A priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Bishop-elect DeGrood, 54, has served as pastor of St. John the Baptist in Savage since 2017.

Bishop Sirba was a humble man who did not desire accolades, his brother said, and he didn’t aspire to be a bishop. When the nuncio called to tell him that Pope Benedict XVI had appointed him bishop of Duluth, he double-checked to make sure the nuncio was calling the right Father Sirba.

Visitation will be on Thursday, Dec. 5, from 3 p.m. until 8 p.m. at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Rosary, located at 2801 East Fourth Street in Duluth, with the praying of the rosary to take place at 6 p.m. and vigil prayers at 7 p.m.  Visitation will continue at the cathedral on Friday, Dec. 6, from 8 a.m. until the Mass of Christian Burial at 11 a.m.

For years Montgomery Ward had bought coloring books and distributed them at stores as a Christmas giveaway. This time around executives decided to save money by creating their own booklet – and asked Robert May to write it. 

This Advent, people from across the St. Cloud Diocese reflect on a word that represents Jesus to them.

“It is necessary to sit in the school of Advent so that we can learn that in our darkest hour it is safe to trust and that perhaps, it is in our darkest hour, that it is safest to trust.”

These books offer daily reading and reflections for a spiritual Advent season.

Mark’s Gospel and the O Antiphons focus on the question of Jesus’ identity.