Mass was celebrated at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church in Crystal Lake. A setting sun reflects the saint's image.
Mass at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church began the day for those attending the first McHenry County Catholic Prayer Breakfast.
Jeff Ladd, Jr., offered one of the prayers.
Boulder Ridge Country Club was the next destination.
Down Randall Road to Miller Road the cars drove.
The place was packed.
Over 500 people by one estimate.
Randy Hultgren posed with GOP Committeemen Bob Borchart and Joyce Story. Hultgren knocked on doors in Story's McHenry precinct last weekend. Please identify the woman on the left.
After the welcome by event chairman Fred Wickham and a prayer by Msgr. Daniel Hermes, breakfast was served.
A prayer for our country’s leaders, out nation and families was offered by Jeff Ladd, Jr.
There were politicians courting votes.
Both Congressman Randy Hultgren and Joe Walsh were in attendance.
Joe Walsh, accompanied by campaign aide Andy Nelms before the program began.
The two are Pro-Life.
The sanctity of human life was one of the topics of the main speaker, Raymond Cardinal Burke.
Another was birth control.
The Cardinal spoke at length.
The Cardinal’s biography identifies him as “one of the foremost authorities on Roman Catholic cannon law.
“Raymond Cardinal Burke leads with an unwavering passion for the integrity of Catholic doctrine embodied in the words of Jesus Christ,” it continues.
The Cardinal was born in 1948 in Richland Center, Wisconsin.
Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke
Ordained by Pope Paul VI in 1975 in Rome, one of his first assignments was teaching religion at Aquinas High School in LaCrosse, Wisconsin.
After studying canon law at Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, he became the first American to hold the position of Defender of the Bond of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the Catholic Church’s supreme court.
He now serves Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, to which post he was appointed in 2008 by Pope Benedict XVI.
Brian Burch
McHenry County’s local prelate, Rockford-based Bishop Thomas Doran, helped celebrate the Mass and gave a talk at the breakfast.
Brian Burch, President of CatholicVote.org, also spoke to the group. It’s a lay movement of committed Catholics who “are passionate about living our the truths proclaimed by Christ and His Church in the modern world.”
Issues promoted include
- the dignity of the human person from conception until natural death
- the traditional definition of marriage as between one man and one woman
- religious freedom for all people
Anne Majewski
But, back to political figures in McHenry County.
Candidate for Coroner Anne Majewski was in an exuberant mode.
I saw a photo of Crystal Lake Mayor Aaron Shepley.
From the program, I see that County Board member Nick Provenzano played a role.
So did County Board candidate Mary Alger.
County Board member Barbara Wheeler, who is running for State Representative, was caught posing with Patriots United Brian Kelly and Judge Michael Chmiel.
Joe Wheeler, his wife, State Rep. candidate Barb Wheeler and Circuit Judge Mike Chmiel attended the breakfast.
You see Jean Bianchi with Rosemary and Bob Blazier in the photo below, so I assume State’s Attorney Lou Bianchi was also present.
Standing to the left of a woman I don't know is Jean Bianchi ,the wife of McHenry County's State's Attorney. Sitting are former Crystal Lake District 47 Grade School Superintendent Bob Blazier and his wife Rosemary.
Below is a list of the members of the Board of Directors of the prayer breakfast.
The people responsible for putting on the event.
Cardinal Burke is the Prefect not perfect. 🙂