On any given day at St. Anthony’s Gardens Senior Living in Covington, the kitchen staff operates as a restaurant offering a choice of five entree items, specials and an “always-available” menu (that includes salad, sandwiches and desserts).

On Dec. 18, the Ladies’ Auxiliary of the Hispanic Apostolate of the Archdiocese of New Orleans celebrated a Mass in thanksgiving for the donors and their families at St. Anthony of Padua Chapel. Dominican Father Sergio Serrano, director of the Hispanic Apostolate, was the celebrant.

Though not as fast as a speeding bullet, “Superpope” will fly across the world, gathering autographs of sports stars and eventually be auctioned to raise money for the pope’s Peter’s Pence charity.

“Prayer, Fasting, Works of Love for 40 Days” is the theme of the Lenten undertaking for parishioners at St. Anthony of Padua Parish in New Orleans. For the past two years on six Friday evenings of Lent, the parish has offered a simple meal of soup and bread at 6 p.m., followed by Stations of the Cross at 7 p.m. in the church. It is called “Soup and Stations.”

In the uncertain months following Hurricane Katrina, Kathleen Calder was reminded of the powerful role yearbooks played in the lives of students who had long since graduated. Alumni of De La Salle began contacting Calder – then the high school’s longtime yearbook advisor – in search of yearbooks to replace those lost in their flooded homes.

A full Saturday of faith-filled talks, live music, Mass and a fair of Catholic exhibitors will roll out on the grounds of St. Joseph Abbey and Seminary College March 17 at the 2018 Abbey Youth Festival. “I can’t believe we have this lineup. It’s going to be such a powerhouse,” said Christine Baglow, festival director, noting that the annual event targeting ages 13 to 18 will offer a first-time series of breakout sessions designed to give teenage girls, boys and their adult leaders relevant information on their respective faith journeys.

Fire, floods, yellow fever and a triple murder are all part of the history of St. John the Baptist Church in Edgard, just west of New Orleans on the Mississippi River’s west bank.A chapel named St. John the Baptist first appeared as early as 1723-24 in a farming area on the second Cote des Allemands (German Coast, named for those of German descent who settled here on high ground), according to a 1970s history written by parishioner Warren F. Caire, Ed.D., and also in “The Catholic Church in Louisiana,” written by Roger Baudier.

Division I girls’ basketball teams have sat idly by waiting for their turn to compete in the LHSAA state basketball playoffs. Maybe it’s a good thing they did not have to play a game before quarterfinal round.

“Prayer, Fasting, Works of Love for 40 Days” is the theme of the Lenten undertaking for parishioners at St. Anthony of Padua Parish in New Orleans. For the past two years on six Friday evenings of Lent, the parish has offered a simple meal of soup and bread at 6 p.m., followed by Stations of the Cross at 7 p.m. in the church. It is called “Soup and Stations.”

Spring is in the air for a pair of Academy of the Sacred Heart track and field standouts. And senior Claire Moreau and junior Mary Nusloch are already making their presence known in Baton Rouge.

ST. DOMINIC, parish fish fry, March 9, 6 p.m., cafeteria, 6326 Memphis St., New Orleans. Proceeds benefit parish ministry partnership in Haiti. ALL SAINTS CATHOLIC CHURCH, Young Adults and Soulful Voices Ministries, present an African American History Celebration, “African Americans in Time of War,” Feb. 24, 3 p.m., 1441 Teche St., Algiers.

It’s time for the newly approved State Wrestling Tournament committee to get to work to find a future site for that championship event. The tournament’s stay at Bossier City’s CenturyLink Center has run its course. The management there did a good job of running the massive two-day event, but now it’s time to take the state tournament to the spectators.

It has been very “cold” start to the new year at Pope John Paul (PJP) II High School in Slidell, but our spirit and hearts remain “warm.” In just a matter of weeks, our Jaguar family committed to a new theme: “Helping Hands, Warm Hearts.”  As our school’s namesake once said, “Remember the past with gratitude, live the present with enthusiasm and look forward to the future with confidence.”

A family-friendly Chinese New Year block party will take place Feb. 25 from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. on 18th Street in Metairie to celebrate the Chinese “Year of the Dog” in the lunar calendar.

There was nothing Sofia Reed could do to stop the domino effect from reaching her newborn daughter, Rebecca: A chair toppled onto the desk on which the young mother had just set Rebecca’s portable crib. The chain reaction sent Baby Rebecca crashing onto the floor, causing the infant serious injury.

In 1955, the roller skating rink on Jefferson Highway in Harahan, located where Colonial Lanes bowling alley is today, was one of those pop-up operations: a canvas tent covering a wooden oval, with plenty of music blaring from the speakers and guys like Joe Sedita performing figure eights and using centripetal force to spin a buddy in circles at shoulder height, all to make the young ladies swoon.

There is no city where the juxtaposition of Fat Tuesday and Ash Wednesday has greater spiritual meaning than in New Orleans. In a very Catholic way, Rex reigned over the city on Mardi Gras, Feb. 13, giving a nod to the 300-year-old city’s Catholic roots.

One hundred eighty women and men religious attended a “Celebration of Consecrated Life” Feb. 17 at the Academy of the Sacred Heart Chapel. The prayer service was highlighted by a 10-minute reflection by Religious of the Sacred Heart Sister Juliet Mousseau, 39, below, a professor of church history at the Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis.

What was your immediate reaction to the high school shooting in Florida that claimed the lives of 17 students and teachers? I can’t imagine the fear and the trepidation that the kids experienced, as well the fear that their parents experienced. This will affect these kids emotionally for the rest of their lives in one way or another.

¿Cuál fue su reacción inmediata al tiroteo en la escuela secundaria en Florida que, cobró la vida de 17 estudiantes y maestros? No puedo imaginar el miedo y la inquietud que experimentaron los niños, así como el miedo que experimentaron sus padres.