Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Celebrating 25 Years! Our Parish CWL

This year, our parish council of the Catholic Women's League is celebrating its 25th Anniversary.  To help celebrate this important hallmark, the next two months have been designated as "CWL Days".  A number of activities and events are being planned, including the following:


  • Holy Mass to mark the Opening of the Anniversary Celebration with reception to follow (Tuesday, May 6, at 7 p.m.)
  • CWL historical display/exhibit for Coffee Sunday (May 11)
  • Parish Novena for Our Lady of Good Counsel (May 17-25)
  • Outdoor Rosary with Candlelight Procession (Sunday, May 25, at 8 p.m.)
  • CWL display for Coffee Sunday (June 15)
  • Council representatives to participate in Outdoor Corpus Christi Procession (Sunday, June 22)
  • Holy Mass to Conclude the Anniversary Celebration (Saturday, June 28, at 5 p.m. with Banquet at the Slovak Legion to follow.

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Holy Week and Easter Weekend Liturgy Schedule




Passion (Palm) Sunday

April 12/13 Weekend Masses

Saturday at 5 p.m.
Sunday at 10 a.m.

Holy Thursday (April 17)

Mass of the Lord's Supper at 7 p.m.
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament to follow until Midnight

Good Friday (April 18)

Solemn Liturgy of the Lord's Passion and Holy Communion at 3 p.m.
Opportunity for Confession to follow
Stations of the Cross at 7 p.m.

Holy Saturday (April 19) 

Easter Vigil (blessing of New Fire, the Paschal Candle, Renewal of Baptismal Promises) at 8 p.m.
Blessing of Easter Bread to take place at the end of Mass

Easter Sunday (April 20)

Mass at 10 a.m.

Two New Canadian Saints!

It is with great joy and thanksgiving that the Bishops of Canada welcomed the proclamation on April 3, 2014, by Pope Francis that the Universal Church recognizes Bishop François de Laval and Mother Marie of the Incarnation as Saints. We are grateful to God for raising up in our midst these two wonderful examples of holiness and service. We thank Pope Francis for this great gift to the Church in Canada, and to all the people of our nation.

Saint François de Laval (1623-1708) was the first Bishop of New France. His diocesan territory originally included most of what is now Canada, much of upper New England and all the Mississippi Valley, extending even to the Rocky Mountains. He is admired for his pastoral work among the Aboriginal Peoples and the settlers of New France, and for trying to defend Native People from being exploited by merchants and governors through the sale of alcohol. He was especially committed to education, founding both a major and a minor seminary. The Séminaire de Québec, which later established Laval University, has made major contributions in the intervening centuries to higher academic education not only in Quebec and the rest of Canada, but throughout North America. Saint François de Laval was known for his commitment to evangelization and his generosity to the poor. After his resignation as Bishop of Québec, he devoted his final years to prayer, penance and the care of the poor.






Saint Marie of the Incarnation (1599-1672) was an Ursuline nun who founded a convent and school to educate girls in New France. Daughters of the French settlers and of the Aboriginal Peoples were educated together, sharing the same table and the same dwelling. After learning several Aboriginal languages, she compiled catechisms and prayers in Huron and Algonquin, as well as an Algonquin dictionary. She also maintained a voluminous correspondence. Her letters remain today an important witness to her deep and generous mystical spirituality, as well as to the day-to-day history of New France. Saint Marie of the Incarnation began a long tradition throughout our continent of Ursuline elementary and secondary schools, dedicated to the education of girls and young women of all faiths and languages. Her canonization happily coincides with the 375th anniversary of her arrival in what is today Quebec City.


Their proclamation as Saints arrives at an important moment in the history of the Canadian Church. The 350th anniversary of the canonical establishment of Notre-Dame-de-Québec, the first parish in North America outside Spanish-speaking territories, reminds us of the missionary nature of the Church as it was planted in Canadian soil. May Saint François de Laval and Saint Marie of the Incarnation renew in us a sense of mission and our commitment to evangelizing in the joy of the Gospel.