Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2007 6:24 AM
Subject: Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Football--Another new winner of the week
I think #1 and #2 head to head still the same
High points for YTD:
SS 843
FMV 824
MM 760
SD 759
AI 758
STK 755
http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/f1/182928
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Nicholas Gregory
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Big WVU Win
Sent: Saturday, October 27, 2007 3:26 PM
Subject: Big WVU win
Big win for WVU vs ranked opponent while visting
Maybe a big win tonight for PSU?
Big Nick--if you see a cool PSU hat let me know--I've been looking for one to represent
GS
Subject: Big WVU win
Big win for WVU vs ranked opponent while visting
Maybe a big win tonight for PSU?
Big Nick--if you see a cool PSU hat let me know--I've been looking for one to represent
GS
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Threatened or Endangered Species
The number of species listed as threatened or endangered
A current report of all listed animals and plants from TESS (our Threatened and Endangered Species database System )
Note: Due to the large number of fields and records, these reports may take several minutes to generate.
List of all endangered or threatened animals (updated daily)
List of all endangered or threatened plants (updated daily)
Listed animals and listed plants as published in the Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants 50 CFR 17.11 and 17.12, November 2005 (PDF)
Our summary of the number of listed species, updated daily (our boxscore)
General statistics for endangered species
A current report of all listed animals and plants from TESS (our Threatened and Endangered Species database System )
Note: Due to the large number of fields and records, these reports may take several minutes to generate.
List of all endangered or threatened animals (updated daily)
List of all endangered or threatened plants (updated daily)
Listed animals and listed plants as published in the Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants 50 CFR 17.11 and 17.12, November 2005 (PDF)
Our summary of the number of listed species, updated daily (our boxscore)
General statistics for endangered species
Lauth's 50th Anniversary
Sent: Tuesday, October 16, 2007 8:58 AM
Subject: M&D 50th
Hi--
As you know Mom and Dad's 50th anniversary is next June. Anyone have any ideas of what to do? I was thinking about talking to them about what they would like to do. The surprise thing never works any way. My guess is Dad probably really doesn't want anything but Mom would probably like something. Several members of the extended Lauth family asked about what we were going to do at Therese's wedding. I'd be happy to talk to them about it but am equally happy to let one of you do it also. Let me know what you think.
Subject: M&D 50th
Hi--
As you know Mom and Dad's 50th anniversary is next June. Anyone have any ideas of what to do? I was thinking about talking to them about what they would like to do. The surprise thing never works any way. My guess is Dad probably really doesn't want anything but Mom would probably like something. Several members of the extended Lauth family asked about what we were going to do at Therese's wedding. I'd be happy to talk to them about it but am equally happy to let one of you do it also. Let me know what you think.
Week 6 NFL FF
Sent: Tuesday, October 16, 2007 7:54 AM
Subject: Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Football
Top 4 in points:
SS: 622.83
FMV: 620.75
MM: 604.45
AI: 601.10
http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/f1/182928
Subject: Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Football
Top 4 in points:
SS: 622.83
FMV: 620.75
MM: 604.45
AI: 601.10
http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/f1/182928
Saturday, October 13, 2007
NetFlix Queue
riority Move to Top Movie Title Star Rating MPAA Genre Availability Remove
^ The War: A Ken Burns Film: Disc 3 NR Documentary Now
^ Ratatouille
5.0 Stars
NR Children & Family Releases on DVD Nov 06, 2007
^ Elizabeth
4.0 Stars
R Drama Short Wait
^ Transformers
4.1 Stars
PG-13 Sci-Fi & Fantasy Releases on DVD Oct 16, 2007
^ Spider-Man 3
3.4 Stars
PG-13 Action & Adventure Releases on DVD Oct 30, 2007
^ The War: A Ken Burns Film: Disc 4 NR Documentary Now
^ The War: A Ken Burns Film: Disc 5 NR Documentary Now
^ The War: A Ken Burns Film: Disc 6 NR Documentary Now
^ Rowan Atkinson Live!
Click to rate "Hated It"
NR Comedy Now
^ Surf's Up
4.2 Stars
PG Children & Family Now
^ The War: A Ken Burns Film: Disc 3 NR Documentary Now
^ Ratatouille
5.0 Stars
NR Children & Family Releases on DVD Nov 06, 2007
^ Elizabeth
4.0 Stars
R Drama Short Wait
^ Transformers
4.1 Stars
PG-13 Sci-Fi & Fantasy Releases on DVD Oct 16, 2007
^ Spider-Man 3
3.4 Stars
PG-13 Action & Adventure Releases on DVD Oct 30, 2007
^ The War: A Ken Burns Film: Disc 4 NR Documentary Now
^ The War: A Ken Burns Film: Disc 5 NR Documentary Now
^ The War: A Ken Burns Film: Disc 6 NR Documentary Now
^ Rowan Atkinson Live!
Click to rate "Hated It"
NR Comedy Now
^ Surf's Up
4.2 Stars
PG Children & Family Now
Big Dave in the IronMan
Well everyone,
about 14 hours before I hit the water!
Thank you all for your support and encouragement over the past year!
Especially my family!!
Love you all!
Link is below...when the page comes up go to the right of the page and click on ironmanlive...you should be able to track and watch the video...the coverage should be like tour de france coverage...
by the way laurent jalabert (king of mountains tour de france a few years back) is racing tomorrow..(great)
anyway see ya all!
http://www.ironmanlive.com/ironmanlive
about 14 hours before I hit the water!
Thank you all for your support and encouragement over the past year!
Especially my family!!
Love you all!
Link is below...when the page comes up go to the right of the page and click on ironmanlive...you should be able to track and watch the video...the coverage should be like tour de france coverage...
by the way laurent jalabert (king of mountains tour de france a few years back) is racing tomorrow..(great)
anyway see ya all!
http://www.ironmanlive.com/ironmanlive
PBS The War
Watching/ re-watching Ken Burns 'The War.' If you somehow missed it--you can rent it from Netflix--surely Blockbusters as well.
I would have watched if it was just life at home during WWII or even just the WWII battles--but you get a little bit of a mixture. Surely there is a German/ Axis Ken Burns with just as much footage and would also be interested in a 'The War' from a German/ Axis perspective--life at home in Hamburg, Muenchen, etc.
Even as a historian there is so much I had no idea about--I guess I had a little more of a romantic image of WWII--of course most of that in black and white as well--no idea we had color footage of the war.
Two things stand out for me: If your in the current administration waging war in the middle east--you need to watch this for the horrors of war.
Also, how it seems that a large majority of our fighting force were Catholics. They have shown a few times Mass being said before a battle or the troops with rosaries.
Gerry
I would have watched if it was just life at home during WWII or even just the WWII battles--but you get a little bit of a mixture. Surely there is a German/ Axis Ken Burns with just as much footage and would also be interested in a 'The War' from a German/ Axis perspective--life at home in Hamburg, Muenchen, etc.
Even as a historian there is so much I had no idea about--I guess I had a little more of a romantic image of WWII--of course most of that in black and white as well--no idea we had color footage of the war.
Two things stand out for me: If your in the current administration waging war in the middle east--you need to watch this for the horrors of war.
Also, how it seems that a large majority of our fighting force were Catholics. They have shown a few times Mass being said before a battle or the troops with rosaries.
Gerry
Friday, October 12, 2007
Oct 12
Sent: Friday, October 12, 2007 2:14 PM
Subject: Re:
max got the mail
I brought up trash cans
jack has recycling--but he has been pretty good--he knows gets jobs done then play
I have shredding for Brooke
I have to figure $ amounts-incentives but thinking $5 for hunt for hunt paperwork// $3 for filter jobs--but could be more based on how long it takes// plant job also may be $3 or $5 depending on how much I do and they do//
I guess right there--there are 3 jobs to make between $3 and $5
What do you think?
