Holy Spirit

Rebecca "Jan" Clark, 52, of Summit Point, W.Va., died Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009, at Winchester (Va.) Medical Center. The service will be Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Church of the Holy Spirit, Summit Point. Burial will be private. There will be no visitation. However, the family will receive friends Saturday following the service at the home of John and Nancy Alfriend, 224 Muirfield Court, Charles Town, W.Va. Arrangements are by Melvin T. Strider Colonial Funeral Home, Charles Town.

EMMITSBURG, Md. - A near-record freshman class moves into Mount Saint Mary's College today for the Catholic institution's 191st year. Undergraduate classes begin Monday. The prospective Class of 2002 totals 416, just three students short of the record set in 1983. Transfer students could approach 50, lifting the expected student body total to more than 1,450. The entire college community convenes for the first time on Wednesday, Aug. 26, at the Mass of the Holy Spirit at the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception.

Name of business: Ave Maria Libraria Owner: Tammy Needy Address: Penn Avenue Shopping Center, 13144 Pennsylvania Ave., Hagerstown Opening date: April 19, 2011 Products and services: The store carries religious items for inspiration, including Bibles, books on church history and theology, Marian and saints. It sells rosaries, medals, holy communion and baptismal gifts, DVDs, CDs and handpainted statues from Peru. Target market: Catholics How did you get into your business, and what motivated you to start it?

WWII vet’s memoirs had me in tears To the editor: This letter is about Lester Hart’s story of the memoirs written by his brother, Harold Hart, who survived the infamous Bataan Death March and other acts of brutality as a prisoner of the Japanese during World War II. This account had me in tears as I read the story. I’ve lived 68 years and still break down about war stories that are told. Thank you for your sharing of this remarkable story.

Dressed in his collar and white robe, the Rev. Jerry Lowans stood before the congregation gathered in the church parking lot. He asked everyone to be quiet and prayerful. He then closed his eyes, raised his hands upward and prayed for a blessing on motorcycles. Lowans, pastor of Washington Square United Methodist Church and St. Matthews United Methodist Church, both in Hagerstown, said he has been riding motorcycles since he was 16. Today, he rides a Harley-Davidson Sportster 1200 Custom.

Monday through Friday, Charles Holder teaches from history and sociology books at Williamsport High School. On Sundays his lessons, as vicar of St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Brownsville, come from the Bible. Holder has been a history teacher at Williamsport High School for 38 years. July will mark the 25th anniversary of his ordination to the Episcopal priesthood. At Williamsport High, Holder teaches advanced placement U.S. History, advanced placement European History, World History and Sociology, and is the chair of the Department of Social Studies.

What do atheists have? To the editor: I have been reading many editorials on creation and I would like to say what I believe about it. I am a Christian because my grandparents were and my parents were and I was taught about Jesus and almighty God at an early age. Let me say on the outset that I respect those who do not believe like I do, we can still be friends, this is the American way, it's called freedom. Anyway let me say right up front that I can't prove to you that I am right and the atheist is wrong.

Name of business: Ave Maria Libraria Owner: Tammy Needy Address: Penn Avenue Shopping Center, 13144 Pennsylvania Ave., Hagerstown Opening date: April 19, 2011 Products and services: The store carries religious items for inspiration, including Bibles, books on church history and theology, Marian and saints. It sells rosaries, medals, holy communion and baptismal gifts, DVDs, CDs and handpainted statues from Peru. Target market: Catholics How did you get into your business, and what motivated you to start it?

‘Liberated’ society walking closer to God’s wrath   To the editor: Richard Charles Nickels, longtime president of the Bible Sabbath Association, writes: “From Noah to the Apostles, the message of God’s true servants has been to stress the sanctity of marriage. God’s laws in both testaments are designed to protect marriage and the family. From the Garden of Eden to the New Heavens and New Earth, God’s purpose for mankind is summed up by holy marriage.

Rebecca "Jan" Clark, 52, of Summit Point, W.Va., died Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009, at Winchester (Va.) Medical Center. The service will be Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Church of the Holy Spirit, Summit Point. Burial will be private. There will be no visitation. However, the family will receive friends Saturday following the service at the home of John and Nancy Alfriend, 224 Muirfield Court, Charles Town, W.Va. Arrangements are by Melvin T. Strider Colonial Funeral Home, Charles Town.

Dressed in his collar and white robe, the Rev. Jerry Lowans stood before the congregation gathered in the church parking lot. He asked everyone to be quiet and prayerful. He then closed his eyes, raised his hands upward and prayed for a blessing on motorcycles. Lowans, pastor of Washington Square United Methodist Church and St. Matthews United Methodist Church, both in Hagerstown, said he has been riding motorcycles since he was 16. Today, he rides a Harley-Davidson Sportster 1200 Custom.

What do atheists have? To the editor: I have been reading many editorials on creation and I would like to say what I believe about it. I am a Christian because my grandparents were and my parents were and I was taught about Jesus and almighty God at an early age. Let me say on the outset that I respect those who do not believe like I do, we can still be friends, this is the American way, it's called freedom. Anyway let me say right up front that I can't prove to you that I am right and the atheist is wrong.

Here are some of the calls we have received lately: "With all the negativity that I find in your column, I would like to pass on something that's positive for a change. What an awesome and beautiful ceremony was witnessed by over 800 of us at St. Ann's Catholic Church on Sunday, when both the archbishop and bishop of Baltimore were at our church to install our new pastor, Rev. Doug Kenney. There were people not only that were Catholic, but from other faiths, as well as members of the inner faith council.

shappell@herald-mail.com Amazing, powerful and life-changing were among the words stunned local moviegoers used to describe "The Passion of the Christ" Wednesday on its official day of release. It was as if the two theaters inside Valley Mall Movie 16 were turned into mini-cathedrals for 127-minute blocks, as people said the movie itself was a moving religious experience Many coming out of showings of "The Passion of the Christ" Wednesday were still in tears several minutes after the movie ended.