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Volume 6 Number 6 • October
Serving Catholics in Western North Carolina in the Diocese of Charlotte
Little
Living By
Home Blossoms
MIKE KROKOS
CHARLOTTE new
people
— For some,
it is
friends they've made. Others
used to prepare each enjoy the countless activi-
talk of the care
meal.
Many
including line dancing the macarena. These amenities are indeed a part of the environment at The Little Flower, but resident Edgar Hill sums it up best: "It's home." Hill, 82, and his wife, Jerrie, 80, ties,
among the 41 residents who moved new assisted living care facility on Lawyers Road in south Charlotte nearly two months ago. They are happy to be a part of The Little Flower family. are
into the
"This should have happened 10 years ago," says Mrs. Hill. "It's so wonderful." Keith Adams and Sharon Mayfield, co-founders of The Little Flower, formed a planning committee in 1994 that included the Hills. Together, the group watched the concept of an assisted living home for Catholic seniors blossom. "The project took two years from conception to opening," says Adams. The Little Flower is geared toward
Conventual Franciscan Father Edgar Holderi sprinkles holy walei on Xaria, a Burmese python, during the Blessing of Animals held Oct. 5 at Winston Square Park in Winston-Salem. Also shown is pet owner Sequoyah Matthews, a parishioner at Our Lady of Fatima Chapel. The popular tradition of the Blessing of Animals originated with St. Francis of Assisi in the early 13th century.
Retreat Celebrates Ministry JIMMY ROSTAR
— receive holy
Staff Writer
HICKORY — By
definition, they
compose
the first of three ranks of ordained ministry in the Catholic Church. Their beginnings date back to scriptural
times, and since the Vatican
II
council
they have been restored as active ministers
of the Church.
They
are deacons,
more than 60 of
whom
serve the Diocese of Charlotte.
From
Oct. 4-6, they, along with their
wives, gathered together
at the
Conference Center to focus on
Catholic
their life's
calling.
"I think
it is
good
orders and remain deacons for life. Transitional deacons are ordained as a step toward the priesthood. In both cases, they are ordained ministers of service to the Church. Historically, the permanent diaconate was suppressed between the fifth century up to the second Vatican
council.
Between
men
"full of the
and wisdom," as
Holy
explained in
is
See Deacons, page 2
work."
Throughout the weekend,
retreat
master Franciscan Father Paul Williams, from St. Anthony of Padua Church in
almost immediately after the 50-minute surgery Oct. 8 and "greeted and thanked everyone" on the medical staff, said Dr.
Francesco Crucitti,
Rome's Gemelli
the
hospital.
Crucitti said all of the pope's vital
the surgery.
He
said the
pope might get
missed from the hospital in a week or so. "It might be even sooner. But let's not forget the pope is in his 77th year," he said. Crucitti said the operation con-
irrside
2 special pages:
Vocation
Awareness
whom they serve.
Oct. 13-19
all
The diaconate as it exists in today's is made up of two com-
Catholic Church
ponents. Permanent deacons
— such
as
at the forefront.
everyday, that's the other thing."
"We
couldn't have done this Adams. "Sharon and I are more the orchestra directors that have brought in other people that have really alone," explains
made
it.
We planted the seed, but others
make it grow." Nearly 80 percent of the residents are Catholic, but the home does not discriminate. "The Catholics and nonCatholics have blended very well," notes helped to
See Flower, page 2
us to exclude, once again, the presence of other pathologies," he said.
He
Pope Speaks
4
Columns.,
5
a cause of the pope's recent flare-ups.
Crucitti expressed irritation with
recent Italian newspaper reports suggest-
more serious diswhich doctors were
ing that the pope had a ease, such as cancer,
either concealing or failing to diagnose.
time to put an end to all these we've read," he said. "There is no secret. I'm here to tell you what the situation really is, and it's exactly as we "It's
fantasies
described
it" in
previous medical state-
ments.
appendec-
tomy was performed on the pontiff. Doctors found exactly what they expected to find: that the pope's appendix had been inflamed and had developed scar
News
Briefs.
...9-10
Parish Profile
6-7
said he
could "categorically" rule out a tumor as
Crucitti said a textbook
Week
be Christ-like to
who performed
signs were normal during and following
Greenville, S.C., reminded the deacons to
needs
"The residents get to do things they haven't be able to do in years," adds Mayfield. "They get to be with people
"The regional examination allowed
The pope regained consciousness
retreat. "It's really
invigorating and beautiful to see that the faith is at
Western
In biblical times, the apostles ap-
Spirit
intellectual
symptoms of fever and nausea.
year-old pontiff.
out of bed the next day and could be dis-
pointed seven
The staff at The Little Flower makes sure physical and personal care needs are met, with social, spiritual and
serious intestinal disorder for the 76-
has experienced a rebirth. to share with
make
sure they are healthy and happy."
removed Pope John Paul IPs inflamed appendix and ruled out any more fully
operation at
ministry," said Rev. Mr. Jos Vandermeer, regional vicar and permanent deacon serving St. Eugene Church of the
then, the
responsible for their residents to
firmed what he and other doctors had diagnosed earlier this year: that the pope was suffering from recurrent episodes of appendix inflammation, which produced
Church generally ordained deacons only as a measure preceding priesthood. Since Pope Paul VPs restoration of the permanent diaconate, however, the ministry
other deacons what we're doing in our
in Asheville,
By JOHN THAVIS ROME (CNS) — Doctors success-
who attended the retreat in Hickory
those
who are basically independent but
need help with their daily living tasks. "The resident assistants are at the core," says Adams. "They are the ones who have their little neighborhood and are
Pope Has Surgery, Doctors Rule Out Serious Disorders
Permanent Diaconate By
1996
Flower Assisted
Editor the
11,
11
—
4-Page Supplement Propagation of the Faith
tissue.
The doctors
also
removed some
"adherences" in the area, scar tissue that sometimes develops following surgery.
The pope has been operated upon twice
See Surgery, page 3
in