I need to get listing done first
Subject: Re:
max got the mail
I brought up trash cans
jack has recycling--but he has been pretty good--he knows gets jobs done then play
I have shredding for Brooke
I have to figure $ amounts-incentives but thinking $5 for hunt for hunt paperwork// $3 for filter jobs--but could be more based on how long it takes// plant job also may be $3 or $5 depending on how much I do and they do//
I guess right there--there are 3 jobs to make between $3 and $5
What do you think?
I need to get listing done first
Thursday, October 11, 2007
St. Gianna Beretta Molla
Gianna Beretta Molla
[photograph of Saint Gianna]
Also known as
Gianna Beretta; Gianna Molla
Memorial
28 April
Profile
Tenth of thirteen children born to Alberto and Maria Beretta, she was a pious girl raised in a pious family; two brothers became priests, a sister became a nun. While in college, she worked with the poor and elderly, and joined the Saint Vincent de Paul Society. Physician and surgeon, graduating from the University of Pavia in 1949, she started a clinic in Mero, Italy in 1950. She returned to school and studied pediatrics, and after finishing in 1952 she worked especially with mothers, babies, the elderly, and the poor. Active in Catholic Action, and a avid skier. She considered a call to religious life, but was married to Pietro Molla on 24 September 1955 at Magenta. Mother of three, she continued her medical career, treating it as a mission and gift from God. During her pregnancy with her fourth child, she was diagnosed with a large ovarian cyst. Her surgeon recommended an abortion in order to save Gianna's life; she refused and died a week after childbirth, caring more for doing right by her unborn child than for her own life. Today that child is a physician herself, and involved in the pro-life movement.
Born
4 October 1922 in Magenta, Milan, Italy
Died
28 April 1962 in Monza Maternity Hospital of complications from an ovarian cyst
Venerated
6 July 1991 by Pope John Paul II
Beatified
24 April 1994 by Pope John Paul II in Rome, Italy
Canonized
16 May 2004 by Pope John Paul II
[photograph of Saint Gianna]
Also known as
Gianna Beretta; Gianna Molla
Memorial
28 April
Profile
Tenth of thirteen children born to Alberto and Maria Beretta, she was a pious girl raised in a pious family; two brothers became priests, a sister became a nun. While in college, she worked with the poor and elderly, and joined the Saint Vincent de Paul Society. Physician and surgeon, graduating from the University of Pavia in 1949, she started a clinic in Mero, Italy in 1950. She returned to school and studied pediatrics, and after finishing in 1952 she worked especially with mothers, babies, the elderly, and the poor. Active in Catholic Action, and a avid skier. She considered a call to religious life, but was married to Pietro Molla on 24 September 1955 at Magenta. Mother of three, she continued her medical career, treating it as a mission and gift from God. During her pregnancy with her fourth child, she was diagnosed with a large ovarian cyst. Her surgeon recommended an abortion in order to save Gianna's life; she refused and died a week after childbirth, caring more for doing right by her unborn child than for her own life. Today that child is a physician herself, and involved in the pro-life movement.
Born
4 October 1922 in Magenta, Milan, Italy
Died
28 April 1962 in Monza Maternity Hospital of complications from an ovarian cyst
Venerated
6 July 1991 by Pope John Paul II
Beatified
24 April 1994 by Pope John Paul II in Rome, Italy
Canonized
16 May 2004 by Pope John Paul II
Saint Dymphna
Dymphna
[Saint Dymphna holy card]
Also known as
Dympna; Dimpna
Memorial
15 May
Profile
Daughter of a pagan Irish chieftain named Damon, and a beautiful devoted Christian woman whose name has not come down to us. Her mother died when Dymphna was a teenager. Her father searched the Western world for a woman to replace his wife, but none could. Returning home, he saw that his daughter was as beautiful as her mother, and maddened by grief, he made advances on her. She fought him off, then fled to Belgium with Saint Gerebernus, an elderly priest and family friend.
Dymphna's father searched for them, and his search led to Belgium. There an innkeeper refused to accept his money, knowing it was difficult to exchange. This told Damon that his daughter was close - it would be unusual for a village innkeeper to know a lot about foreign currency, and his knowledge indicated that had recently seen it. The king concentrated his search in the area. When he found them in Gheel, he beheaded Gerebernus, and demanded that Dymphna surrender to him. She refused, and he killed her in a rage.
The site where she died is known for its miraculous healings of the insane and possessed. There is now a well-known institution on the site, and her relics are reported to cure insanity and epilepsy.
Patronage
against sleepwalking; epilepsy; epileptics; family happiness; incest victims; insanity; loss of parents; martyrs; mental asylums; mental disorders; mental health caregivers; mental health professionals; mental hospitals; mental illness; mentally ill people; nervous disorders; neurological disorders; possessed people; princesses; psychiatrists; rape victims; runaways; sleepwalkers; therapists
[Saint Dymphna holy card]
Also known as
Dympna; Dimpna
Memorial
15 May
Profile
Daughter of a pagan Irish chieftain named Damon, and a beautiful devoted Christian woman whose name has not come down to us. Her mother died when Dymphna was a teenager. Her father searched the Western world for a woman to replace his wife, but none could. Returning home, he saw that his daughter was as beautiful as her mother, and maddened by grief, he made advances on her. She fought him off, then fled to Belgium with Saint Gerebernus, an elderly priest and family friend.
Dymphna's father searched for them, and his search led to Belgium. There an innkeeper refused to accept his money, knowing it was difficult to exchange. This told Damon that his daughter was close - it would be unusual for a village innkeeper to know a lot about foreign currency, and his knowledge indicated that had recently seen it. The king concentrated his search in the area. When he found them in Gheel, he beheaded Gerebernus, and demanded that Dymphna surrender to him. She refused, and he killed her in a rage.
The site where she died is known for its miraculous healings of the insane and possessed. There is now a well-known institution on the site, and her relics are reported to cure insanity and epilepsy.
Patronage
against sleepwalking; epilepsy; epileptics; family happiness; incest victims; insanity; loss of parents; martyrs; mental asylums; mental disorders; mental health caregivers; mental health professionals; mental hospitals; mental illness; mentally ill people; nervous disorders; neurological disorders; possessed people; princesses; psychiatrists; rape victims; runaways; sleepwalkers; therapists
Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha
Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha
Feastday: July 14
Patron of the environment and ecology
1680
Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha
Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, Virgin, has not yet been canonized.
Kateri was born near the town of Auriesville, New York, in the year 1656, the daughter of a Mohawk warrior. She was four years old when her mother died of smallpox. The disease also attacked Kateri and transfigured her face. She was adopted by her two aunts and an uncle. Kateri became converted as a teenager. She was baptized at the age of twenty and incurred the great hostility of her tribe. Although she had to suffer greatly for her Faith, she remained firm in it. Kateri went to the new Christian colony of Indians in Canada. Here she lived a life dedicated to prayer, penitential practices, and care for the sick and aged. Every morning, even in bitterest winter, she stood before the chapel door until it opened at four and remained there until after the last Mass. She was devoted to the Eucharist and to Jesus Crucified. She died on April 7, 1680 at the age of twenty-four. She is known as the "Lily of the Mohawks". Devotion to Kateri is responsible for establishing Native American ministries in Catholic Churches all over the United States and Canada. Kateri was declared venerable by the Catholic Church in 1943 and she was Beatified in 1980. Work is currently underway to have her Canonized by the Church. Hundreds of thousands have visited shrines to Kateri erected at both St. Francis Xavier and Caughnawaga and at her birth place at Auriesville, New York. Pilgrimages at these sites continue today.
Bl. Kateri Teckakwitha is the first Native American to be declared a Blessed. Her feastday is July 14. She is the patroness of the environment and ecology as is St. Francis of Assisi.
For Specialty Items on Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, visit the Discount Catholic Store - Click Here
Feastday: July 14
Patron of the environment and ecology
1680
Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha
Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, Virgin, has not yet been canonized.
