It’s COLD outside, here in Minnesota. (4:28 p.m. (22:28 UTC), January 22, 2026)
Eager readers and a jester-journalist with “Appeals to Passion”, “Venom”, “Sensationalism”, “Strife”…. (1910) More than a century later, still familiar.
Minnesota’s in the news, but not because of the weather. That’s another topic, for another day.
An Extreme Cold Warning has been in effect for my part of Minnesota since 3:00 this afternoon. It runs until noon tomorrow, when a Cold Weather Advisory starts. That’ll run until Saturday noon.
But the weather my news feed has been showing me is about the “heavy snow, crippling ice and frigid temperatures” of a winter storm that’ll make life interesting for folks in “more than 2 dozen states”. Maybe excessively interesting. Focusing on states from New Mexico and Texas to Maine and the Carolinas does make sense.
One of the things I like about Minnesota is that our weather isn’t boring. Besides adding variety to our lives, that’s encouraged us to have equipment on hand for dealing with snow, rain, heat, cold, and various combinations thereof.
Still, the next few days will be distinctive. At the moment, 5:40 in the afternoon, it’s -17°F, -27°C. There’s a wind out of the northwest at 18, with gusts to 23 mph, which gives us a windchill of -43°F, -42°C.
I’ll gladly stay inside, where there’s a very good chance that the furnace will keep working.
A Sewer Situation
Tuesday afternoon: Sauk Centre Utilities crew checking out the ‘city’ sewer out front. (January 20, 2026)
The good news is that we noticed the trouble early, and the kids found an outfit maybe an hour down the road with equipment that could deal with what seemed to be a clogged sewer.
The frustrating news is that we’re still in mid-process, but at least now we can run water out the municipal sewer system.
There wasn’t much damage in the basement and elsewhere, and if the fellow who was supposed to come today gets over the flu, we’ll know more some time Monday.
Flu? Seems it’s going around these parts just now. Which might explain how we’ve been feeling, and that’s yet another topic.
But, aside from a sewer situation and feeling the occasional draft — my desk is in the northwest corner of this former farm house, and in the four decades we’ve been here we still haven’t found and blocked every gap and cranny. Never mind.
Aside from that, we’re doing fairly well. And life hasn’t been boring. At all.
Finally, yes; we do talk about the weather quite a bit in these parts.
Last Saturday I learned that my home parish, Our Lady of Angels in Sauk Centre, will almost certainly close this year. I’m not happy about that. At all.
Our bishop’s talk about positivity, hope, and the Church not being buildings, but people who follow Jesus? I see his point.
I see the point, but I’m still not at all happy about what’s happening.
Better Communication This Time Around
Padua, Minnesota: there used to be a parish here.
Area Catholic Communities (ACC) map, courtesy Diocese of Saint Cloud. (updated July 6, 2023)
Even so, the situation now is better than what happened quite a few years back when several other parishes around here were closed.
From what I hear, quite a few folks went to church one day and learned that their home parish no longer exited. No talks, no communication, just: it’s closed.
I haven’t researched what happened, and so don’t have the full picture. But it sort of makes sense. We’re a rural area, at the far end of Stearns County from Diocese headquarters in St. Cloud. It just may not have occurred to folks — I’ll stop now.
The good news is that this time around, we are being kept in the loop.
Losing a place that’s been important for generations is hard, but at least we have time to get ready for the final loss of our parish.
Germans, the Irish, and a Little Local History
Sauk Centre, Minnesota: the town I call home.
Mass at St. Paul’s, Sauk Centre. (December 28, 2024)
Happily, we can celebrate Mass over at St. Paul’s. That was the “German church” here in Sauk Centre.
In Sauk Centre’s early days, pretty much everyone was either German or Irish.
The Germans were, for the most part, fairly recent arrivals in this country: which accounts for their preferring priests who spoke German during Mass. They were also a bit better-off economically than the Irish: or so I’ve heard. At any rate, anyone celebrating Mass with the Germans could follow along: but unless they understood German, the homilies would have needed translation.
