LINCOLNTON — All Saints Day is beloved by Catholics all over the diocese, but at St. Dorothy Parish in Lincolnton, the All Saints Day March and Festival has become their largest annual tradition.
About 400 saints came out Nov. 1 to experience comradery, the faith-based games, the candy and the fun.
Longtime parishioner Kim Kostner, who managed the facepainting booth with the help of her son dressed as Saint Carlo Acutis, said it is something parishioners look forward to each year.
Her favorite part?
“The march,” she said. “I love walking around and dancing with the kids. It is like one big family.”
With the Louis Armstrong song, “When the Saints Go Marching In,” blaring from outside speakers, hundreds of saints, including a baby Saint Michael the Archangel, a pregnant Virgin Mary, and even a young Saint Dorothy, processed through the parking lot.
Amongst them, Father Michael Carlson, the pastor, dressed like his Confirmation saint, Saint Olaf, the Norwegian Viking.
“This is a good chance for us to get together but also to learn about various saints. I mean, every year I learn about a new saint myself,” Father Carlson said. “The kids also have a lot of fun with it. It is a good chance for them to learn to serve one another.”
Cars for the Trunk-or-Treat circled the parking lot and were filled not only with candy but also with lessons on faith. One trailer had a Day of the Dead shrine, while others dedicated their trunks to their favorite saints.
The eighth-grade confirmation class hosted the saintly games, such as “Fill Dorothy’s Basket” and “St. Patrick Drives Out the Snake,” and were required to keep the theme by dressing up too.
Organizer Meg Barrett even dressed up as Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton. Though she retired as the Faith Formation director years ago, she still takes time every year to put on this event she started 20 years ago.
Barrett’s drive is “seeing all the families out here and the people that actually take their time to dress their kids up as saints.”
— Lisa M. Geraci
Breitbach Promise Center to support women
GREENSBORO — More than 1,000 people turned out for Room at the Inn’s annual fundraiser – sharing stories, giving selflessly, and rousing the room to work harder to protect the unborn and support their mothers.
Triad-area clergy, parishioners, Knights of Columbus and pro-life leaders who attended the 27th annual event in a hotel ballroom form the frontline of the Church’s efforts to eliminate abortion.
Since 2001, Room at the Inn (RATI) has housed more than 600 homeless mothers through its maternity shelters and assisted thousands through educational programs and community resources.
“If we are going to be a pro-life Church…we have to do more than oppose abortion. We have to walk with these young women and help them have a better life,” said RATI founder Albert Hodges, a parishioner at Our Lady of Grace. “We are not just pro-life. We are pro-abundant life.”
Bishop Michael Martin made a virtual appearance to call out the leadership of St. Leo the Great parishioners Fran and Paul Breitbach, longtime prolife supporters whose gift has helped launch RATI’s new “Promise Center” for pregnant women.
“For decades they have given generously of themselves to strengthen our Church and help ministries like Room at the Inn flourish,” the bishop said via video. “Faith is not simply something you profess. It is something you proclaim your entire lives.”
Located in Kernersville, the promise center will be named for the Breitbachs and will house a RATI support services center, a volunteer building, an education center, and a childhood development center.
Video testimonials chronicled the impact of RATI’s advocacy: Julissa, who is deaf, was homeless when she found she was pregnant. With little hope, she contacted RATI. She didn’t expect much, but that night RATI volunteers picked up Julissa and brought her to a room and a bed, where she lived out her pregnancy and time as a new mom.
Dr. Bill Pincus was awarded RATI’s “Conrad Lewis Kimbrough Pro-Life Award” for his leadership as the president of the NC Right to Life organization, a leader in pro-life advocacy across the state.
A parishioner of St. Joseph Church in Asheboro, Pincus applauded the sidewalk advocacy RATI does outside abortion facilities: “What they do and what everyone does on the sidewalk is give that woman that a last chance – give that baby that last chance for life.”
Matt Fradd, the Pints for Aquinas podcast host, ended his keynote speech with a simple request: “Offer a Holy Rosary…for the beautiful souls that they are ministering to because this is a spiritual war.”
— Lisa M. Geraci
