The Beginning of the Marian Conference at Boyne Mountain

“It was on the way home from the Chicaco Conference [the first Marian Conference Barb attended-she has a great story on how this came about!] that Fr. Andre (Schludecker, OFM) said to me,
“Barbara, you and I received bushels, and bushels and bushels of graces. How can we help people get bushels and bushels and bushels of graces.” I said, ‘Father, what are you asking?’ He says, “Barbara do you think we could do what they did?” It didn’t even take me a second, and that is grace because I would have never thought of something like that. I said, ‘Father, with you as a priest, we could do anything! God will bless it. You be the leader, and I will follow. I will do all the running. I’ll be the instrument.” He says, “You got a deal! Let’s get out the rosary again. Let’s do another rosary, and let’s ask Mary to help us, teach us, to do what we observed.” “Okay, Father, that’s a deal!’

And so, Fr. Andre took over the first Conference [1992], and we worked diligently together. Oh, we enjoyed it! We stumbled a million times, but through the grace of God, we got up and went another mile. And that’s what it’s all about, the word, “persevere“. Because Mary says that to give up on anything is to give up on her Son, Jesus. So, through the grace of God, we put on Conference one, two, three…..’ [Oct. 15-17, 2010 will mark the 19th year of the Marian Conference at Boyne. Thanks be to God, Our Most Blessed Mother Mary, Fr. Andre, and to Barb and Bob Smith!]

In honor of “The Year of the Priesthood”, 6/19/09 – 6/19/10:

In reference to the first Marian conference Barb attended in Chicago, Barb said:

“The thing that touched me the most was the spirituality. When I saw all the priests in procession, I cried my eyes out because that’s what it’s all about.

Yes, there may be dynamic speakers, and I love them all, but my greatest joy is when a priest comes to the conference. You see, without the priest what kind of a life do we even have. How desperately we need our priests! Our priests bring us Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. They pray over us and hear our confessions. They’re the instruments for Jesus; they’re His brothers. He ordained them.

No priest on earth chose to be a priest. The seed was planted when they were in the womb of their mother. That’s how early they were called! Father Andre [Schludecker, OFM], my best friend next to my husband, always told me: “When I was in kindergarten, I knew I was called to be a priest. I could hardly wait to grow up and be a priest.” He loves his priesthood, and that’s what every priest should do. Sometimes priests are hurting because they are not following, just like you or I; they are very human like us.

That’s why the Mother of God says we must pray for our priests and sacrifice. We must love our priests; we must support our priests; we must embrace our priests. We must bake them pies for their birthday, and send them little notes:

‘Father we appreciate you so much for bringing Jesus and ministering all of the sacraments! You bury our loved ones; you marry our children; you baptize our grandchildren!’

Oh, praise God for His awesomeness, because it’s the sacraments, its the sacramentals that help us grow in holiness! Without Jesus first in our lives, we’re miserable. That is the truth.”

*Father Andre Schludecker, OFM had the initial inspiration to begin the Marian Conferences in Northern Michigan.