Kateri was born near the town of Auriesville, New York, in the year 1656, the daughter of a Mohawk warrior. She was four years old when her mother died of smallpox. The disease also attacked Kateri and transfigured her face. She was adopted by her two aunts and an uncle. Kateri became converted as a teenager. She was baptized at the age of twenty and incurred the great hostility of her tribe. Although she had to suffer greatly for her Faith, she remained firm in it. Kateri went to the new Christian colony of Indians in Canada. Here she lived a life dedicated to prayer, penitential practices, and care for the sick and aged. Every morning, even in bitterest winter, she stood before the chapel door until it opened at four and remained there until after the last Mass. She was devoted to the Eucharist and to Jesus Crucified. She died on April 7, 1680 at the age of twenty-four. She is known as the "Lily of the Mohawks". Devotion to Kateri is responsible for establishing Native American ministries in Catholic Churches all over the United States and Canada. Kateri was declared venerable by the Catholic Church in 1943 and she was Beatified in 1980. Work is currently underway to have her Canonized by the Church. Hundreds of thousands have visited shrines to Kateri erected at both St. Francis Xavier and Caughnawaga and at her birth place at Auriesville, New York. Pilgrimages at these sites continue today.
Bl. Kateri Teckakwitha is the first Native American to be declared a Blessed. Her feastday is July 14. She is the patroness of the environment and ecology as is St. Francis of Assisi.
For Specialty Items on Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, visit the Discount Catholic Store - Click Here
St. Maria Goretti
St. Maria Goretti
Patron of youth, young women, purity, and victims of rape
b: 1890 d: 1902
St. Maria Goretti
Born in Corinaldo, Ancona, Italy, on October 16 1890; her farmworker father moved his family to Ferrier di Conca, near Anzio. Her father died of malaria and her mother had to struggle to feed her children.
In 1902 an eighteen-year-old neighbor, Alexander, grabbed her from her steps and tried to rape her. When Maria said that she would rather died than submit, Alexander began stabbing her with a knife.
As she lay in the hospital, she forgave Alexander before she died. Her death didn't end her forgivness, however.
Alexander was captured and sentenced to thirty years. He was unrepentant until he had a dream that he was in a garden. Maria was there and gave him flowers. When he woke, he was a changed man, repenting of his crime and living a reformed life. When he was released after 27 years he went directly to Maria's mother to beg her forgiveness, which she gave. "If my daughter can forgive him, who am I to withold forgiveness," she said.
When Maria was declared a saint in 1950, Alexander was there in the St. Peter's crowd to celebrate her canonization. She was canonized by Pope Pius XII in 1950 for her purity as model for youth.
She is called a martyr because she fought against Alexander's attempts at sexual assault. However, the most important aspect of her story is her forgiveness of her attacker -- her concern for her enemy extending even beyond death. Her feast day is July 6. St. Maria Goretti is the patroness of youth and for the victims of rape.
Buy Specialty Items on St. Maria Goretti at the Discount Catholic Store - video, book, patron saint medals - CLICK HERE!
Patron of youth, young women, purity, and victims of rape
b: 1890 d: 1902
St. Maria Goretti
Born in Corinaldo, Ancona, Italy, on October 16 1890; her farmworker father moved his family to Ferrier di Conca, near Anzio. Her father died of malaria and her mother had to struggle to feed her children.
In 1902 an eighteen-year-old neighbor, Alexander, grabbed her from her steps and tried to rape her. When Maria said that she would rather died than submit, Alexander began stabbing her with a knife.
As she lay in the hospital, she forgave Alexander before she died. Her death didn't end her forgivness, however.
Alexander was captured and sentenced to thirty years. He was unrepentant until he had a dream that he was in a garden. Maria was there and gave him flowers. When he woke, he was a changed man, repenting of his crime and living a reformed life. When he was released after 27 years he went directly to Maria's mother to beg her forgiveness, which she gave. "If my daughter can forgive him, who am I to withold forgiveness," she said.
When Maria was declared a saint in 1950, Alexander was there in the St. Peter's crowd to celebrate her canonization. She was canonized by Pope Pius XII in 1950 for her purity as model for youth.
She is called a martyr because she fought against Alexander's attempts at sexual assault. However, the most important aspect of her story is her forgiveness of her attacker -- her concern for her enemy extending even beyond death. Her feast day is July 6. St. Maria Goretti is the patroness of youth and for the victims of rape.
Buy Specialty Items on St. Maria Goretti at the Discount Catholic Store - video, book, patron saint medals - CLICK HERE!
St. Gemma Galgani
St. Gemma Galgani
Feastday: April 11
1903
Gemma Galgani was born on March 12, 1878, in a small Italian town near Lucca. At a very young age, Gemma developed a love for prayer. She made her First Communion on June 17, 1887. As a pupil at the school run by the Sisters of St. Zita, Gemma was loved by her teachers and her fellow pupils. Although quiet and reserved, she always had a smile for everyone. Although a good student, she had to quit school due to chronic ill health before completing the course of study.
Throughout her life, Gemma was to be favored with many mystical experiences and special graces. These were often misunderstood by others, causing ridicule. Gemma suffered these heartaches in reparation, remembering that Our Lord Himself had been misunderstood and ridiculed.
Gemma had an immense love for the poor, and helped them in any way she could. After her father's death, the nineteen year old Gemma became the mother of her seven brothers and sisters. When some were old enough to share this responsibility, she lived briefly with a married aunt. At this time, two young men proposed marriage to her. Gemma however, wanted silence and retirement, and more that ever, she desired to pray and speak only to God.
Gemma returned home and almost immediately became very ill with meningitis. Throughout this illness, her one regret was the trouble she caused her relatives who took care of her. Feeling herself tempted by the devil, Gemma prayed for help to the Venerable Passionist, Gabriel Possenti. (Gabriel was later canonized) Through his intercession, Gemma was miraculously cured.
Gemma wished to become a nun, but her poor health prevented her from being accepted. She offered this disappointment to God as a sacrifice.
Gemma predicted that the Passionists would establish a monastery at Lucca; this came to pass two years after her death. Today, Gemma's mortal remains are still treasured at the Passionist monastery in Lucca.
On June 8, 1899, Gemma had an interior warning that some unusual grace was to be granted to her. She had pain in her hands, feet and heart and blood was coming from the places where she had pain. These were the marks of the stigmata. Each Thursday evening, Gemma would fall into rapture and the marks would appear. The stigmata remained until Friday afternoon or Saturday morning when the bleeding would stop, the wounds would close, and only white marks would remain in place of the deep gashes. Gemma's stigmata would continue to appear until the last three years of her life, when her confessor forbade her to accept them. Through her prayers, this phenomenon ceased, but the whitish marks remained on her skin until her death.
Through the help of her confessor, Gemma went to live with a family named Giannini, where she was allowed more freedom than at home for her spiritual life. She had many ecstacies and her words spoken during these raptures, were recorded by her confessor and a relative of her adoptive family. At the end of her ecstacies, she returned to normal and went quietly and serenely about the family life. Gemma often saw her guardian angel, with whom she was on familiar terms. She often sent her guardian angel on errands, usually to deliver a letter or oral message to her confessor in Rome.
During the apostolic investigations into her life, all witnesses testified that there was no artfulness in Gemma's manner. Most of her severe penances and sacrifices were hidden from most who knew her.
In January of 1903, Gemma was diagnosed as having tuberculosis. She died quietly in the company of the parish priest, on April 11 at age twenty-five. He said, "She died with a smile which remained upon her lips, so that I could not convince myself that she was really dead." She was beatified in 1933 and canonized on May 2, 1940, only thirty-seven years after her death.
Feastday: April 11
1903
Gemma Galgani was born on March 12, 1878, in a small Italian town near Lucca. At a very young age, Gemma developed a love for prayer. She made her First Communion on June 17, 1887. As a pupil at the school run by the Sisters of St. Zita, Gemma was loved by her teachers and her fellow pupils. Although quiet and reserved, she always had a smile for everyone. Although a good student, she had to quit school due to chronic ill health before completing the course of study.
