Pioneer Day in Utah and other miscellany

I found myself thinking today (always a bad sign), which in Utah, we observe as Pioneer Day, the day in 1847 when the first wagon train of Latter-day Saints arrived at the mouth of Emigration Canyon and Brigham Young declared, "This is the right place," how happy I am that the Solemnity of St. Mary Magdalene falls a few days before Pioneer Day. Utah is a beautiful and wonderful state, full of diversity of all kinds, geographic, religious, ethnic, etc. I am very rooted here, this is my home. The older I get the more difficult I find it to even imagine living elsewhere.




No wonder our state song is Utah We Love Thee:

Land of the mountains high, Utah, we love thee
Land of the sunny sky, Utah, we love thee!
Far in the glorious West, Throned on the mountain's crest,
In robes of statehood dressed, Utah, we love thee!

Columbia's newest star, Utah, we love thee,
Thy lustre shines afar, Utah, we love thee!
Bright in our banner's blue, Among her sisters true,
She proudly comes to view, Utah, we love thee!

Land of the Pioneers, Utah, we love thee,
Grow with the coming years, Utah, we love thee!
With wealth and peace in store, To fame and glory soar,
Godguarded evermore, Utah, we love thee!

Yes, our official state song says we are Godguarded! Anyway . . . kind of a "rah, rah" salute to my native land! I am still trying to relax a bit this summer and take blogging as it comes. Nonetheless, as a Utah Catholic, I cannot neglect to salute our pioneer bishop, Lawrence Scanlan. So, here are links to several posts about him from the Catholic Deacon archives:

In Memoriam: Bishop Lawrence Scanlan

Accurately Remembering Bishop Scanlan

More from the Archives soon to be published