pastors at Ft. Smith, Arkansas, roved in a wide swath of Indian Territory in missionary efforts. They are known to have offered Mass at the ranch home of Frank Murray in Erin Springs, and to have traveled as far west as Ft. Sill.

The first Catholic church in Indian Territory was begun by Father Michael Smyth in 1872. The Church, named St. Patrick's, served as a place of worship for workers of the MKT railroad. Also in the small congregation were two storekeepers, J.A. Dillion and a Mr. Hardin, as well as a sprinkling of Indians including Benjamin Smallwood who later became a chief in the Choctaw Nation.

Father Isidore Robot made Atoka his headquarters for two years, 1875- 1877. During that time the church was completed. Atoka was also the site of the first Catholic School in Indian Territory. Under Father Isidore's

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sponsorship the school began in January, 1876, with a Miss Atchisson as teacher. The school closed in June of the same year.

Sacred Heart

Isidore Robot came to Indian Territory with a twofold intention - to found a Benedictine monastery and to do missionary work among the Indians. In October, 1876, after a year of investigative travel over a large part of the Territory, Father Robot concluded an agreement with the Potawatomi Indians whereby a square mile of land might be selected for the purpose of a mission and a school for the Potawatomi.

The spot chosen by father Isidore was approximately four miles north of Young's Crossing on the Southern Canadian River. Eventually the abbey and school complex of buildings were constructed at the western edge of Bald Hill in a meadow with creeks on either side of it.

Sacred Heart Mission was truly the first center of Catholicism in Indian Territory. From it went forth missionary monks who founded some 40 parishes and missions. From 1881 to 1946 one or more schools operated at Sacred Heart.

Sacred Heart, surrounded by cultivated fields, vineyards, and orchards became a well-known haven of hospitality for people in Indian Territory. Ordinary travelers and military men, fugitives from justice and the U.S. marshals pursuing them - all were welcomed without questions being asked.

In its heyday Sacred Heart Mission was home to 30 some monks, had schools for boys and girls and a convent. A fire in January, 1901, almost completely destroyed all the buildings at the mission.

Restoration was swift. By the school year of 1901-02 a new monastery and school building were constructed. Sacred Heart continued to function as an abbey until 1929 when it was transferred to St. Gregory's at Shawnee.

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The Benedictine Community

It would be difficult to imagine a strict monastic religious community founded under more difficult circumstances in the 19th century. From the beginning in 1877 the monks at Sacred Heart attempted simultaneously to be frontier builders, missionaries, and austere observers of the rule of St. Benedict.

The monks scrambled out of whatever served for beds to start prayers at 3 a.m. The menu for the first entire year was unyieldingly the same each day: breakfast - bread and coffee; dinner - soup and vegetables; supper - rice and prunes.

Many men, attracted by religious ideals, came; but when confronted with the realities of life at Sacred Heart, many also left. Brother John Laracy, who arrived on January 1, 1880, and remained until his death in 1940, recalled those early days: "I found the life very severe, and I called to mind what the storekeeper at Atoka told me, that I would never stay there, as the life was too hard, and I found it about as he said."

The original community at Sacred Heart consisted of nine: Fathers Isidore Robot, Felix De Grasse, and Romuald Pouget; clerics (students for the priesthood) Bernard Murphy, Benedict Shea, Adalbert Haffner, and Columbus O'Loane; and brothers Dominic Julius Lambert and Paul Baudoin. Ten years later Isidore Robot was dead; Romuald Pouget had returned to ; and Shea, Baudoin, and O'Loane had departed.

Of those that remained, Father Felix became of the community (1898-1905) and "the greatest and most effective of the Oklahoman Benedictine Indian missionaries" according to historian Father Joseph Murphy. Bernard Murphy was ordained a priest in 1883, was a successful missionary but sadly inept as abbot (1905-1909). Brother Dominic lived quietly at Sacred Heart, serving as community winemaker, until he returned to a Belgian monastery in 1912.

The spirit of daring and hardiness of the Sacred Heart Benedictines is illustrated by Father Suitbert Breiken who arrived alone in Indian Territory at Atoka in March, 1883. Realizing that no one had come to meet him,

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Father Suitbert, then 63 years old, walked the 70 miles from Atoka to Sacred Heart - carrying his suitcase and crossing Muddy Boggy Creek and the South Canadian River along the way.

The Benedictine community was composed of heterogeneous elements from the early years onward - Frenchmen, Basques, Irish and Americans. It had a difficult struggle to survive but live it did as evidence today by the healthy Benedictine Abbey of St. Gregory's at Shawnee. Every Catholic in Oklahoma is completely indebted to the monks of Sacred Heart. (Taken from One Family: One Century) (https://archokc.org/1875-1891)

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