Salesian Brother Xavier Verrett, known by the Archbishop Shaw High School community as Brother Dave, died Jan. 3 at the Rehabilitation and Health Care Center of Tampa. He was 88 years old and had been a Salesian of Don Bosco for 63 years.

Salesian Father Emil Francis Fardellone, who served the Catholics of the West Bank for 31 years, died peacefully Dec. 30 in the hospice section of Wynhoven Health Care Center in Marrero. He was 96 and had entered hospice on Nov. 9, a few days after suffering a fall and then being diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus.

¿Cómo ha podido pasar sus vacaciones de Navidad? Disfruté mucho el ritmo más lento que viene después de la Navidad. Pude pasar Navidad con mi hermana y su familia, que siempre es un momento agradable.

Deadline: Submissions due Thursday (10 days before each issue) calendar@clarionherald.org (504) area code unless noted Jan. 19-28 OPEN HOUSES ST. ANN, Cub Scout Pinewood Derby, Jan. 19, 6-9 p.m., gym; Men’s Club meeting, Jan. 19, 7 p.m., cafeteria; walk-through school tours for parents of prospective students, Jan. 24, 28, 31, 9:30 a.m., school office; school open house, Jan. 28, 7 p.m.; Men’s Club donut breakfast, Jan. 27 after 8, 9:30, 11 a.m.

Since everyone experiences joy at receiving a gift that comes from the heart, Christians should be in absolute awe at Christmastime when they remember God’s gift of himself, Pope Benedict XVI said. “The original Christmas gift,” he said, was the gift of God becoming flesh in Jesus Christ and giving his life for the salvation of the world.

Congratulations! The Mayans were wrong. We made it to January and have reached the beginning of a brand new year. Just passing through Advent, we are also celebrating a new year in our liturgical calendar.

How fitting it was for the annual Holy Spirit Retreat for teens and young adults to conclude on the feast of the Epiphany, Jan. 6. Like the Magi, hundreds set out on a journey to find our Savior. During this weekend retreat held at the Landmark Hotel, the Holy Spirit revealed himself to those who sought him.

Is the sky falling on Les Miles and LSU football? The answer is: Of course not. But the doomsayers are out in big numbers, especially after 10 underclassmen on the 2012 team declared for the NFL draft.

For the second time in nine years, the Louisiana High School Athletic association’s house is divided by the success  of a small portion of its member schools on the football field. One in particular, John Curtis Christian School, was recently honored as the nation’s football champion by a consensus of media sites that specialize in prep football and recruiting coverage.

Archbishop Gregory Aymond, left, delivered the homily at a Mass of Thanksgiving at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Prompt Succor in honor of the 198th anniversary of the U.S. victory in the 1815 Battle of New Orleans.

In order to provide pastoral care for the people of God in the Archdiocese of New Orleans, Archbishop Aymond has made the following appointments: PASTOR Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond will continue to serve as Pastor of St. Louis Cathedral Parish, New Orleans, and will be actively involved in the pastoral administration at the cathedral until a new rector is appointed in July 2013.

It’s time for the Who Dat Nation to man up – and to forgive. Since the Bountygate scandal broke last March, Saints fans have directed their venom toward NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell with equal parts passion, pride and paranoia.

Before the Super Bowl, you will be joining Gayle and Tom Benson and city officials in a public service announcement on TV with the goal of raising awareness about the shadowy but extremely organized business of human trafficking for the purpose of prostitution.

The numbers are astounding, and at first glance, seem almost incredible. Across the world, there are between 100,000 and 250,000 children who are victims of sex trafficking, said Laura J. Lederer, president and founder of the Washington, D.C.-based Global Centurion Foundation , which seeks to target trafficking by focusing on demand.

BATON ROUGE, La. – Several thousand people walked through downtown Baton Rouge from the Old State Capitol to the current capitol Saturday Jan. 12 to personally show their support for life, especially the life of the unborn child.

Images of sacred art, live music and a filmed re-enactment of the Last Supper are part of a compelling archdiocesan program that teaches young Catholics to see each of the four principal parts of the Mass as a personal invitation from God asking his children to come ever closer to him in friendship.

Walking in single file while holding jugs of water atop their heads, the Ursuline Academy students created a scene that might easily have been immortalized on the tomb walls of an ancient Egyptian pharoah.

Instead of merely viewing older people as random faces in the crowd who are in the autumns or winters of their lives, Chase Bergeron now knows that many of the elders in his midst have life stories that are downright riveting.

Something is in the water at St. Joan of Arc School in LaPlace. Ever since it began a competitive swim program in 2001, the Catholic elementary school has earned an amazing 11 Metro League swim titles.

Karen Strom says there are few things more satisfying than when she sees her St. Dominic seventh graders gleefully taking out their hooks and skeins of yarn to crochet during the last 10 minutes of their daily religion classes.