For the volunteers, it has been an emotional time, as the bushes, along with 18 garden beds, were being moved to IHM because St. Pius X is slated to come together with St. Mary of the Assumption in Govans, St. Thomas Aquinas in Hampden, Shrine of the Sacred Heart in Mount Washington and Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland to form a united parish seated at the cathedral.

An 11 a.m. funeral mass for Franciscan Sister Elizabeth Mary Novak will be offered Nov. 6 at Assisi House in Aston, Pa. Sister Elizabeth died Nov. 3. She was 88 and had been a professed member of the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia for 66 years.

Jesuit Father John R. Donahue, a noted professor at two Baltimore universities, died Oct. 28. The Baltimore native and Loyola Blakefield graduate was 91.

In a world where noise seems to reign supreme, what’s the value of silence? How do we make room for silence in our lives? And how can silence help us in our spiritual journey? George Matysek talks about it with Dominican Father Dominic Koester.

With another divisive presidential election on the horizon Nov. 5, there’s never a better time to turn to prayer.

Pastors throughout the city and several nearby communities in Baltimore County have been working on the difficult task of creating new parish communities as part of the Seek the City to Come pastoral plan announced May 22 that reduces the number of parishes in those areas from 61 to 23 and reduces the number of worship sites from 59 to 30.

Sulpician Monsignor Fredrik Hansen, who also serves as assistant professor of pastoral studies at St. Mary’s Seminary, said he’s excited to return home and that his time in Baltimore has served him well.

The Catholic bishops of Maryland commemorated the 160th anniversary of Maryland Emancipation Day, affirming the dignity of every human person and noting that slavery was dehumanizing, reducing human beings to mere property.

The Baltimore CCHD committee chairperson said the Nov. 16-17 collection in parishes throughout the Archdiocese of Baltimore is a vital funding source for the local Catholic Campaign for Human Development chapter.

Natural burial – or green burial, as it is sometimes called – is done without embalming, and uses either a biodegradable shroud only, made of cotton, linen, hemp, wool or other natural fibers, or a shroud and a biodegradable casket, made of bamboo or soft woods such as pine or bark.