Ursuline open house

Ursuline open house
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Ursuline sisters will hold an open house from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Ursuline Motherhouse to honor the facility's 40th anniversary.
The motherhouse opened in December 1963 and included a chapel, two large dining rooms, 62 private bedrooms, two dormitories, classrooms, a library, a health-care center and offices.
Since then, two additions have been made to the building: an enclosed swimming pool in 1966 and the Ursuline Center, which includes the Ursuline Preschool and kindergarten, in 1993.
For more information, call (330) 792-7636.
Marriage conference
CORTLAND -- Cortland Trinity Baptist Church, 2576 McCleary-Jacoby Road, will host the marriage conference "Love, Romance & amp; Sex: It's All God's Idea!" presented by the Smalley Relationship Center, live via satellite from 7:30-10:30 p.m. Oct. 24 and 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Oct. 25.
The sessions are: "The Marriage Mission," "Understanding Your Mate," "Romancing Your Mate," "Building Intimacy," "The Gift of Sex" and "God's Perfect Plan for You."
Award-winning Christian musician Steven Curtis Chapman will perform and share the stories behind the songs on his latest album, "All About Love."
Tickets are $35 per person. Call (330) 637-1421.
Year of the Rosary
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Shrine of Our Lady Comforter of the Afflicted, 517 S. Belle Vista Ave., and the Queen of the Holy Rosary Prayer Group are holding a Rosary Cenacle at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday to close the Year of the Rosary proclaimed by Pope John Paul II. Bishop Thomas J. Tobin, of the Diocese of Youngstown, will take part. Refreshments will follow.
St. Anne Ukrainian Catholic Church, 4310 Kirk Road, Austintown, will have rosary devotions and hymns at 7 p.m. Thursday. Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament will also be held. Refreshments will follow.
St. Joseph the Provider Church, 633 Porter Ave., Campbell, will have a Marian Day on the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary to close out the Year of the Rosary from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Oct. 7. Lunch will be served at a cost of $10. Registration is due by Friday. Call (330) 755-0266.
Blessing of animals
AUSTINTOWN -- St. Anne Ukrainian Catholic Church, 4310 Kirk Road, Austintown, will have a blessing of animals at 1 p.m. Oct. 4 in recognition of the feast of St. Francis of Assisi.
Book study offered
COLUMBIANA -- Jerusalem Lutheran Church, 415 S. Main St., will have a book study on Albert Nolan's "Jesus Before Christianity" at 7 p.m. Oct. 6, 13, 20 and 27. Register by calling (330) 482-2136.
Professor to speak
NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. -- Dr. Jeffrey Kripal, former professor of religion at Westminster College, will speak at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Witherspoon Lakeview Room in the McKelvey Campus Center during Honors Colloquium.
Kripal, who is the Lynette S. Autry associate professor of religious studies and director of Asian studies at Rice University, will discuss his new book, "Roads of Excess, Palaces of Wisdom: Eroticism and Reflexivity in the Study of Mysticism."
Joint service
YOUNGSTOWN -- Congregations of the Wick Avenue churches -- St. John's Episcopal, First Presbyterian, First Christian and New Beginnings -- will begin their 10:30 a.m. services Sunday as one body at the corner of Lincoln and Wick avenues. The joint service will last about 20 minutes and will include children from each of the churches joining together in song. Afterward, each congregation will proceed to its own sanctuary for regular services.