Throughout her life, Gemma was to be favored with many mystical experiences and special graces. These were often misunderstood by others, causing ridicule. Gemma suffered these heartaches in reparation, remembering that Our Lord Himself had been misunderstood and ridiculed.
Gemma had an immense love for the poor, and helped them in any way she could. After her father's death, the nineteen year old Gemma became the mother of her seven brothers and sisters. When some were old enough to share this responsibility, she lived briefly with a married aunt. At this time, two young men proposed marriage to her. Gemma however, wanted silence and retirement, and more that ever, she desired to pray and speak only to God.
Gemma returned home and almost immediately became very ill with meningitis. Throughout this illness, her one regret was the trouble she caused her relatives who took care of her. Feeling herself tempted by the devil, Gemma prayed for help to the Venerable Passionist, Gabriel Possenti. (Gabriel was later canonized) Through his intercession, Gemma was miraculously cured.
Gemma wished to become a nun, but her poor health prevented her from being accepted. She offered this disappointment to God as a sacrifice.
Gemma predicted that the Passionists would establish a monastery at Lucca; this came to pass two years after her death. Today, Gemma's mortal remains are still treasured at the Passionist monastery in Lucca.
On June 8, 1899, Gemma had an interior warning that some unusual grace was to be granted to her. She had pain in her hands, feet and heart and blood was coming from the places where she had pain. These were the marks of the stigmata. Each Thursday evening, Gemma would fall into rapture and the marks would appear. The stigmata remained until Friday afternoon or Saturday morning when the bleeding would stop, the wounds would close, and only white marks would remain in place of the deep gashes. Gemma's stigmata would continue to appear until the last three years of her life, when her confessor forbade her to accept them. Through her prayers, this phenomenon ceased, but the whitish marks remained on her skin until her death.
Through the help of her confessor, Gemma went to live with a family named Giannini, where she was allowed more freedom than at home for her spiritual life. She had many ecstacies and her words spoken during these raptures, were recorded by her confessor and a relative of her adoptive family. At the end of her ecstacies, she returned to normal and went quietly and serenely about the family life. Gemma often saw her guardian angel, with whom she was on familiar terms. She often sent her guardian angel on errands, usually to deliver a letter or oral message to her confessor in Rome.
During the apostolic investigations into her life, all witnesses testified that there was no artfulness in Gemma's manner. Most of her severe penances and sacrifices were hidden from most who knew her.
In January of 1903, Gemma was diagnosed as having tuberculosis. She died quietly in the company of the parish priest, on April 11 at age twenty-five. He said, "She died with a smile which remained upon her lips, so that I could not convince myself that she was really dead." She was beatified in 1933 and canonized on May 2, 1940, only thirty-seven years after her death.
Saint Therese of Lisieux
Saint Therese of Lisieux
Feastday: October 1
Patron of the Missions
Saint Therese of Lisieux
Generations of Catholics have admired this young saint, called her the "Little Flower", and found in her short life more inspiration for own lives than in volumes by theologians.
Yet Therese died when she was 24, after having lived as cloistered Carmelite for less than ten years. She never went on missions, never founded a religious order, never performed great works. The only book of hers, published after her death, was an brief edited version of her journal called "Story of a Soul." (Collections of her letters and restored versions of her journals have been published recently.) But within 28 years of her death, the public demand was so great that she was canonized.
Over the years, some modern Catholics have turned away from her because they associate her with over- sentimentalized piety and yet the message she has for us is still as compelling and simple as it was almost a century ago.
Therese was born in France in 1873, the pampered daughter of a mother who had wanted to be a saint and a father who had wanted to be monk. The two had gotten married but determined they would be celibate until a priest told them that was not how God wanted a marriage to work! They must have followed his advice very well because they had nine children. The five children who lived were all daughters who were close all their lives.
Tragedy and loss came quickly to Therese when her mother died of breast cancer when she was four and a half years old. Her sixteen year old sister Pauline became her second mother -- which made the second loss even worse when Pauline entered the Carmelite convent five years later. A few months later, Therese became so ill with a fever that people thought she was dying.
The worst part of it for Therese was all the people sitting around her bed staring at her like, she said, "a string of onions." When Therese saw her sisters praying to statue of Mary in her room, Therese also prayed. She saw Mary smile at her and suddenly she was cured. She tried to keep the grace of the cure secret but people found out and badgered her with questions about what Mary was wearing, what she looked like. When she refused to give in to their curiosity, they passed the story that she had made the whole thing up.
Without realizing it, by the time she was eleven years old she had developed the habit of mental prayer. She would find a place between her bed and the wall and in that solitude think about God, life, eternity.
When her other sisters, Marie and Leonie, left to join religious orders (the Carmelites and Poor Clares, respectively), Therese was left alone with her last sister Celine and her father. Therese tells us that she wanted to be good but that she had an odd way of going about. This spoiled little Queen of her father's wouldn't do housework. She thought if she made the beds she was doing a great favor!
Every time Therese even imagined that someone was criticizing her or didn't appreciate her, she burst into tears. Then she would cry because she had cried! Any inner wall she built to contain her wild emotions crumpled immediately before the tiniest comment.
Therese wanted to enter the Carmelite convent to join Pauline and Marie but how could she convince others that she could handle the rigors of Carmelite life, if she couldn't handle her own emotional outbursts? She had prayed that Jesus would help her but there was no sign of an answer.
On Christmas day in 1886, the fourteen-year-old hurried home from church. In France, young children left their shoes by the hearth at Christmas, and then parents would fill them with gifts. By fourteen, most children outgrew this custom. But her sister Celine didn't want Therese to grow up. So they continued to leave presents in "baby" Therese's shoes.
As she and Celine climbed the stairs to take off their hats, their father's voice rose up from the parlor below. Standing over the shoes, he sighed, "Thank goodness that's the last time we shall have this kind of thing!"
Therese froze, and her sister looked at her helplessly. Celine knew that in a few minutes Therese would be in tears over what her father had said.
But the tantrum never came. Something incredible had happened to Therese. Jesus had come into her heart and done what she could not do herself. He had made her more sensitive to her father's feelings than her own.
She swallowed her tears, walked slowly down the stairs, and exclaimed over the gifts in the shoes, as if she had never heard a word her father said. The following year she entered the convent. In her autobiography she referred to this Christmas as her "conversion."
Therese be known as the Little Flower but she had a will of steel. When the superior of the Carmelite convent refused to take Therese because she was so young, the formerly shy little girl went to the bishop. When the bishop also said no, she decided to go over his head, as well.
Her father and sister took her on a pilgrimage to Rome to try to get her mind off this crazy idea. Therese loved it. It was the one time when being little worked to her advantage! Because she was young and small she could run everywhere, touch relics and tombs without being yelled at. Finally they went for an audience with the Pope. They had been forbidden to speak to him but that didn't stop Therese. As soon as she got near him, she begged that he let her enter the Carmelite convent. She had to be carried out by two of the guards!
But the Vicar General who had seen her courage was impressed and soon Therese was admitted to the Carmelite convent that her sisters Pauline and Marie had already joined. Her romantic ideas of convent life and suffering soon met up with reality in a way she had never expected. Her father suffered a series of strokes that left him affected not only physically but mentally. When he began hallucinating and grabbed for a gun as if going into battle, he was taken to an asylum for the insane. Horrified, Therese learned of the humiliation of the father she adored and admired and of the gossip and pity of their so-called friends. As a cloistered nun she couldn't even visit her father.
This began a horrible time of suffering when she experienced such dryness in prayer that she stated "Jesus isn't doing much to keep the conversation going." She was so grief-stricken that she often fell asleep in prayer. She consoled herself by saying that mothers loved children when they lie asleep in their arms so that God must love her when she slept during prayer.
