Church Chatter: Run at Mount St. Mary’s benefits pregnancy center

Two upcoming road races will benefit causes that reach out to pregnant women and their families in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

The Catoctin Pregnancy Center will hold its seventh annual 5K/1 Mile Race/Walk in memory of Father Darin Didier Saturday, Sept. 17, at Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg. Start time is 9 a.m. Race-day registration is $25, and begins at 7:30 a.m. All proceeds go directly to the pregnancy center, which supplies necessities such as diapers, formula and clothing.

To volunteer, or for more information, call Jim Lowrie at 717-642-0196 or email jimlow@embarqmail.com.

The Gabriel Network 5K Walk/Run for Life and Family Fun Mile will be held Sept. 24, at Meadowbrook Park in Ellicott City. Start time is 9 a.m. Registration ranges from $20 for youths to $60 for families. The event, which benefits the Gabriel Network’s Maternity Home Program, is stroller and pet-friendly. For more information, contact race director Johanna Coughlin at 410-707-9842 or email 5kforlife@gabrielnetwork.org.

The Mission Helpers of the Sacred Heart, founded in Baltimore in 1890, recently honored four sisters celebrating jubilee anniversaries. Sister Carrie Schindler and Sister Mariel Ann Rafferty each celebrated 60 years; and Sister Maria Luz Ortiz and Sister Mary Louise Zaworski marked 50 years.

Sister Carrie, who holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Loyola University Maryland, a master’s degree from Seattle University and a certificate in Gerontology from Baltimore Community College, is a pastoral minister at Oak Crest Village.

Sister Maria was appointed Delegate for Religious for the Archdiocese of Baltimore by Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien in 2009. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Loyola University Maryland as well as a master’s degree in Theology from St. Mary’s Seminary.

In early August, the Mission Helpers mourned the death of Sister Virgine Pugh, a Baltimore native whose ministry took her the Archdiocese of Washington and an unforgettable encounter with Pope John Paul II.

She was director of CCD (Confraternity of Christian Doctrine) in Washington in 1979, when Blessed John Paul celebrated Mass on the National Mall. She was one of eight people selected to receive holy Communion from him, and the obituary prepared by the Mission Helpers recounted her experience.

“The Secret Service was out in full force,” she recalled in 2005, after the death of John Paul II. “They knew more about me than I knew about myself. I approached the pope with agents on each side of me. But I forgot about them – I forgot about everything – as I received the sacrament from the Holy Father. It was a magnificent and cherished moment.”

The Burger King Scholars Program awarded $1,000 scholarships to seven Marylanders who are now in their freshmen year of college. Three of the seven graduated from Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

Nicole Arcodia went from Notre Dame Preparatory to Villanova (Pa.) University; Amy Fly from Mount de Sales Academy in Catonsville to Dickinson (Pa.) College; and Emily Montoya from The Seton Keough High School in Baltimore to the University of Pittsburgh.

Recipients are selected based on their grade point average, work experience, extracurricular activities and community service.

Rita Barazotto retired over the summer, after 30 years of secretarial ministry at Holy Trinity Parish in Glen Burnie. Friends and co-workers celebrated her at a cookout Aug. 4. It was attended, among others, by Father John J. Auer, who hired her more than three decades ago; Monsignor Richard J. Bozzelli, pastor of Holy Trinity; Father Brendan T. Carr; and many former and current staff and volunteers.

Among other duties, according to Holy Trinity parish office manager Sue Love, Barazotto updated the parish and Catholic Review subscriber databases, and welcomed many parishioners and guests.