Servants Of Mary

Democratic chairman says Verner took 'high road,' as former Dem chairman takes ...

Not surprisingly, the campaign of David Condon is taking full advantage of the endorsement he got from former Spokane County Democratic Chairman Tom Keefe . Keefe is featured in the Condon TV ad above and is the first endorsement listed on a Condon mailer that arrived at homes this week.

Condon, the former district director for Republican U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, has been working to distance himself from the Republican label, though McMorris Rodgers recently headlined a fundraiser for his campaign.

Meanwhile, Verner's campaign has a released a statement from the current chairman of the Spokane County Democratic Party, David Smith. He addresses the Otto Zehm matter, which is the issue that Keefe said pursuaded him to back Condon.

“Mary Verner was not mayor when Otto Zehm died. She was sworn into office a full eighteen months after his death. She could have chosen to augment her political capital by joining in the public condemnation of Officer Thompson,” Smith said. ” Instead, despite her professed grief for the family of Otto Zehm, she chose to accept the political risk inherent in standing up for Officer Thompson’s right to a fair trial. Doing so took courage.  Standing up for the constitution always does.”

Here is Smith's full statement responding to Keefe's endorsement:

Puzzlement has arisen due to Tom Keefe’s endorsement of Republican Cathy McMorris Rodgers’ former aide, David Condon, over the endorsed candidate of the Spokane County Democratic Party. As such, I have been asked to clarify that the Spokane County Democrats have endorsed, and continue to endorse, Mayor Mary Verner.

Mary Verner is one of the hardest working public servants that I have ever encountered. It seems that no matter where I turn in this community, the mayor is there.  She manages to exquisitely carry out the executive functions of a strong mayor while still performing the ceremonial duties that Spokane citizens grew to expect from a mayor during our many years in a city manager form of government.  In Mary Verner, we have obtained the best of both worlds.  I, for one, am voting to retain the sense of balance that she has brought to city hall.

Inigo Hicks: The Servants of Mary and Our Lady of Sorrows

While the Church can only spend one month in contemplating the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady, a religious order called the Servants of Mary is dedicated to the contemplation of Sorrows of Our Lady throughout the year. The history of the Servants of Mary, also known as the Servants, begins in 1233 AD. On the feast of the Assumption of the year, seven young men of wealthy Florentine families were praying with a lay brotherhood they had founded called "The Praisers of Mary," or Laudesi, when Our Lady appeared to them .   Our Lady counselled the seven young men to withdraw from the world, which they promptly did.  The young men retired to a secluded spot near Monte Senario, eleven miles north of Florence.  In 1240, Our Lady appeared to them again.  This time Our Lady advised the young men to found a congregation dedicated to her service, which should follow the Rule of St. Augustine.   Our Lady also conferred a black habit on the young men.   The Order was not definitively approved until 1304, by which time all but one of the original seven founders had died.  Members of the order seek to sanctify themselves and all mankind through devotion to the Mother of God, especially in her bloodless martyrdom during the Passion of her Divine Son.

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