She knew as a Carmelite nun she would never be able to perform great deeds. " Love proves itself by deeds, so how am I to show my love? Great deeds are forbidden me. The only way I can prove my love is by scattering flowers and these flowers are every little sacrifice, every glance and word, and the doing of the least actions for love." She took every chance to sacrifice, no matter how small it would seem. She smiled at the sisters she didn't like. She ate everything she was given without complaining -- so that she was often given the worst leftovers. One time she was accused of breaking a vase when she was not at fault. Instead of arguing she sank to her knees and begged forgiveness. These little sacrifices cost her more than bigger ones, for these went unrecognized by others. No one told her how wonderful she was for these little secret humiliations and good deeds.
When Pauline was elected prioress, she asked Therese for the ultimate sacrifice. Because of politics in the convent, many of the sisters feared that the family Martin would taken over the convent. Therefore Pauline asked Therese to remain a novice, in order to allay the fears of the others that the three sisters would push everyone else around. This meant she would never be a fully professed nun, that she would always have to ask permission for everything she did. This sacrifice was made a little sweeter when Celine entered the convent after her father's death. Four of the sisters were now together again.
Therese continued to worry about how she could achieve holiness in the life she led. She didn't want to just be good, she wanted to be a saint. She thought there must be a way for people living hidden, little lives like hers. " I have always wanted to become a saint. Unfortunately when I have compared myself with the saints, I have always found that there is the same difference between the saints and me as there is between a mountain whose summit is lost in the clouds and a humble grain of sand trodden underfoot by passers-by. Instead of being discouraged, I told myself: God would not make me wish for something impossible and so, in spite of my littleness, I can aim at being a saint. It is impossible for me to grow bigger, so I put up with myself as I am, with all my countless faults. But I will look for some means of going to heaven by a little way which is very short and very straight, a little way that is quite new.
" We live in an age of inventions. We need no longer climb laboriously up flights of stairs; in well-to-do houses there are lifts. And I was determined to find a lift to carry me to Jesus, for I was far too small to climb the steep stairs of perfection. So I sought in holy Scripture some idea of what this life I wanted would be, and I read these words: "Whosoever is a little one, come to me." It is your arms, Jesus, that are the lift to carry me to heaven. And so there is no need for me to grow up: I must stay little and become less and less."
She worried about her vocation: " I feel in me the vocation of the Priest. I have the vocation of the Apostle. Martyrdom was the dream of my youth and this dream has grown with me. Considering the mystical body of the Church, I desired to see myself in them all. Charity gave me the key to my vocation. I understood that the Church had a Heart and that this Heart was burning with love. I understood that Love comprised all vocations, that Love was everything, that it embraced all times and places...in a word, that it was eternal! Then in the excess of my delirious joy, I cried out: O Jesus, my Love...my vocation, at last I have found it...My vocation is Love!"
When an antagonist was elected prioress, new political suspicions and plottings sprang up. The concern over the Martin sisters perhaps was not exaggerated. In this small convent they now made up one-fifth of the population. Despite this and the fact that Therese was a permanent novice they put her in charge of the other novices.
Then in 1896, she coughed up blood. She kept working without telling anyone until she became so sick a year later everyone knew it. Worst of all she had lost her joy and confidence and felt she would die young without leaving anything behind. Pauline had already had her writing down her memories for journal and now she wanted her to continue -- so they would have something to circulate on her life after her death.
Her pain was so great that she said that if she had not had faith she would have taken her own life without hesitation. But she tried to remain smiling and cheerful -- and succeeded so well that some thought she was only pretending to be ill. Her one dream as the work she would do after her death, helping those on earth. "I will return," she said. "My heaven will be spent on earth." She died on September 30, 1897 at the age of 24 years old. She herself felt it was a blessing God allowed her to die at exactly that age. she had always felt that she had a vocation to be a priest and felt God let her die at the age she would have been ordained if she had been a man so that she wouldn't have to suffer.
After she died, everything at the convent went back to normal. One nun commented that there was nothing to say about Therese. But Pauline put together Therese's writings (and heavily edited them, unfortunately) and sent 2000 copies to other convents. But Therese's "little way" of trusting in Jesus to make her holy and relying on small daily sacrifices instead of great deeds appealed to the thousands of Catholics and others who were trying to find holiness in ordinary lives. Within two years, the Martin family had to move because her notoriety was so great and by 1925 she had been canonized.
Therese of Lisieux is one of the patron saints of the missions, not because she ever went anywhere, but because of her special love of the missions, and the prayers and letters she gave in support of missionaries. This is reminder to all of us who feel we can do nothing, that it is the little things that keep God's kingdom growing.
Buy Specialty Items on St. Therese at the Discount Catholic Store - Therese chaplets, Therese rosaries, relic prayer card, relic medal, patron saint medals in silver and gold, holy water bottle, statues, books, videos - CLICK HERE!
Feastday: October 1
Patron of the Missions
Saint Therese of Lisieux
Generations of Catholics have admired this young saint, called her the "Little Flower", and found in her short life more inspiration for own lives than in volumes by theologians.
Yet Therese died when she was 24, after having lived as cloistered Carmelite for less than ten years. She never went on missions, never founded a religious order, never performed great works. The only book of hers, published after her death, was an brief edited version of her journal called "Story of a Soul." (Collections of her letters and restored versions of her journals have been published recently.) But within 28 years of her death, the public demand was so great that she was canonized.
Over the years, some modern Catholics have turned away from her because they associate her with over- sentimentalized piety and yet the message she has for us is still as compelling and simple as it was almost a century ago.
Therese was born in France in 1873, the pampered daughter of a mother who had wanted to be a saint and a father who had wanted to be monk. The two had gotten married but determined they would be celibate until a priest told them that was not how God wanted a marriage to work! They must have followed his advice very well because they had nine children. The five children who lived were all daughters who were close all their lives.
Tragedy and loss came quickly to Therese when her mother died of breast cancer when she was four and a half years old. Her sixteen year old sister Pauline became her second mother -- which made the second loss even worse when Pauline entered the Carmelite convent five years later. A few months later, Therese became so ill with a fever that people thought she was dying.
The worst part of it for Therese was all the people sitting around her bed staring at her like, she said, "a string of onions." When Therese saw her sisters praying to statue of Mary in her room, Therese also prayed. She saw Mary smile at her and suddenly she was cured. She tried to keep the grace of the cure secret but people found out and badgered her with questions about what Mary was wearing, what she looked like. When she refused to give in to their curiosity, they passed the story that she had made the whole thing up.
Without realizing it, by the time she was eleven years old she had developed the habit of mental prayer. She would find a place between her bed and the wall and in that solitude think about God, life, eternity.
When her other sisters, Marie and Leonie, left to join religious orders (the Carmelites and Poor Clares, respectively), Therese was left alone with her last sister Celine and her father. Therese tells us that she wanted to be good but that she had an odd way of going about. This spoiled little Queen of her father's wouldn't do housework. She thought if she made the beds she was doing a great favor!
Every time Therese even imagined that someone was criticizing her or didn't appreciate her, she burst into tears. Then she would cry because she had cried! Any inner wall she built to contain her wild emotions crumpled immediately before the tiniest comment.
Therese wanted to enter the Carmelite convent to join Pauline and Marie but how could she convince others that she could handle the rigors of Carmelite life, if she couldn't handle her own emotional outbursts? She had prayed that Jesus would help her but there was no sign of an answer.
On Christmas day in 1886, the fourteen-year-old hurried home from church. In France, young children left their shoes by the hearth at Christmas, and then parents would fill them with gifts. By fourteen, most children outgrew this custom. But her sister Celine didn't want Therese to grow up. So they continued to leave presents in "baby" Therese's shoes.
As she and Celine climbed the stairs to take off their hats, their father's voice rose up from the parlor below. Standing over the shoes, he sighed, "Thank goodness that's the last time we shall have this kind of thing!"
Therese froze, and her sister looked at her helplessly. Celine knew that in a few minutes Therese would be in tears over what her father had said.
But the tantrum never came. Something incredible had happened to Therese. Jesus had come into her heart and done what she could not do herself. He had made her more sensitive to her father's feelings than her own.
