Holy Water

It was 1995 and the Rev. Ronald P. Pytel of Baltimore's Holy Rosary Roman Catholic Church believed he was dying. He and his parishioners prayed to Faustina Kowalska, a Polish nun who had been recently beatified, and suddenly the congestive heart failure and degenerative aortic valve that doctors had said would be the end of Pytel were healed. The priest's amazing recovery, documented by doctors, was one of the miracles that led to the nun's canonization by Pope John Paul II in Rome in 2000.

If it's not one thing, it's another -- Hoping to forget about her sore right ankle, Tonya Harding accepted an invitation from a tall, handsome Norwegian to go horseback riding.The date ended abruptly when the young man ran out of quarters.Words of inspiration -- In preparation for today's game against Italy, the winless U.S. hockey team (0-1-3) flew to Lourdes and bathed in the sacred waters of the shrine's grotto spring.The players were then blessed by the local prelate, who added: "It might help if you knuckleheads play some defense."

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Some bibulous rustics call it white lightning, others call it 'shine, while the more soul-struck prefer a snort of holy water. Whatever your designated poison, it is the crystal-clear corn liquor of Appalachia, the illegal essence of three centuries of mountain hollow stills. Payton D. Fireman, a local lawyer with a taste for marketing, has begun bottling and selling the volatile potion legally for the first time in state memory under the label Mountain Moonshine. "Of course it's rough: It's moonshine," said Fireman to a visitor brought bolt upright and teary-eyed by a shot of the clear white whiskey.

Give a place an "I worship beer" name and plop it in the heart of Fells Point, and it's bound to attract its share of characters. But Ale Mary's might get more than most. Where else can you hear patrons curse the Ravens in a setting that's made to look like a confessional? Brothers Tom and Bill Rivers, who were raised Catholic, opened Ale Mary's on St. Patrick's Day and named it for their wives, both named Mary. They found real holy water fonts for decoration, wrote their daily specials on hymn boards, and paneled the walls with little screened windows, to resemble confessionals.

The State Board of Morticians has come up with guidelines on the proper way to spread cremated remains in the hopes of dissuading mourners who have been pouring ashes onto a private beach on the Chesapeake Bay and at other inappropriate final resting places. The board completed a pamphlet last week that is intended to be given to anyone considering cremation. The move was a reaction to complaints from residents of Venice on the Bay, an Anne Arundel County community with a bay view so stunning it almost seems an invitation to spend eternity there.

Returning to Cleveland may be a bittersweet memory for Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome and several other employees who worked for the franchise under its previous incarnation as the Browns. For Morgan Cox, the trip is memorable for a different reason. On Dec. 26, 2010, the long snapper tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee while blocking on Billy Cundiff's 27-yard field goal in the second quarter en route to an eventual Ravens' 20-10 win. Fortunately for Cox, he hasn't allowed the memory of that injury to seep into his consciousness when returning to Cleveland Browns Stadium.

The "Elm Street" series, now in its sixth chapter with "Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare," is apparently coming to a close before it runs out of gas, thus displaying class not usually found in the horror genre.Having resisted fire, holy water and premature burial in earlier installments, Freddy (Robert Englund) has successfully whittled the population of Springwood, U.S.A., down to a few demented adults (Roseanne and Tom Arnold make brief appearances, as does Alice Cooper) and only one teen-ager, an amnesiac known as John (Shon Greenblatt)

A fledgling museum dedicated to preserving Polish and Slavic heritage and culture was dedicated in Baltimore on Sunday. The National Slavic Museum at 1735 Fleet St. in Fells Point is staffed by volunteers. The small museum's collection includes items from several Slavic countries, many with religious themes - paintings of Jesus Christ, Bibles, crucifixes and a cabinet for holding holy water. "We have a lot more to collect. We just started," said the Rev. Ivan Dornic, a priest who helped found the museum.

When Jermin LaViera came to Baltimore from Venezuela, her new husband said she needed to learn English right away. So immediately after the wedding - still in her gown - she went to an immigrant assistance center run by Catholic Charities, looking for a language class. Before long, she had a job there helping other immigrants. And two decades later, she continues to guide new arrivals through issues both serious and not-so-serious. "People come here with all kinds of problems: 'My door is broken.

BALTIMORE CITY* MURDER TRY/ARREST: Southwestern District -- A 20-year-old man was arrested yesterday and was being held pending charges that he attempted to kill three teen-age boys by running them down with his pickup truck in the 2800 block of Frederick Ave. after an argument. The youths, 14 and 15 years old, were walking on a sidewalk when they were struck by the vehicle. They were taken to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where they were treated for non life-threatening injuries. Shortly after the incident, a policeman who was flagged down by a witness spotted the pickup truck a few blocks away and arrested the driver.