Casa Maria Marianists

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Casa María celebrated two of Mary’s namesakes this week in observation of the feast days of Our Lady of the Rosary (Oct. 7) and Our Lady of the Pillar (Oct. 12).  Nearly 30 students, staff, faculty and friends from St. Mary’s University joined the Marianists of the Casa María community for prayer, followed by a chili con carne buffet and desserts. Cupcakes in gold paper cups and a cake dummy trimmed in gold ribbon, gold roses and a golden rosary set atop a platter on pillars were served to match the golden sunburst of Mary’s statuette.

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Joseph, Justin and Eric spent the weekend on retreat at Our Lady of Czestochowa Shrine in San Antonio. As part of the province formation program, this “aspirancy retreat,” is scheduled to take place within the first two months of the aspirancy experience. Rev. Tim Kenney, S.M., and Brother Steve Glodek, S.M. , led the retreat. After experiencing a series of travel delays, Tim finally arrived safely in San Antonio on Saturday morning.

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Happy birthday to Fr. Tim Eden, whose favorite flavor of ice cream is Rocky Road. This inspired the ‘Rocky Road Overload’ dessert table at this week’s Casa Tuesday. Nearly 50 St. Mary’s students, staff, faculty and friends gathered for prayer, a spaghetti buffet, Rocky Road rice cereal treats, Rocky Road cake truffles and Rocky Road birthday cake. Everyone sang “Las Mananitas” and “Happy Birthday” to Fr. Tim.

Special guests this week included Charles from Washington, D.C., and Claudio, from Rome, Italy, who are visiting San Antonio for International Day of Prayer to be held next week Tuesday, Oct. 1 at the university.

“When the journey of life feels like a Rocky Road, pray to God to ease your load!”

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Enchiladas Rojas, chalupas and rocky road ice cream cake were the featured menu items as requested by birthday brother Tim as part of the celebration of the vigil of his birth on Monday, September 23, 2013. Since his actual birthday, September 24, falls on a ‘Casa Tuesday’ this year, the community designated this night as the official community celebration. While this celebration was planned for Tim, Aspirant Justin experienced a personal milestone by eating his first enchilada.

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Blessed Brothers Carlos Eraña, Jesus Hita and Fidel Fuidio of Ciudad Real, Spain, who were martyred in 1936, were remembered on the vigil of their feast day today when over 50 St. Mary’s students, staff, faculty and friends gathered for prayer with the Marianists of the Casa María community. In honor of the Marianist martyrs, Hispanic heritage foods were served, such as tacos, chocoflan and pan de polvo.

Learn more about our blessed brothers from the Marianist website and Hispanic heritage month from the Library of Congress.

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Over 25 students stopped by the front lawn of Casa María to enjoy free lemonade on Wednesday evening, Sept. 11, 2013.

According to Brother Mike Sullivan, the tradition behind Casa María’s lemonade stand began during the fall 2001 semester as a way to contribute to a positive mood on campus following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.

Since then, Brother Mike has tried to keep this lemonade stand an annual event, both to honor this tradition and as another way for our Marianist community to connect with students informally on campus.

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Casa María celebrated a very merry Mary week (Sept. 8 was Mary’s birthday and Sept. 12 is the Feast Day of the Most Holy Name of Mary) with a birthday buffet and a blue velvet cake. More than 50 St. Mary’s students, staff, Marianists, faculty and friends sang “Las Mananitas” and “Happy Birthday” in honor of Our Blessed Mother before enjoying spaghetti, salad and garlic bread. For dessert, a special stacked cake, topped with Mary, was served. The blue velvet cake featured a trio of blue flowers with bling, and a pretty polka dot trim, which matched the blue polka dot napkins. Feliz cumpleaños, Mama María!