She swallowed her tears, walked slowly down the stairs, and exclaimed over the gifts in the shoes, as if she had never heard a word her father said. The following year she entered the convent. In her autobiography she referred to this Christmas as her "conversion."
Therese be known as the Little Flower but she had a will of steel. When the superior of the Carmelite convent refused to take Therese because she was so young, the formerly shy little girl went to the bishop. When the bishop also said no, she decided to go over his head, as well.
Her father and sister took her on a pilgrimage to Rome to try to get her mind off this crazy idea. Therese loved it. It was the one time when being little worked to her advantage! Because she was young and small she could run everywhere, touch relics and tombs without being yelled at. Finally they went for an audience with the Pope. They had been forbidden to speak to him but that didn't stop Therese. As soon as she got near him, she begged that he let her enter the Carmelite convent. She had to be carried out by two of the guards!
But the Vicar General who had seen her courage was impressed and soon Therese was admitted to the Carmelite convent that her sisters Pauline and Marie had already joined. Her romantic ideas of convent life and suffering soon met up with reality in a way she had never expected. Her father suffered a series of strokes that left him affected not only physically but mentally. When he began hallucinating and grabbed for a gun as if going into battle, he was taken to an asylum for the insane. Horrified, Therese learned of the humiliation of the father she adored and admired and of the gossip and pity of their so-called friends. As a cloistered nun she couldn't even visit her father.
This began a horrible time of suffering when she experienced such dryness in prayer that she stated "Jesus isn't doing much to keep the conversation going." She was so grief-stricken that she often fell asleep in prayer. She consoled herself by saying that mothers loved children when they lie asleep in their arms so that God must love her when she slept during prayer.
She knew as a Carmelite nun she would never be able to perform great deeds. " Love proves itself by deeds, so how am I to show my love? Great deeds are forbidden me. The only way I can prove my love is by scattering flowers and these flowers are every little sacrifice, every glance and word, and the doing of the least actions for love." She took every chance to sacrifice, no matter how small it would seem. She smiled at the sisters she didn't like. She ate everything she was given without complaining -- so that she was often given the worst leftovers. One time she was accused of breaking a vase when she was not at fault. Instead of arguing she sank to her knees and begged forgiveness. These little sacrifices cost her more than bigger ones, for these went unrecognized by others. No one told her how wonderful she was for these little secret humiliations and good deeds.
When Pauline was elected prioress, she asked Therese for the ultimate sacrifice. Because of politics in the convent, many of the sisters feared that the family Martin would taken over the convent. Therefore Pauline asked Therese to remain a novice, in order to allay the fears of the others that the three sisters would push everyone else around. This meant she would never be a fully professed nun, that she would always have to ask permission for everything she did. This sacrifice was made a little sweeter when Celine entered the convent after her father's death. Four of the sisters were now together again.
Therese continued to worry about how she could achieve holiness in the life she led. She didn't want to just be good, she wanted to be a saint. She thought there must be a way for people living hidden, little lives like hers. " I have always wanted to become a saint. Unfortunately when I have compared myself with the saints, I have always found that there is the same difference between the saints and me as there is between a mountain whose summit is lost in the clouds and a humble grain of sand trodden underfoot by passers-by. Instead of being discouraged, I told myself: God would not make me wish for something impossible and so, in spite of my littleness, I can aim at being a saint. It is impossible for me to grow bigger, so I put up with myself as I am, with all my countless faults. But I will look for some means of going to heaven by a little way which is very short and very straight, a little way that is quite new.
" We live in an age of inventions. We need no longer climb laboriously up flights of stairs; in well-to-do houses there are lifts. And I was determined to find a lift to carry me to Jesus, for I was far too small to climb the steep stairs of perfection. So I sought in holy Scripture some idea of what this life I wanted would be, and I read these words: "Whosoever is a little one, come to me." It is your arms, Jesus, that are the lift to carry me to heaven. And so there is no need for me to grow up: I must stay little and become less and less."
She worried about her vocation: " I feel in me the vocation of the Priest. I have the vocation of the Apostle. Martyrdom was the dream of my youth and this dream has grown with me. Considering the mystical body of the Church, I desired to see myself in them all. Charity gave me the key to my vocation. I understood that the Church had a Heart and that this Heart was burning with love. I understood that Love comprised all vocations, that Love was everything, that it embraced all times and places...in a word, that it was eternal! Then in the excess of my delirious joy, I cried out: O Jesus, my Love...my vocation, at last I have found it...My vocation is Love!"
When an antagonist was elected prioress, new political suspicions and plottings sprang up. The concern over the Martin sisters perhaps was not exaggerated. In this small convent they now made up one-fifth of the population. Despite this and the fact that Therese was a permanent novice they put her in charge of the other novices.
Then in 1896, she coughed up blood. She kept working without telling anyone until she became so sick a year later everyone knew it. Worst of all she had lost her joy and confidence and felt she would die young without leaving anything behind. Pauline had already had her writing down her memories for journal and now she wanted her to continue -- so they would have something to circulate on her life after her death.
Her pain was so great that she said that if she had not had faith she would have taken her own life without hesitation. But she tried to remain smiling and cheerful -- and succeeded so well that some thought she was only pretending to be ill. Her one dream as the work she would do after her death, helping those on earth. "I will return," she said. "My heaven will be spent on earth." She died on September 30, 1897 at the age of 24 years old. She herself felt it was a blessing God allowed her to die at exactly that age. she had always felt that she had a vocation to be a priest and felt God let her die at the age she would have been ordained if she had been a man so that she wouldn't have to suffer.
After she died, everything at the convent went back to normal. One nun commented that there was nothing to say about Therese. But Pauline put together Therese's writings (and heavily edited them, unfortunately) and sent 2000 copies to other convents. But Therese's "little way" of trusting in Jesus to make her holy and relying on small daily sacrifices instead of great deeds appealed to the thousands of Catholics and others who were trying to find holiness in ordinary lives. Within two years, the Martin family had to move because her notoriety was so great and by 1925 she had been canonized.
Therese of Lisieux is one of the patron saints of the missions, not because she ever went anywhere, but because of her special love of the missions, and the prayers and letters she gave in support of missionaries. This is reminder to all of us who feel we can do nothing, that it is the little things that keep God's kingdom growing.
Buy Specialty Items on St. Therese at the Discount Catholic Store - Therese chaplets, Therese rosaries, relic prayer card, relic medal, patron saint medals in silver and gold, holy water bottle, statues, books, videos - CLICK HERE!
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Week 5 NFL Fantasy Football
Sent: Tuesday, October 09, 2007 9:10 AM
Subject: Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Football
High Points--we pay the first 4 places for high points end of the season (regular season)
Right now if it would end:
1. Oyster 503.45
2. Sr Skinny 501.25
3. PBB 500.75
4. AI 498.87
5. Max 494.30
6. FMV 484.68
So real close battle
http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/f1/182928
Subject: Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Football
High Points--we pay the first 4 places for high points end of the season (regular season)
Right now if it would end:
1. Oyster 503.45
2. Sr Skinny 501.25
3. PBB 500.75
4. AI 498.87
5. Max 494.30
6. FMV 484.68
So real close battle
http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/f1/182928
Ordinary or Extraordinary Rite MASS?
To me, regardless if it is an ordinary or an extraordinary I want a reverent Mass. I do think the now extraordinary Mass is the more reverent of the two. For Sunday Mass, there are easily more Masses I would not attend over the few I'd think I could find a relatively reverent Mass--of course most of these would be the ordinary/ Novus Ordo Masses. I also have stopped attending my present parish's Sunday Masses for this reason (although I do attend daily Mass, teach CCD, feed the Homeless, Adoration, devotions there). I do think since now I am attending a reverent Mass (ordinary rite) on Sundays, where the priest/ church follows the rubrics from Rome, I find my trips downtown to either Baltimore or DC less common--although I love the Tridentine Mass.
