The North Star Catholic

The feast day of the Queen and Patroness of Alaska, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, was celebrated Oct. 1 in Juneau. Archbishop Andrew Bellisario, C.M. was joined by Bishop of Fairbanks Steven Maekawa, O.P., and Fr. Mike Galbraith in celebrating Mass at the National Shrine of St. Thérèse, assisted by Deacon Mike Monagle. Jay Shaw, a special guest present at the shrine for its first M...

An Eagle River parish reached a milestone of 1,000 prayer shawls created by a faithful group of 20-plus women over the past 11 years.

Dolores Coates of St. Andrew parish in Eagle River keeps a book of the Prayer Shawl Ministry. It is not a ledger, but rather a record of first names, no last names, no notes on who received a prayer shawl. In 11 years, the book has bee...

I learned respect for life from my family. My parents cared for our family, but their care and actions to protect and nurture life extended well beyond the immediate family. The practice of their faith, attendance at Mass, life within their parish, and outreach to the poor taught us the necessity of caring for the least – the most vulnerable – of Christ’s brothers and sisters...

JUNEAU — The turkeys were ordered in June.

That’s how far ahead the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Juneau has to plan to put a complete Thanksgiving dinner on the tables of hundreds of Juneau and Douglas households, said Mollie Carr, the organization’s executive director. Each June, organizers look at the previous year’s sign-ups and estimate more. This year they ar...

The Holy Spirit Center in Anchorage can open one’s ears to God’s calling: a vocation. Derived from the Latin word for “to call,” a person’s vocation is the way they are called by God to express their love for Him through their daily acts and thoughts. Some are called to build families in love as parents. Some are called to choose the priestly life of sacrifice for the faithfu...