Now, the Germans understood English well enough. But, like I said, they liked their Mass in German.
The Irish might have preferred hearing homilies in Gaeilge, but they’d been using English back in the old country — and that’s another topic.
So — I don’t know details — the Irish ended up with their own parish, here in Sauk Centre’s south side. It wasn’t, on the whole, as prosperous as the German one, or so I understand, but we’ve done a pretty good job with the building and its fittings over the generations.
And the homilies in the “Irish church” were in a language the parishioners understood. Still are, for that matter, although a whole lot of not-Irish worship here; and the “German church” has long since stopped being so very German, and English is spoken in both.
Memories and a Photo
Our Lady of the Angels (OLA) in Sauk Centre, Minnesota: northwest entrance. (September 20, 2022)
I don’t have more to say, at least for now, apart from this quick wrap up.
Our Lady of Angels is my wife’s home parish, the one she grew up in. We were married there, in the mid-1980s. That was before an addition put the church’s entrance stairs inside, and added an elevator for folks who have trouble with stairs.
The elevator’s out of order now. I don’t suppose it’ll be repaired. Not unless the diocese finds another use for the building. Which I hope happens.
If memory serves, the Marian garden, between Our Lady of Angels and what was the rectory, dates from that entrance-and-elevator construction.
Still More Photos
Candle rack and our parish’s Infant of Prague, near OLA’s worship area entrance. (September 20, 2022)
It’s been about three and a quarter years since somebody did remarkably little damage during a drunken spree in Our Lady of Angels church. I got some photos, after folks cleaned up the mess.
I posted them the next Saturday, but this seems like a good time to share them again, along with a look at our Polka Mass in 2019, Christmas season and Corpus Christi procession of 2015, and the Marian garden in 2013.
Looking at those dates, I realize that I don’t get out much these days. And that’s yet another topic.
Main entrance to the OLA nave/sanctuary. One of our statues isn’t there. (September 20, 2022)Over OLA’s altar area, art inspired by Tiepolo’s ‘The Immaculate Conception.’ (September 20, 2022)Happily-undamaged statues near OLA’s altar area. (September 20, 2022)In the OLA entrance area: the elevator, a wheelchair and a crucifix. (September 20, 2022)Our Lady of the Angels polka Mass, Dale Dahmen & The Polka Beats. (2019)Our Lady of Angels, my parish church, second Saturday of Christmas: January 2, 2015.Corpus Christi procession, Sauk Centre, Minnesota. (2015)Our Lady of Angels’ Marian Garden: a good place to sit and think. (2013)
Depending on who’s talking and what they’re talking about, lily of the valley is a woodland flower that likes shade, a 19th century hymn, a French novel, or something else.1
I’m not going to be talking about hymns or novels. Not today, anyway.
There’s a whole mess of symbolism hanging around these little white flowers, too. Mostly involving humility, happiness and good stuff like that. Which strikes me as odd, since the wildflowers are distinctly poisonous.2 On the other hand, they do — I gather — smell nice.
I’m not going to talk about that, either. Mostly because the lily of the valley’s sprays of tiny white flowers are, for me, symbolic of a house I grew up in. Along with a rhubarb patch. And clothes lines. Among other things.
Wildflower, Weed: Take Your Pick
My folks had a car not unlike this one.
The first house I remember living in, 818, had room on its north side for a driveway, with about a foot left over next to the house.
Although my parents weren’t particularly enthusiastic gardeners, that foot-wide patch of dirt sported a lush green cover and lovely little white flowers every year. I liked the green, and I really liked those tiny white bells. I remember asking my folks about them, and learning that they’re ‘weeds’. Or not particularly desirable, at any rate.
Why they were undesirable, that’s something I wasn’t told.
A Weed by Any Other Name Would Still Look Nice
Lily of the valley in Yerevan, Armenia. Violmsyan’s photo. (May 10, 2020)
That remained one of many puzzles from my formative years: until I looked up lily of the valley, week before last.
