We will not be able to hold Stations of the Cross in person or via live-stream for this Friday, February 19. Click this link to watch a YouTube of The Way of the Cross by St. Alphonsos Liguori.
Dear Saint Andrew Catholic Community Rev. Dan Pattee learned today, that he has tested positive for COVID19. Fr. Pattee was last in the parish on February 10. He was not experiencing any symptoms at that time. The church is sanitized following every Mass, and all diocesan Mass protocols have been followed.
The distribution of ashes on Ash Wednesday will be done slightly differently this year. To safeguard the heath of the faithful, Bishop Olson has instructed the priests of the Diocese to follow the guidelines issued by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. Click this article for more information as well as a video demonstration.
This coming Tuesday is the feast of the Presentation of the Lord. It is “Candlemas” day AND Groundhog Day! It is the custom on Candlemas day to bless candles. Please bring candles from your homes to be blessed, as Catholic households should have blessed candles for times of personal and family prayer. These will be blessed Tuesday morning at the 8:00am morning Mass.
Due to factors outside of our control, the upgrades to the sound system have been delayed. We are working with our vendor to find other options to speed the process up while still achieving the same outcome that we desire.
Please watch this brief video from Joe Taylor, the chairman of Saint Andrew Catholic Church Finance Council, as he explains what the Finance Council does, what we are undertaking with the Second Spring Capital Campaign and some information on End of Year Giving and some of the proposed new tax laws and their effects.
Pope St. John Paul II had it. St. Teresa of Kolkata had it. A peaceful presence that saturated those with whom they came in contact. Journey with Fr. Jacques Philippe on this “Peace in His Presence” Virtual Retreat as he leads us towards cultivating that same peaceful nature which the saints drew from the Lord. Five video conferences will be supplemented by Zoom small group opportunities with the Carmelite Sisters throughout the weekend.
Please pray for the faithful departed throughout the month of November, and especially on, November 2nd. The Church gives us ample opportunities today to help those suffering in Purgatory. All the baptized faithful in the state of grace can seek to obtain a plenary indulgence for a soul in Purgatory. We would certainly want people to help us through their prayers if we go to Purgatory. And if we help get someone to Heaven, you can be sure that they will help us and pray for us before the Throne of God. Click and read the article for more details.
On Saturday at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Hartford, Connecticut, Father Michael J. McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus, was declared “blessed” by the Church, he is on the road to sainthood. Many local members from Knights of Columbus viewed the mass as it was live-streamed into our Church. During the beatification Mass, Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, New Jersey — Pope Francis’ representative for the liturgy — read aloud an apostolic letter in Latin from the pope stating that the 19th-century parish priest, “whose zeal for the proclamation of the Gospel and generous concern for the needs of his brothers and sisters made him an outstanding witness of Christian solidarity and fraternal assistance,” will be celebrated on Aug. 13. “He worked to keep families united in dignity and security,” Cardinal Tobin later said during his homily, in which he described Blessed Michael McGivney as an apostle who cared for victims of an epidemic that would eventually claim his own life just two days after his 38th birthday. Said Cardinal Tobin, “130 years after his death, the brief life of this holy man speaks eloquently to our own path of holiness.” Father McGivney is the third U.S.-born priest to be beatified, after Blesseds Stanley Rother and Solanus Casey, both of whom were beatified in 2017. During the Mass, Carl Anderson, the supreme knight of the Knights of Columbus, spoke on Father McGivney’s legacy. “To this day, Father McGivney’s holiness of life and exemplary service continue to inspire priests across America and around the world, and his vision for an active and engaged laity serves as a witness to the power of spiritual brotherhood and charity.”
Dear Parishioners: Peace and Good to you! We had a venerable, stately tree out on Dryden Road, centered between the Church and the School. The new construction “stunned” its deep roots, and the tree went to Tree Heaven this past summer. Putting in the new lawn and sidewalk harmed it. We are sad to see something so glorious go the way of all living things. However, we’ve recently planted a new one. It’s a Maple tree and already hardy, and welcomed among us. May it grow and prosper as had the others.
Parents have a responsibility to raise their children in the faith of the Catholic Church. Every child must be receiving some sort of faith formation OUTSIDE the home either in a Catholic Elementary/High School or through a parish Faith Formation program. We have been using a very effective program for home based faith formation, which is open to ALL parishioners. Click the title above to read more.
O Holy Mary, Mother of Priests, who with your beloved spouse Saint Joseph, during your sojourn here below, did nurture, protect, and provide for the Most Sacred Divine Infant, Jesus Christ the High Priest. In remembrance of the joys, the sorrows, the sacrifices and the sufferings you endured as the Holy Family, we beg you now for your Heavenly maternal care for our beloved priests, your priest-sons O Merciful Mother, both living and deceased. With great confidence we beseech you to assist especially those priests who are the most troubled, tempted, discouraged and suffering. Intercede, too, for us, O Holy Mother, that we should not forget how are father Abraham reverenced Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God Most High, even giving to him a tenth of all he had. With Abraham as our example, let us give constant thanks to God for all the good he has done for us through the hands of our dear priests, and let us never grow weary of giving assistance to all priests in their time of need. For as is sung in the Psalms, "God has sworn and He shall not repent, you are a priest forever in the line of Melchizedek!" Amen.