Last Sunday, we actually stayed around the corner from St. Matthews Cathedral in DC and attended the 10a Latin Novus Ordo Mass--which I believe the whole family really enjoyed.
Gerry
http://www.catholic-pages.com/forum/topic.asp?topic_id=12656%20&whichpage=2
Last Sunday, we actually stayed around the corner from St. Matthews Cathedral in DC and attended the 10a Latin Novus Ordo Mass--which I believe the whole family really enjoyed.
Gerry
http://www.catholic-pages.com/forum/topic.asp?topic_id=12656%20&whichpage=2
Friday, October 5, 2007
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Priceline: DC Hotel
Sent: Thursday, October 04, 2007 10:39 AM
Subject: Priceline.com - hotel, hotel reservation, cheap hotel, las vegas hotel, boston hotel, hotel deal, new york city hotel, hotel rooms, motel, lodging, accommodations, casino hotel, priceline
did a priceline for DC--4 star which they say ave 268
I bid 99
so we'll see
https://www.priceline.com/hotels/Lang/en-us/wait.asp?session_key=410011AC420011AC20071004143317028f00947782&plf=pcln&PATH
Subject: Priceline.com - hotel, hotel reservation, cheap hotel, las vegas hotel, boston hotel, hotel deal, new york city hotel, hotel rooms, motel, lodging, accommodations, casino hotel, priceline
did a priceline for DC--4 star which they say ave 268
I bid 99
so we'll see
https://www.priceline.com/hotels/Lang/en-us/wait.asp?session_key=410011AC420011AC20071004143317028f00947782&plf=pcln&PATH
Virtual Colonoscopy
Studies endorse 'virtual colonoscopy' By STEPHANIE NANO, Associated Press Writer
Thu Oct 4, 8:17 AM ET
NEW YORK - Having an X-ray to look for signs of colon cancer may soon be an option for those who dread the traditional scope exam. Two of the largest studies yet of "virtual colonoscopy" show the experimental technique works just as well at spotting potentially cancerous growths as the more invasive method. It's also quicker and cheaper.
The X-rays can help sort out who really needs the full exam and removal of suspicious growths, called polyps. In one study, only 8 percent of patients had to have followup traditional colonoscopies, which are done under sedation and carry a small risk of puncturing the bowel.
But what some people consider the most unpleasant part can't be avoided: drinking laxatives to purge the bowel so growths can be seen.
Still, proponents hope that the newer test will lure those who have balked at getting conventional screening.
"This is ready for prime time," said Dr. Perry Pickhardt, one of the researchers at the University of Wisconsin Medical School who are reporting the results of their study in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.
A second, federally funded study at 15 sites around the country is meant to be the definitive test of virtual colonoscopy. Results have not been published, but they show the test to be promising.
Colonoscopies are recommended for everyone over 50, but just about half get tested. Colon cancer is the nation's second leading cause of cancer deaths, and an estimated 52,000 people will die from it this year. Screening can save lives by finding growths before they turn cancerous. Colonoscopies, considered the gold standard test, are recommended every 10 years and more frequently after polyps are found.
In traditional colonoscopy, performed by a gastroenterologist, a long, thin tube is inserted and snaked through the large intestines. Generally, any polyps that are spotted, regardless of size, are taken out in the process.
Virtual colonography uses a CT scanner to take a series of X-rays of the colon and a computer to create a 3-D view. A small tube is inserted in the rectum to inflate the colon so it can be more easily viewed. A radiologist then checks the images for suspicious polyps. Since the patient isn't sedated, there's no recovery time required.
But if any polyps need to be removed, the patient must then have a regular colonoscopy to do that.
For the Wisconsin study, Pickhardt persuaded health insurers in Madison to pay for the less expensive virtual colonoscopies and let patients choose between the two exams. The study included 3,120 patients who opted for a virtual colonoscopy and 3,163 who chose the traditional exam.
Dr. David Kim, another of the researchers, said he plans to ask the patients what was behind their decision.
"I think we're bringing people in off the sidelines as opposed to just substituting one exam for another," he said.
About the same number of advanced polyps were found in each group, 123 for the virtual group and 121 for the conventional group. About 8 percent in the virtual group were sent for same-day colonoscopies for polyp removal. Five percent of the patients had one or two small polyps and they decided to have them watched rather than removed.
Overall, far more polyps were removed in the traditional colonoscopies; the virtual colonoscopies didn't report tiny polyps, which are unlikely to be cancer. In the traditional group, seven had perforated colons and four needed surgery.
Pickhardt, Kim and a third researcher have received lecture or consulting fees from the makers of colonoscopy products and imaging equipment.
A traditional colonoscopy at the Wisconsin hospital is $3,300 and more if polyps are removed; virtual colonoscopy costs $1,186. Insurers pay about 40 percent of that charge, Pickhardt said.
Most insurance companies don't cover virtual colonoscopy for screening but that could change if colon cancer screening guidelines endorse it. Virtual screenings are already available at some hospitals and centers for people willing to pay for it.
The American Cancer Society is updating its guidelines, but Robert Smith, director of cancer screening, wouldn't say whether they would now recommend virtual colonoscopy, also known as CT colonography. When the guidelines were last revised in 2003, there wasn't enough data to support it, he said.
"The evidence is accumulating that CT colonography may have a role in primary screening," said Smith.
Early studies of virtual colonoscopy gave mixed results. Then in 2005, the American College of Radiology Imaging Network launched a large study of more than 2,000 patients, to try to resolve the issue. Each volunteer had a virtual colonoscopy followed by a traditional one the same day and the outcomes were compared.
After the results were presented at a meeting last week, the group posted a statement on their Web site saying that preliminary results showed virtual colonoscopy is "highly accurate," similar to traditional colonoscopy. Spokesman Shawn Farley said details wouldn't be released until the study is published, probably around the end of the year.
Dr. Douglas Rex, director of endoscopy at Indiana University Hospital, said that study was key because it was done at several locations. "We should have a pretty good sense of how it's going to perform in practice," he said.
Rex said he has some reservations about virtual colonoscopy because it doesn't lead to the removal of the smallest polyps and exposes patients to radiation.
___
Thu Oct 4, 8:17 AM ET
NEW YORK - Having an X-ray to look for signs of colon cancer may soon be an option for those who dread the traditional scope exam. Two of the largest studies yet of "virtual colonoscopy" show the experimental technique works just as well at spotting potentially cancerous growths as the more invasive method. It's also quicker and cheaper.
The X-rays can help sort out who really needs the full exam and removal of suspicious growths, called polyps. In one study, only 8 percent of patients had to have followup traditional colonoscopies, which are done under sedation and carry a small risk of puncturing the bowel.
But what some people consider the most unpleasant part can't be avoided: drinking laxatives to purge the bowel so growths can be seen.
Still, proponents hope that the newer test will lure those who have balked at getting conventional screening.
"This is ready for prime time," said Dr. Perry Pickhardt, one of the researchers at the University of Wisconsin Medical School who are reporting the results of their study in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.
A second, federally funded study at 15 sites around the country is meant to be the definitive test of virtual colonoscopy. Results have not been published, but they show the test to be promising.
Colonoscopies are recommended for everyone over 50, but just about half get tested. Colon cancer is the nation's second leading cause of cancer deaths, and an estimated 52,000 people will die from it this year. Screening can save lives by finding growths before they turn cancerous. Colonoscopies, considered the gold standard test, are recommended every 10 years and more frequently after polyps are found.
In traditional colonoscopy, performed by a gastroenterologist, a long, thin tube is inserted and snaked through the large intestines. Generally, any polyps that are spotted, regardless of size, are taken out in the process.
Virtual colonography uses a CT scanner to take a series of X-rays of the colon and a computer to create a 3-D view. A small tube is inserted in the rectum to inflate the colon so it can be more easily viewed. A radiologist then checks the images for suspicious polyps. Since the patient isn't sedated, there's no recovery time required.
But if any polyps need to be removed, the patient must then have a regular colonoscopy to do that.
