Dear Friends in Christ, Here at St. Mary’s, one of the distinctive features of our celebration of the liturgy is the deliberate pace of each part of the ritual. Nothing is hurried at Mass, and the reverent speaking or singing of every text helps all of us enter into the sacred time of prayer which…

Dear Friends in Christ, A paragraph is printed in our Mass booklet each week which explains who should and should not receive Holy Communion, and among the Catholics who should not receive the Holy Eucharist are those who are married “outside of the Church.” But what does this mean? For many centuries Catholic Christians have…

Dear Friends in Christ, Saint Helena (born around 248 and died around 330) was the mother of Constantine the Great, the first Christian Emperor of Rome, and the end of the persecutions that followed Constantine’s conversion made it possible for Christians to worship publicly and without fear throughout the Empire. This new freedom led to…

Dear Friends in Christ, 1. As part of our safe environment for the protection of children, it is required by the diocese that everyone on our campus, volunteer and employee alike, who has regular contact with children under the age of 18 must receive a background investigation and training through the Virtus program. This applies…

Dear Friends in Christ, 1. Deacon John Heuser is leaving us for a few years, and the reason why requires some back story. John served in the US Navy for 20 years, and when he left active duty he continued to serve the Department of the Navy as a contractor at the Donaldson Center supervising…