The Servants of the Holy Heart of Mary, an order of religious sisters in Batavia, are offering a new opportunity to women and to the church. Companions of the Servants of the Holy Heart of Mary (Servant Companions) is a path of service, of prayer and of living in community for single women 18 years of age and older.

The 110th anniversary of Knights of Columbus Springfield Council 364 was celebrated at a banquet dinner March 22 at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 2200 Meadowbrook Road.

Ten months after arriving in Quincy to begin work as president of Quincy University, Robert Gervasi formally became its 22nd president at an inaugural ceremony, April 3. He is the first president in the university’s 149-year history, who is a layperson, not a member of a religious order.

Catholics in the Springfield diocese from parishes participating in the Why Catholic? program are invited to attend a retreat experience on “Eucharist: Bread for the Journey,” led by nationally known evangelization expert Father Bruce Nieli, CSP. The retreat experience, which is two and a half hours long, will be offered at a variety of times and locations during the week of May 3-9.

Catholic Charities of Decatur’s annual dinner dance will be held April 25 in the Fountain Hall Atrium of the Decatur Conference Center and Hotel.

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St. Anthony Grade School in Effingham will offer alumni and others achance to remember the old and welcome the new by holding an open houseon Saturday, April 11 from 1 to 4 p.m. Both the existing schoolbuilding, located at 412 N. Third St., and the adjacent new schoolbuilding will be open the afternoon before Easter Sunday, says St.Anthony principal Mary Lynn Byers.

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Physical fitness enthusiasts and Richard Simmons fans can gathertogether at Villa Maria Catholic Life Conference and Retreat Center inSpringfield for some fun exercise sessions beginning Tuesday, April 14.

ursuline.convent-cover.jpgFriends and supporters joined Ursuline sisters March 22 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Ursulines in Alton at a Mass with Bishop George J. Lucas at Ss. Peter and Paul Church, followed by a reception at the Alton Knights of Columbus Hall.

Bishop George J. Lucas invites the people of the Springfield diocese to participate in the annual chrism Mass at 6:30 p.m. Monday of Holy Week, April 6. Because the Cathedral of the Immaculate is closed during a year-long restoration and renewal, the chrism Mass this year will be held at St. Agnes Parish Church, 245 N. Amos in Springfield.

albert_allen.jpgSeminarian Albert “Al” Allen believes he is proof positive that important life events happen in God’s time. At 59, Allen is in his first year of theological studies at Sacred Heart School of Theology at Hales Corner, Wis., and he’s also the oldest seminarian of the Springfield diocese.

pueri-cantores.jpgAbout 100 youngsters from the Springfield diocese were in St. Louis on March 19 to sing at the American Federation Pueri Cantores Choral Festival at the Cathedral Basilica.

Pueri Cantores is the national student choral organization of the Catholic Church that has as its motto “Bringing together boys and girls throughout the United States to sing the Peace of God.” Michael Wustrow, co-director of music at the Saint Agnes Cathedral in Rockville Centre, New York, guided the singers through the choral prelude and the liturgy.

The annual Way of the Cross for Peace and Justice will be held at noon on Good Friday, April 10, beginning in front of the Illinois Supreme Court Building, Second Street and Capital Avenue in Springfield. The walk, about two miles long, will end at approximately 2:30 p.m. outside the Governor’s Mansion at Fifth and Jackson streets.

An award winning film opening Friday, March 27, at the Carmike Hickory Point Theatre in Forsyth features three brothers from a Decatur family. Brothers at War is Director Jake Rademacher’s look at the U.S. military in Iraq through his brothers’ eyes.

lucas-george.jpgBishop George J. Lucas has joined the bishops of Illinois in urging Catholics to call their state representatives with a simple message: “Vote NO on House Bill 2354.”

HB 2354, the Reproductive Health and Access Act, passed the House Human Services Committee on March 11. The bill will now head to the Illinois House floor for consideration of the entire body.

Several Springfield-area Catholic school students received first place awards in the Springfield Catholic Art Showcase sponsored by the Springfield College-Benedictine University Art Department.

St. Frances Cabrini Parish will host “Glory in the Cross,” a faith enrichment presentation on the Paschal Triduum, its history and meaning, from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Saturday, April 5 at the Parish Center, 1020 N. Milton Ave. in Springfield.

webb-edwardsville.jpgThomas Webb, a fifth-grader from St. Mary Parish in Edwardsville, has become known as a hero in his own right at his parish and at Woodland Elementary School. Last month Thomas, with permission from his parents Kevin and Sue Webb, had his head shaved to stand in solidarity with a classmate who was suffering from a rare form of cancer.

A day of forgiveness and healing for those hurting from abortion will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, March 28, at the Chiara Center (Franciscan Motherhouse), 4875 LaVerna Road in Springfield.

capitolgathering.jpg Over a thousand Catholic adults gathered on March 4 at the Capitol complex in Springfield for the first-ever Catholics at the Capitol advocacy day, arranged by the Catholic Conference of Illinois (CCI). Still another 3,800 — Catholic school children and their chaperones — were there for an annual Catholic school rally held in the Capitol Rotunda.

harmonbillington.jpg A little over five months after their parish church closed for major restoration and renewal, parishioners were offered an opportunity to go back inside the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Springfield on March 8, to see first-hand the progress of restoration.

Holy Family Parish will celebrate a five-day parish renewal experience March 29 through April 2, with the principal service taking place each evening at 7 p.m. at the church, 345 E. Acton Ave.

Bishop George J. Lucas recently received a letter thanking him for a diocesan contribution of $10,292 to the 2008 Pastoral Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa.

rite-of-elect-09021.jpg The weather outside the first weekend of Lent was predictably cold and windy; however the catechumens and candidates attending the Rite of Election of Catechumens and of the Call to Continuing Conversion of Baptized Candidates received a warm welcome in Springfield on Feb. 28 and March 1.

peru-bishop.jpg Bishop Kay Martin Schmalhausen of the Territorial Prelature of Ayaviri, Peru, came to Springfield Feb. 24 and 25 to visit with Bishop George J. Lucas and thank him for allowing Father Paul Habing, a Springfield diocesan priest, to serve in his territory.

6th-grade-civille-2-24-09-002.jpgSixth grade is the year students at Ss Peter and Paul School focus on stewardship, and teacher Melissa Martin says her students have discovered the excitement of seeing their stewardship efforts help others.

dl-st-mary-writers.jpgSt. Mary School is the first school in Illinois to use the Indianapolis-based Connecting Learning Assures Successful Students (CLASS) program, which includes coaches and summer institutes ranging in topics from behavior, classroom settings, literacy and more. The school model used lifelines, instead of character traits, as an integral part of the curriculum. Its two life goals are treat people right, and do the right thing, which serves as the basis for lifelines, and includes cooperation, organization, perseverance, and honesty among many other qualities.

st-john-winners.jpgStudents and faculty at St. John the Evangelist School in Carrollton went into an all-school assembly Feb. 27 to hear their congressman talk about how a bill becomes a law. They ended up jumping up and down and shouting for joy, as paper money and confetti rained down on them, after Rep. John Shimkus (R-19th) made the announcement — St. John School won $100,000 in U.S. Cellular’s “Calling All Communities” campaign.

Catholic women from throughout Illinois are invited to the biannual Legislative Action Days Conference March 3 and 4 in Springfield, according to Rebecca Woodhull, Province of Chicago director for the National Council of Catholic Women.

st-joseph-home-construction.jpgA number of parishes in and around Springfield will hold a special collection at Masses the weekend of March 14-15 to help raise the remaining funds needed to complete the Holy Family Center at St. Joseph's Home in Springfield.