Living Our Faith

Maura Weis admits that she may not have held on to her Catholic faith if it weren't for a newly organized Catholic student group at Lindenwood University in St. Charles.

Lu Cortese was perched on the edge of her seat as if she was ready to pounce into action. She nervously laughed while her friend Fred Vilbig, sitting next to her, joked about Cortese's ability to get things done.

"I always tell people, 'Don't ever make eye contact with her. She's the vortex called Lu Cortese!'" Vilbig opined.

"It's not about me!" she shouted at Vilbig with a smile on her face. "It's about Him!" as she pointed to a crucifix on her office wall.

Children around the archdiocese are reaching out to young patients at SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center, sending aptly named Messages of Hope during the Advent season and beyond.

Dan Buck, executive director of Cardinal Glennon Children's Foundation, which supports the work of SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center, said the program is "an opportunity for people in the community who are thinking and praying about our kids to express that love and hope to the families and the children so they know they are not alone."

Welcome to the season of Advent.

In these busy weeks before Christmas, many of us give Advent only a little nod. We know it's a time of preparation for the coming of Christ, but we have a lot of other preparations going on, from baking cookies and writing cards to buying gifts and organizing family holiday schedules. We may have an Advent wreath on the table or let the children check off the days on their Advent calendar. We may even go to an extra Mass or prayer service.

We're busy people. What more can we do?

Spiritual preparation

Patricia Cornell has taken her love for icons and transformed it into her business to share that love with others.

Cornell is the proprietor of St. Theodosia’s Icon Shop, which offers icon art of various saints and other important figures in the Church. She attends St. Francis de Sales Oratory in south St. Louis.

In the basement of Blessed John XXIII Center in Affton hides a treasure that is special to Eastern Christians.

Members of the St. Louis Byzantine Catholic Mission recently installed an iconostasis, a large screen that serves to highlight the importance of the place in church in which the liturgy is celebrated.