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Prayer Corner
Many of our Members have asked for prayers from their AOS Family. Please keep the following in prayer:
Th Strang Family and AOS-Mobile
The repose of the soul of Capt. Wolfgang Schroder & for his family
For our Gulf Fishers, Shrimpers, Crabbers and Oystermen, that God will bless them with a fruitful harvest this year. For all those in pirate infested waters that God will protect them. For those who have fallen into piracy, that they will find better, honest ways of sustaining their families, and turn away from a life of crime. |
Join AOS USA Today!
To join AOS USA simply click on the following link:
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 Thanks for Helping
AOS USA to Help Others
Dear Members:
Last Sunday, October 17, 2010, I rode from Port Arthur to Golden Meadow, LA. I had asked our AOS USA friend, a brother Knight of Columbus, and active parishioner at Our Lady of Prompt Succor, Mike Callais, to inquire if there were any parishioners who were struggling in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon incident.
This request was made possible because members of AOS USA had contributed $1,400.00 to our relief fund. Their kindness, combined with the $200.00 that was already in the fund allowed me to acquire sixteen $100.00 gift cards. I do want to thank Neches Federal Credit Union of Port Neches, TX for working with AOS USA. They provided the cards, and to help make more funds available for those in need, waved all charges and fees. On Monday morning, I joined Fr. Roni Villanov, the pastor of Our Lady of Prompt Succor, Nora Seigne, the head of the parish's social outreach ministry, Our Lady Helps, and Sybil Ledet, the parishes social action coordinator. Over coffee, we talked about the challenges of a post-Deepwater Horizon world, and the affects it has had on the local community. At about 10:00 a.m. we were joined by by two or our recipient families, Amber and Stephen Dantin, a local bay shrimping family, and Sadonia Bruce and her baby Byron Bruce. Sadonia's husband is a local crabber, and is struggling because there just isn't any market for his crabs.
I took a moment to explain what the Apostleship of the Sea is, what AOS USA is, and also to listen to their stories, and how they have fared over the last six months. In addition, we prayed together the prayer that AOS USA prepared for those affected by the oil spill.
 | | From L-R: Mike Callais, Nora Seigne, Fr. Roni Villanov, Sybil Ledet, Stephen and Amber Dantin, Sadonia and Bryan Bruce, and Fr. Sinclair. |
In all, I presented five gift cards to families from Our Lady of Prompt Succor. Because of having to work, Nora will see to it that the families of Chrystal Guidry, Romanda Basalito, and Guilbert Bellanger receive their cards.
Fr. Roni has given me the contact information of the pastors in Grand Isle and Chauvin, LA. I will reach out to them after our Administrative Board Meeting in Washington, D.C. My goal as president of AOS USA is to work through the fishing parishes until the remaining eleven gift cards are distributed. I want to thank those AOS USA members who have helped us help these folks. In small ways, we have transformed our prayers for the people of the sea into concrete moments of grace. If you would like to assist further, you can drop a check in the mail to Doreen at our national office (1500 Jefferson Dr./ Port Arthur, TX, 77642), and note that it is for the relief fund. Also, if you have a fishing or maritime family in your parish in Louisiana, Mississippi or Alabama who are suffering because of the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe, you are very welcome to nominate them to us.
Our Lady Star of the Sea, Pray for Us! Fr. Sinclair
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Margaret Strang, Wife of Longtime AOS-Mobile Director, Passes Away
To the membership of AOS,
We are sad to inform you of the death and burial of Margaret Strang wife of Jerry Strang founding director of the Catholic Maritime Club of
Mobile,Alabama USA. Mr Strang ran the Club for 40years with the
assistance of his wife Margaret.
Father Capeding and I attended the requiem Mass as well as providing a wreath. Their headstone at the Catholic Cemetery is embossed with the Stella Maris logo. We ask that you pray for their souls.
Their son Jerry Strang is athletic director at St. Pauls School in Mobile.
He grew up in the club
Deacon Joe Connick
Director - AOS-Mobile
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Inviting the Fisher of Men into your boat
By Dan Morris
Catholic News Service
A recent story about a Chesapeake Bay crabber held a mirror to my life and made me even more grateful for the blessings that God so abundantly sends my way -- and made me realize what a rotten job I do of thanking him for them (God, not the crabber).
In uncluttered language, journalist Gary Morton allows readers to experience the life of 57-year-old Mike Clair and his wife, Nancy. Long days. Capricious weather. Flighty seafood markets. Demanding routine. The joy of doing something they appreciate.
The reader feels the Clairs' fatigue, financial challenges and tenacity. More to the point, the feature underscores the place of faith in the life they have chosen.
I laughed when Clair was quoted as saying he "muddled" through the early days of his then-new vocation of setting lines of crab pots and then dealing with the harvesting, sorting and selling. I also laughed that Clair has now been doing this for a quarter century but still is considered a relative newcomer by Chesapeake Bay standards.