Some tightly-wound resources identified lily of the valley as an invasive species. Which, technically, I suppose it is. Although it’s not even close to being in the kudzu class.3
Convallaria majalis, that’s lily of the valley’s binomial/Linnaean/Latin moniker, is supposed to be in Europe and parts of Asia.
Convallaria majalis, illustration from “Köhler’s Medizinal-Pflanzen”, Franz Eugen Köhler (1897).
Time was when we had, officially, varieties of Convallaria majalis:
Convallaria majalis var. majalis
European/Asian lily of the valley
Convallaria majalis var. keiskei
Japanese lily of the valley
Convallaria majalis var. montana
Appalachian lily of the valley
Now they’re seen as three entirely different species:
Convallaria majalis
European/Asian lily of the valley
Convallaria keiskei
Japanese lily of the valley
Convallaria pseudomajalis
Appalachian lily of the valley
Either way, those tiny white flowers look like lily of the valley to me, so that’s what I’ll call them. And I’ll keep remembering them as a delightful sight on the north side of 818, even though they don’t, officially, belong in central North America.
More Memories, and Making Sense of “Humility”
“… ‘I am well aware that I am the umblest person going,’ said Uriah Heep, modestly….” (“David Copperfield”, Ch. 16, C. Dickens)
When I started writing this, I couldn’t quite remember what those little white flowers were called.
I asked my wife — always a good idea, whatever the circumstances — she thought a moment, then said “lily of the valley?”
That sounded right, so I did a little looking around online, and eventually I found Rosendahl’s photo. Who Rosendahl is, that I don’t know.
I could go on — and on, and on — about 818, life without a sense of smell, and why humility isn’t all about smart folks trying to believe they’re not.
“The Devil”, Fulton Sheen, Family Retreat (5 of 12), Catholic Clips on YouTube.
I may offend pretty much everyone this week. Then again, maybe not.
Either way, instead of what I’d planned on writing, I’ll be sharing a video which, despite some rather dated terminology, makes good points about the devil: and why living as if ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ exist makes sense. I’ve got a bit to say about that, too.
This isn’t my favorite topic, but — touching on it seemed like a good idea.
Watching an Old Video
Fulton J. Sheen. (1952)
It’s been ‘one of those weeks’, although there’s nothing obviously wrong with me, and life is going well.
Even so, I kept getting writer’s block whenever I sat down and tried writing about what I had in mind for this week.
Then a 37-minute video of the Venerable Fulton Sheen, possibly from the early 1970s, showed up in my YouTube feed.
I’ve known about Fulton Sheen since before I became a Catholic, and figured I had 37 minutes available for the video.
That’s more time than I’ll set aside for an old “The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends” show. But I started watching anyway. Partly because Fulton Sheen is among the folks I think make sense when they talk or write.
By the time I was through listening, I’d started writing this.
Theology, Slogans, and Human Nature
John Martin’s “Pandemonium”. (1841)
I wouldn’t take all theological details of a joke Fulton Sheen told in the first few minutes too seriously.
It involves tourist jaunts between Heaven and Hell. The point isn’t the jaunts, but what the devil ‘looks like’ as we go along through life.
Another thing: Fulton Sheen was talking to Christians in this video. That may be why he didn’t spend time talking about why following Jesus is the right choice. I won’t, either, beyond saying that seeking truth and accepting mercy makes sense. To me, at any rate.
As for why I see a point in sharing a video recorded a half-century back — some things change, some don’t change.
Fashions, like maxicoats — or was it maxiskirts? — change. So do slogans, like “theology is politics” and “I gotta be me”.
Other things don’t change, like whether or not hating my neighbor is okay. It’s not okay, by the way. I should love God, love my neighbors, and see everyone as my neighbor. Always. (Matthew 5:43–44, 22:36–40; Mark 12:28–31; Luke 6:31, 10:25–27, 29–37; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2196)
Human nature hasn’t changed, either. It’s as good, and as wounded, now as it was in my youth, on that first Christmas, and since long before we started keeping written records.
