UPDATED 3/31/20. See new entry for St. Mary's confession time. OK. So my makeshift confessional won't look quite as elegant as the confessional booth in this photo, but I have set up a temporary outdoor confession station at St. Peter's, in the picnic shelter behind the church. I will be posting more hours here on this blog and also posting a sign on the shelter posts as I add hours over the next few days. The first confession hour will be Monday, 3/30, from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. Please spread the word. If there are still penitents waiting at 6:00, I will wait too. I am also giving thought to when and how I can hear confessions at St. Mary's. Will keep you posted on that. Please note that the church allows confessions outdoors in these unusual circumstances, so the sacrament will be valid even though not offered in church. Here are instructions for using the makeshift "drive through" confession station at St. Peter: Confessions will be ...
The Holy Father has asked the whole world to join him in prayer from Saint Peter’s Square this Friday, March 27, at 1:00 p.m. EDT. This event will be streamed live by Vatican News . Please watch this video from our U.S. Bishops explaining the event. During the prayer, the Holy Father will grant to all participants a Plenary Indulgence before imparting his Urbi et Orbi blessing. Read more about this indulgence here . The "Urbi et Orbi" blessing means the Pope will be blessing the people of Rome and Christians around the world. Note that it is usually required to go to Mass and confession before receiving a plenary indulgence, but under the circumstances the Pope might waive that requirement for those who pray with him.]
UPDATED: 22 January I'm a little belated in posting this, but just wanted to thank all of our parishioners who have been so generous with their time and financial resources to engage in the works of mercy -- such as feeding the hungry. In partnership with St. Vincent de Paul and New Richmond Area Ministries (NRAM), we have been continuing our ongoing efforts to feed the hungry through our food pantries, stationary and mobile, on an ongoing basis. Each year, we also try to remember our families in need for the year-end holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas. For instance, on the St. Mary side, last November 24th we provided 20 Thanksgiving dinner baskets to needy families in the Bethel area. On December 22nd, we provided 20 Christmas Dinner baskets to needy families as well. On the St. Peter side, together with the NRAM, o n November 20th, 90 boxes of food for a Thanksgiving Dinner were assembled at St. Peter's and then passed out the next day to the needy ...