Birthday

Today is Dad's birthday! 86! We will be sitting in the left field bleachers at Busch Stadium!
Go Cards!
Tom

Light the Night

Hello Family,

As I have done the last two years, I will be participating in the Light the Night Walk in Forest Park, to raise money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society - Gateway Chapter. I will be joined by friends from my parish. My dad fought multiple myeloma for a year before he died, as did Uncle Richard. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society raises money for research of this disease and many others, and gives help and hope to families dealing with their effects.

This year's walk will take place on Friday, September 11. As I did last year, I will be walking with "Team Boehm & Buds", but I will also be walking in memory of my dad and Uncle Richard. I am asking that you support me by making a donation.

To make an online donation, simply click on the below secure link. You will receive a confirmation by email detailing your donation.

http://pages.lightthenight.org/gat/StLouis09/PKuehner

To donate by mail, send your check to the address below, indicating that your donation is forteam "Boehm & Buds"/participant Peggy Kuehner.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
Gateway Chapter
Suite 101

77 Westport Plaza

St. Louis, MO 63146-3111

When you donate, you will be helping to fund lifesaving research and provide help and hope to thousands of families. Know that I sincerely appreciate your support.

Love,

Peggy

A Little More About Lourdes

Some of us old-timers may remember this song by Andy Williams. Someone has posted a Lourdes slide show to it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psFbwuT2ONk

Here is the official website of the shrine:

http://www.lourdes-france.org/index.php?goto_centre=ru&contexte=en&id=405

Note the webcams. You can watch the candlelight rosary procession live, 9:00 P.M. Lourdes time, 2:00 P.M. St. Louis time. The last two nights it has been massive.

In the many times I have marched in the candlelight procession here, I have often thought of the last scene from Walt Disney's Fantasia. You may recall that the scene begins with a terrifying interpretation of Moussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain, and then fades into a candlelight Ave Maria. Minus Moussorgsky, here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2ckBb_KqlU

Lourdes is far more chaotic, but the inspiration is the same.

An Overcast View of the Shrine at Lourdes

The famous Grotto of Massabielle is barely visible in this view. At the bottom right of the church, on the plaza by the river, the crowd is standing in front of the Grotto. The white object you can see among the trees looks something like a Christmas tree made out of candles. To the left of it, under the church, is the hollow (not visible) in which Bernadette Soubirous saw the Blessed Mother in 1858. I will try to get a better photo when the sun comes out.

Let me say a little more about the procession. This past weekend was the French National Pilgrimage, and there were 30,000 people in this tiny town. It was electric. The Rosary Procession begins at dusk (about 9:00 PM here), and takes about an hour. The pilgrims march around a long elliptical esplanade, carrying candles with a white paper wind guard.

After the first decade of the Rosary, a large multinational choir leads the singing of the Lourdes Hymn, which the English-speaking world knows as "Immaculate Mary." Each language group takes a verse, and everyone sings "Ave, ave, ave Maria!" together. The most touching thing is that they all elevate their candles when they do so. It is such a simple gesture, but so powerful when so many people do it. After the other decades, other Marian hymns are sung, and there is an incredible spiritual warmth to the whole spectacle.

The older of the grandchildren may remember the Block Rosary from our childhood. During the Marian months of May and October, the people of the neighborhood would gather at someone's house after dinner, kneel down in the living room, and say the Rosary together. I can't explain how, but the candlelight procession has that same, homey, living-room feel to it, thousands of people and all.

And here comes everybody! Each decade is lead by turns by different language groups, often by children. The official Western European languages of Lourdes, then Eastern European languages, then Asian, then African languages. It is a powerful expression of the Church's universality. And what keeps the homey feel to it is that all of this is done in honor of the Blessed Mother, whose presence is palpable here.

I hope at least some of you get to see this some day, but I have prayed for all of you. Sunday I carried a candle in procession for you, and I left it to burn through the night at the Grotto.

Greetings from Lourdes

Here's a quick note to say hello from Lourdes, France. Right now I am having quite a time with the French keyboard, and the French spell-check is having quite a time with this message. I can't figure out how to post photos either. Anyway, I just wanted to let all of you know that I have been praying for each of you by name. If you have particular intentions you want me to remember, please add a comment below or contact me by email. James Joyce once said of the Catholic Church, "Here comes everybody"--and you can sure see it at Lourdes. Thousands of people and dozens of languages. Weather has been hot during the day and cool in the evening. The candlelight processions have been very touching to see. I hope to post more in a short while, but it is time for a French dinner. A trés bientot!

Reunion Photos

Uncle Jim at Soldiers' Memorial

Soldiers' Memorial

Saint Louis, Missouri

Cenotaph

Cenotaph, Roll of Honor

James F. Brennan, Roll of Honor

(with my flash and reflection)

Photographs of men named on Roll of Honor

(Uncle Jim is second row, second from left)

Great Uncle Jim