I know of what he speaks. A large part of our family income for the past 25 years has come from the sea as well. We dive for sea urchins and sea cucumbers in the Pacific Northwest and market them largely to Japan, China, Taiwan and Korea. Talk about "muddle." I clearly remember my first "hooka" diving setup -- a paint compressor powered by a little gas generator and featuring spray paint hose as the air line to me.
When I reached a depth of about 30 feet, the water pressure would pinch the air hose. I would end up doing an imitation of someone trying to suck a thick Oreo milkshake through a wet paper straw.
And as with Clair, it took some time for the established diving veterans to consider me one of their own. You are considered a dilettante or an interloper until you have endured subfreezing winter diving more than a few times and have chosen to ignore gale warnings and dive anyway because you and your crew, well, need the money.
However, the Clairs' awareness of God in it all makes me smile the most. There exists simultaneously a sense of divine indifference and intense divine presence.
Hard to explain. On the one hand, you encounter bad weather, vicious currents, gear failure, and who knows what not. On the other, you can be stunned by breathtaking sunrises and sunsets. Surprised by a bountiful catch in unlikely circumstances. Or simply have an indescribable joy flood your soul.
Morton quotes Nancy Clair to the point: "You're definitely close to God out there," she said. "You feel, OK, this is all coming from him."
Very active in their parish, the Clairs embrace a hardworking, straightforward life. Not preoccupied with a new car, a 52-inch liquid plasma television or holidays in Europe, they have made the Fisher of Men the source of comfort and strength in their lives. May the tides be with them.
(Comments are welcome. E-mail Uncle Dan at cnsuncle01@yahoo.com.)
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 Tragic Passing of
Capt. Wolfgang Schroder
AOS USA was very involved in the Seafarer Manslaughter case of Capt. Wolfgang Schroder of the M/V Zim Mexico III. We felt then, and still do today, that simple negligence is too low of a threshold for convicting mariners of murder, and sending them to federal prison.
We were tremendously saddened in learning of the death of Capt. Schroder in a fishing accident in Ireland. Our prayers are with his family who have been through so much after all these years.
Below is the report from UTV News:
Three men killed in Cork boat blaze
A close-knit coastal village is in shock as investigators launched an investigation into a boat fire which claimed the lives of three anglers.
Tuesday, 17 August 2010 Irishman Richard Harman, 69, and Germans Mike Schmidt, 70, and Wolfgang Schroeder, 62, were killed when their 25ft motor cruiser the Castaway sank off west Cork on Monday night.Mr Harman and Mr Schmidt both lived in the popular tourist village of Glengarriff, while Mr Schroeder lived near Bantry.
Their friend, named locally as American Ed Dziato, was the sole survivor of the fire. He was winched to safety from the water and taken to Bantry General Hospital, where he was later discharged.
Mr Harman's family and friends gathered in a pub in the village on Monday night as locals offered their sympathies.
The retired farmer and auctioneer, who was due to celebrate his 70th birthday next month, was well known in the community through his work and activism with Fine Gael.
Mr Schmidt, who was retired and had been living in Glengarriff for about 20 years, was an experienced seaman after spending years working in the merchant navy.
Officials from the Marine Casualty Investigation Board are carrying out an inquiry into the incident.
Gardai in Castletownbere are also conducting their own probe into the fire. READ MORE:
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 US Merchant Mariners Assist in Bring Relief for Victims of Pakistan Floods
Civilian Mariners are 'Key Contributors' to Humanitarian Aid in Pakistan
The U.S. Military Sealift Command (MSC) recently credited civilian mariners - including members of the SIU Government Services Division - for being "key contributors to the disaster response/humanitarian assistance being provided to floodravaged Pakistan."
In particular, the dry cargo/ammunition ship USNS Lewis and Clark is providing underway replenishment to vessels in the Navy's USS Peleliu Amphibious Ready Group in the Arabian Sea as they support humanitarian relief efforts in the wake of severe monsoons. Other CIVMAR- crewed ships also are helping with the mission, including the fleet replenishment oiler USNS John Lenthall.
According to MSC, the Lewis and Clark's resupply mission "helps keep ships of the ready group supplied with food, fuel and other supplies - enabling them to remain at sea, on station and able to provide help to a country where thousands are reported dead, and millions are reported displaced or homeless."
"I feel like we make a difference," said AB Paul Chaffin while aboard the Lewis and Clark. "I think every time we supply a Navy ship, we are supporting those who directly support those affected by the crisis...."
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Read & View More about the Oil Spill
Workboat Magazine held a free Webinar yesterday, to discuss the Impact of the Gulf Oil Spill on Boat Builders and Vessel Owners/Operators. The audio file can be listened to here:
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Important Upcoming Events for
AOS USA Members!
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