That’s why I think that what Fulton Sheen said about the devil/Satan, attitudes, assumptions, and living as if what we do matters, is worth hearing.
Finally, before I wrap this up, about theology:
“Theology and religion are not the same thing. When the churches are controlled by theologians religious people stay away.” [Holbrook Jackson] “Theology is simply that part of religion that requires brains” [G. K. Chesterton’s comment, written in green pencil] (“Platitudes Undone”, Ignatius Press (1997 page 25 (The Inner Temple)); facsimile edition of “Platitudes in the Making: Precepts and Advices for Gentlefolk”, Holbrook Jackson (1911)
Considering attitudes and opinions that have been seen as ‘intelligent’ or ‘reverent’, I’d better say it: I think Chesterton is right about theology.
Making Sense
A stage magician’s poster. (1910) Colorful, but not theologically sound.
At the moment, I’m simply not up to explaining why I think Satan is real and doesn’t wear red tights.
The same goes for why I —
Take Jesus seriously
Try acting as if my beliefs matter
Take civic responsibility seriously
Believe some acts are always right
And some are always wrong
— and why seeing ethics/morality as more than personal preference doesn’t make me ‘political’.
Besides, I’ve talked about Satan, Jesus, being human, and all that, before:
Weather map 00:30 UTC December 28, 2025: blizzard warning where I live.
It’s going to be one of those weekends.
From the local forecast page Saturday evening:
Dense Fog Advisory until December 28, 06:00 AM CST Blizzard Warning in effect from December 28, 09:00 AM CST until December 29, 06:00 AM CST (Current conditions and forecast for Sauk Centre Municipal Airport (KD39))
Normally, I can see Our Lady of the Angels’ bell tower from the north window.
A little after noon on Saturday, it was visible: but only as a gray shape in the grayness cloaking my part of the world. It’s two blocks away — something like six or seven hundred feet. Call it 200 meters, give or take a bit.
Later that afternoon, All that showed above the leafless trees was grayness. The trees themselves weren’t so much trees as general outlines of trees, rendered in pale monochrome watercolor.
It’s been a very foggy day.
There’s a slight chance of freezing rain before the snow starts, and the odds are that the fog will freeze on roads and sidewalks in at least a few places.
The good news is that these days we have pretty good weather data and forecasting.
It hasn’t always been that way.
My mother talked about a particularly bad storm in the Red River Valley. It wasn’t just severe: it had started on a mild, beautiful day with Courier-and-Ives flakes of snow drifting down. Folks hitched up their sleighs/sleds/whatever and went out to enjoy a winter ride.
Then the wind picked up, the temperature went down, and snow started coming in wholesale lots. Some folks didn’t make it home.
I can’t say which storm that was. It might be this one:
“Blizzard of 1896” Grand Forks Photographic Collection, University of North Dakota Scholarly Commons
But much more probably was another one, a bit more recently.
I’m not going to try sorting that out now.
Meanwhile, I see that some of the New England states are experiencing a winter weather advisory. I hope folks there either have the equipment needed, or know someone who does; and have an insulated, heated place to stay.
Something new each Saturday.
Life, the universe and my circumstances permitting. I'm focusing on 'family stories' at the moment. ("A Change of Pace: Family Stories" (11/23/2024))
I was born in 1951. I'm a husband, father and grandfather. One of the kids graduated from college in December, 2008, and is helping her husband run businesses and raise my granddaughter; another is a cartoonist and artist; #3 daughter is a writer; my son is developing a digital game with #3 and #1 daughters. I'm also a writer and artist.
I live in Minnesota, in America's Central Time Zone. This blog is on UTC/Greenwich time.
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Blog - David Torkington
Spiritual theologian, author and speaker, specializing in prayer, Christian spirituality and mystical theology [the kind that makes sense-BHG]
