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Bishop Baraga Days 2007
Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan
Schedule of Events to
honor Bishop Frederic Baraga the first bishop of the Upper Peninsula
of Michigan
Saturday September 29th
Slovenian Mass –
5:00 p.m. St. Joseph Church
606 E Fourth St.
Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan
Mass will be in the Slovene language.
Dinner Theatre immediately following Mass:
DreamMakers Theater at Kewadin Hotel & Convention Center – 2186
Shunk Road, Sault Ste. Marie. (Entrance nearest Hotel Entrance.
Booster Button or ticket needed) A free will offering will be taken
for the performers the Singing Slovenes and Jessica Dakota who have
graciously agreed to this free concert. Dinner will be Broiled Lake
Superior Whitefish & Wild Rice, salad, vegetable, rolls, desert &
beverage. There will be a cash bar. (Alternative Roast Pork, we
must know in advance.)
Sunday September 30th
Breakfast – 8:30 –
10:00 St. Joseph Church Hall (Free with Booster Button)
Tentative: Arrangements are under way through the
help of Krista Payment and the Native American Community to have
Holy Angels Church on Sugar Island opened on Sunday for visitors.
This was where Bishop Baraga visited the Native Americans including
the Payment Family. Aaron Payment is Chairman for the Sault Ste.
Marie tribe of Chippewa and is planning on participating in our
celebration. Ferry runs 24 hours a day and during daylight hours
every ½ hour from Sault Ste. Marie on the ¼ past the hour and from
the Island on the top of the hour and ½ hour. Round trip rate is
$7.00 for a car and includes the driver. A bus or motor coach would
be $15.00 and this includes the driver. For additional passengers,
it is cheapest to buy booklets of tickets at 20 per booklet at a
rate of $24.00 or $12.00 for Senior Citizen . Regular rate is $2.00
per passenger & Senior Citizen Ferry rate is $1.00. Ferry
information is available at (906) 635-5421. The ferry ride is
approximately 5 minutes and once on Sugar Island it is about 15
minutes to Holy Angels Church.
English Mass – 3:30
p.m. Holy Name of Mary
377 Maple
St. Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan
Mass will be con celebrated by Diocese of
Marquette’s Most Rev. Alexander K. Sample, and bishop Emeritus Most
Rev. James H. Garland along with other celebrants from far and near.
5:00 p.m. Banquet & Annual Meeting:
DreamMakers Theater at Kewadin Hotel & Convention Center. (Booster
Button or Ticket needed) Roast Turkey Dinner with all the trimming &
pumpkin pie. (Alternative Sirloin of Beef, we must know in
advance.)
Sites of the Area: There are many Bishop Baraga
artifacts being housed in the side entrance of Holy Name of Mary
Church. The “Mary Room” also has a stained glass window of Bishop
Baraga and Mary of the Thumb window purchased by Bishop Baraga. A
Matus Langus painting adorns the altar in the church. The “Tower of
History” is also located in the parking lot of Holy Name of Mary.
The home in which Bishop Baraga lived is located along with other
historic homes in the Sault. Bag lunches will be available for those
travelers on Monday Morning. Please register with Elizabeth for the
number of lunches you need.
For more information contact the Bishop Baraga
Association, (906) 227-9117, 347 Rock St. Marquette, MI 49855 or
edelene@dioceseofmarquette.org
A Short History of Bishop Frederic Baraga
(1797-1868
I. Frederic Baraga was born at castle Mala vas by
Dobrnic (Lower Carniola), in present-day Slovenia. He attended law
school at the University of Vienna where he graduated with high
honors. He entered the seminary and was ordained a Roman Catholic
Priest on September 21, 1823, in the Cathedral of St. Nicholas in
Ljubljana. Baraga’s spiritual director was Clement Hofbauer and in
1865, to further the Cause of St. Clement Hofbauer, Baraga wrote a
letter to Pope Pius IX stating: “For three years I enjoyed the
singular blessing of having as my confessor the Servant of God, a
blessing I number among the greatest blessing Divine Providence has
granted me during my entire life.”
Father Baraga arrived in America on December 31,
1830. His first mission was along the shore of Lake Michigan near
present day Harbor Springs and known as Arbre Croche. He then
labored two years at Grand Rapids before moving his mission to Lake
Superior at LaPointe, Wisconsin. In 1843, he moved his mission to
Assinins near present day Baraga, Michigan. It is there that he
wrote his Grammar and Dictionary of the Chippewa Language
that is still in use today.
Fr. Baraga’s responsibilities grew when he was
named bishop of the newly created Vicariate of Upper Michigan. He
was elevated to bishop by Pope Pius IX, and consecrated November 1,
1853 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Sault Ste. Marie was the See City until
1866 when he moved the See to Marquette, a central location for his
Diocese. On January 19, 1868, the feast of the Holy Name, Baraga
died. The day of his funeral was declared a civic day of mourning
in the city of Marquette while Catholics and non-Catholics mourned
the man they considered a Saint.
In 1930, St. Stephen’s Church in Chicago
established the Bishop Baraga Association. It was later moved to
Marquette. In 1952, Bishop Thomas Noa appointed an historical
commission to collect material pertinent for the cause of Bishop
Baraga. Bishop Baraga’s positio, or position paper, was
accepted in December of 1999 and he was declared a Servant of God.
We pray that the miracle we need to declare Bishop Baraga
Venerable will be confirmed soon.
The Bishop Baraga Association continues to work
for the cause of Sainthood and to make the life of our beloved
Bishop Frederic Baraga known to all people. We will gladly send you
prayer cards or brochures free for the asking and thank you for your
membership, support and devotion to Bishop Frederic Baraga and the
Bishop Baraga Association.
For more information see fredericbaraga.org or
contact us at The Bishop Baraga Association, 347 Rock St. Marquette,
MI 49855, (906) 227-9117 or edelene@dioceseofmarquette.org.
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