CHARLOTTE – These are pictures of the outdoor Stations of the Cross at St. Joseph Vietnamese Church in Charlotte.
These 16 larger-than-life Stations of the Cross – unique in our diocese – depict the 14 Stations of the Cross that every church has plus two more: the birth of Jesus and His Resurrection.
They were donated by an anonymous family at St. Joseph Church and they were crafted in Saigon, Vietnam.
Each Station stands 6 feet tall or more, weighs more than 16 tons and took 10 months to create.
Each sits on a large concrete base and is individually lit with spotlights. The 16 statues ring the church's property, from the church's front door all the way around the expansive parking lot.
The monumental feature is one not to be missed during this holy season if you live in the Charlotte area.
The Stations of the Cross at St. Joseph Church are open daily, located at 4929 Sandy Porter Road near Arrowood Road and I-485 in southwest Charlotte.
For details and directions, go to www.charlottediocese.org and search Charlotte parishes for the St. Joseph information page, or call 704-588-9022.
— Photos by SueAnn Howell, Catholic News Herald
LATROBE, Pa. — Benedictine Brother James Raber, a seminarian from Belmont Abbey, is studying second theology at St. Vincent Seminary this academic year.
Pictured are (from left): Benedictine Father Patrick Cronauer, academic dean; Benedictine Father Boniface Hicks, director of spiritual formation; Benedictine Father Edward Mazich, rector; Brother James; Benedictine Father John Mary Tompkins, vice rector; Dr. Lawrence Sutton, director of pre-theologian formation; and Benedictine Father Cyprian Constantine, director of liturgical formation.
Brother James is the son of Edward B. and Sue M. Raber of Fleming Island, Fla. He is a 2002 graduate of Gahanna Lincoln High School in Gahanna, Ohio.
He earned a Bachelor of Science in marine transportation operations from Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, Maine, in 2006. He has done post-graduate studies at Belmont Abbey College, and he has studied at St. Meinard Seminary and School of Theology in Indiana.
— Kim Metzgar