For the Wisconsin study, Pickhardt persuaded health insurers in Madison to pay for the less expensive virtual colonoscopies and let patients choose between the two exams. The study included 3,120 patients who opted for a virtual colonoscopy and 3,163 who chose the traditional exam.
Dr. David Kim, another of the researchers, said he plans to ask the patients what was behind their decision.
"I think we're bringing people in off the sidelines as opposed to just substituting one exam for another," he said.
About the same number of advanced polyps were found in each group, 123 for the virtual group and 121 for the conventional group. About 8 percent in the virtual group were sent for same-day colonoscopies for polyp removal. Five percent of the patients had one or two small polyps and they decided to have them watched rather than removed.
Overall, far more polyps were removed in the traditional colonoscopies; the virtual colonoscopies didn't report tiny polyps, which are unlikely to be cancer. In the traditional group, seven had perforated colons and four needed surgery.
Pickhardt, Kim and a third researcher have received lecture or consulting fees from the makers of colonoscopy products and imaging equipment.
A traditional colonoscopy at the Wisconsin hospital is $3,300 and more if polyps are removed; virtual colonoscopy costs $1,186. Insurers pay about 40 percent of that charge, Pickhardt said.
Most insurance companies don't cover virtual colonoscopy for screening but that could change if colon cancer screening guidelines endorse it. Virtual screenings are already available at some hospitals and centers for people willing to pay for it.
The American Cancer Society is updating its guidelines, but Robert Smith, director of cancer screening, wouldn't say whether they would now recommend virtual colonoscopy, also known as CT colonography. When the guidelines were last revised in 2003, there wasn't enough data to support it, he said.
"The evidence is accumulating that CT colonography may have a role in primary screening," said Smith.
Early studies of virtual colonoscopy gave mixed results. Then in 2005, the American College of Radiology Imaging Network launched a large study of more than 2,000 patients, to try to resolve the issue. Each volunteer had a virtual colonoscopy followed by a traditional one the same day and the outcomes were compared.
After the results were presented at a meeting last week, the group posted a statement on their Web site saying that preliminary results showed virtual colonoscopy is "highly accurate," similar to traditional colonoscopy. Spokesman Shawn Farley said details wouldn't be released until the study is published, probably around the end of the year.
Dr. Douglas Rex, director of endoscopy at Indiana University Hospital, said that study was key because it was done at several locations. "We should have a pretty good sense of how it's going to perform in practice," he said.
Rex said he has some reservations about virtual colonoscopy because it doesn't lead to the removal of the smallest polyps and exposes patients to radiation.
___
21 Catholic Colleges
Sent: Thursday, October 04, 2007 9:36 AM
Subject: Catholic Exchange - Your Faith. Your Life. Your World.
The "Joyfully Catholic" colleges are: Christendom College, The College of Saint Thomas More, Franciscan University of Steubenville, Magdalen College, Thomas Aquinas College, The Thomas More College of Liberal Arts, University of Dallas, and the University of St. Thomas (Houston, Texas).
The "Born from the Crisis" colleges are: Ave Maria University, Holy Apostles College & Seminary, John Paul the Great Catholic University; Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy, Southern Catholic College and Wyoming Catholic College.
The "Fighting the Tide" colleges are: Aquinas College (Nashville, Tennessee), Belmont Abbey College, Benedictine College, The Catholic University of America, DeSales University, Mount St. Mary's University and St. Gregory's University.
http://www.catholicexchange.com/node/66294
Subject: Catholic Exchange - Your Faith. Your Life. Your World.
The "Joyfully Catholic" colleges are: Christendom College, The College of Saint Thomas More, Franciscan University of Steubenville, Magdalen College, Thomas Aquinas College, The Thomas More College of Liberal Arts, University of Dallas, and the University of St. Thomas (Houston, Texas).
The "Born from the Crisis" colleges are: Ave Maria University, Holy Apostles College & Seminary, John Paul the Great Catholic University; Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy, Southern Catholic College and Wyoming Catholic College.
The "Fighting the Tide" colleges are: Aquinas College (Nashville, Tennessee), Belmont Abbey College, Benedictine College, The Catholic University of America, DeSales University, Mount St. Mary's University and St. Gregory's University.
http://www.catholicexchange.com/node/66294
Nicholas Gregory
seems like you decided: Nicholas Gregory Scheidhauer?
And Id think it is Greg the best man unless he says no
And Id think it is Greg the best man unless he says no
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Week #4
Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2007 8:32 AM
Subject: Top 4 in overall points pay at the end of the season as well
1. Papa Burgundys boys 3-1-0 .750 451.33 W-1 12 6 2.
3. Senor Skinny 3-1-0 .750 431.72 W-3 7 1 3.
maxifyed madness 3-1-0 .750 408.97 W-2 11 12 4.
Bris 07 3-1-0 .750 398.11 W-3 13 3 5.
Skillz that Killz 3-1-0 .750 375.17 L-1 1 5 6.
2. Team Oyster 2-2-0 .500 432.03 L-2 8 4 7.
4. AnimalInteriors 2-2-0 .500 423.97 W-2 9 6
http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/f1/182928
Subject: Top 4 in overall points pay at the end of the season as well
1. Papa Burgundys boys 3-1-0 .750 451.33 W-1 12 6 2.
3. Senor Skinny 3-1-0 .750 431.72 W-3 7 1 3.
maxifyed madness 3-1-0 .750 408.97 W-2 11 12 4.
Bris 07 3-1-0 .750 398.11 W-3 13 3 5.
Skillz that Killz 3-1-0 .750 375.17 L-1 1 5 6.
2. Team Oyster 2-2-0 .500 432.03 L-2 8 4 7.
4. AnimalInteriors 2-2-0 .500 423.97 W-2 9 6
http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/f1/182928
Final Standings Indoor Soccer
Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2007 8:22 AM
Subject: 5-4-1 pretty good esp just a few weeks ago we were 3-4--that is a winning season 5th out of 11 teams
Mon Mens >35 2nd Div Standings
GP W L T GF GA PTS GD WP
Milan 10 8 1 1 59 39 25 20 0.800
Romano`s Rest 10 7 3 0 50 32 21 18 0.700
Municipal 10 7 3 0 65 49 21 16 0.700
Next Week 10 5 3 2 37 29 17 8 0.500
Animal Interiors 10 5 4 1 50 47 16 3 0.500
Pumpkin Eaters 10 4 4 2 37 45 14 -8 0.400
Soccer Dogs 10 4 5 1 38 54 13 -16 0.400
ASA Shooters 10 4 6 0 49 52 12 -3 0.400
Force Majeure 10 3 7 0 44 44 9 0 0.300
Rainbow 10 2 6 2 32 47 8 -15 0.200
Motorola 10 1 8 1 32 55 4 -23 0.100
Team News
No news at this time.
http://ezleagues.ezfacility.com/team.aspx?team_id=148199
Subject: 5-4-1 pretty good esp just a few weeks ago we were 3-4--that is a winning season 5th out of 11 teams
Mon Mens >35 2nd Div Standings
GP W L T GF GA PTS GD WP
Milan 10 8 1 1 59 39 25 20 0.800
Romano`s Rest 10 7 3 0 50 32 21 18 0.700
Municipal 10 7 3 0 65 49 21 16 0.700
Next Week 10 5 3 2 37 29 17 8 0.500
Animal Interiors 10 5 4 1 50 47 16 3 0.500
Pumpkin Eaters 10 4 4 2 37 45 14 -8 0.400
Soccer Dogs 10 4 5 1 38 54 13 -16 0.400
ASA Shooters 10 4 6 0 49 52 12 -3 0.400
Force Majeure 10 3 7 0 44 44 9 0 0.300
Rainbow 10 2 6 2 32 47 8 -15 0.200
Motorola 10 1 8 1 32 55 4 -23 0.100
Team News
No news at this time.
http://ezleagues.ezfacility.com/team.aspx?team_id=148199
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