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Ashes Ever wonder where the ashes for Ash Wednesday come from? They're from dried palms from Palm Sunday of the previous year. Folks from the parish bring their dried palms and we burn the palms at the end of Mass on the Sunday before Ash Wednesday. Then we use the ashes for our regular Ash Wednesday service and for Ashes-to-Go. Thanks to Michael Hudson for lighting the fire and making sure it was safely out afterwards! That's Mtr. Lyngine watching the smoke as the last of the embers go out.    Silence and Prayer Some glimpses of the quiet spaces from our first parish Lenten Retreat and Day of Reflection. We created spaces for silence and prayer, where everyone had a chance to listen to the "still small voice" of God as the season of Lent begins. Everyone helped set up and we had the rosary, Lectio Divina, the Examen, Stations of the Cross, and meditative prayer. Special thanks to Patrick and Tom for leading morning and evening prayer, and to Elise for bringing in three books for folks to consider for the parish Lent education/spirituality series.     Fridays Every 3rd Friday of the month we have a house mass in University City. Hector changed the colors from green to purple for Lent, make this a wonderful space for quiet prayer this season.  
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We celebrated the Feast of the Presentation/Candlemas this Sunday and blessed candles as part of the tradition! In addition to candles for use at the parish, everyone was invited to bring candles from home that they would like to have blessed.  Hi everyone - It's been a bit of a whirlwind and we can't believe we're just a week away from Candlemas already! It was a very busy Advent and Christmas at the parish. Along with our usual Advent and Christmas preparations, the parish participated in Adopt-A-Family to help provide gifts for families in need. Joanne also organized our 2nd Sock Drive and we collected 133 socks. Then we finished off the Christmas season with providing dinner for families without homes as part of the Family Promise program. Thank you to everyone for spreading Christ's love this season! A few pictures below from Advent and Adopt-A-Family.    **Special thanks to Elise and Michael Hudson, who also participated in Adopt-A-Family, but weren't able to be in the picture.
This Sunday we took some time to lovingly remember Br. Robert Julian Dabrow, a Carmelite of Mercy, who died one year ago today. Before Mass, we prayed the rosary, a devotion he loved. Today's epistle in the Revised Common Lectionary, Ephesians 6:10-20, about the whole armor of God, is extensively quoted in the Rule of St. Albert, the Carmelite Rule; and we sang one of his favorite hymns, "Hark, hark my soul, angelic songs are swelling." Afterwards, we went out for a celebratory dinner at which we toasted his memory. Bob took great joy in praying with the parish, hospitality, good food, and good company, so we're pretty sure he approved. A very special thanks to all who made this a lovely evening.  Ever wonder how much tuna salad it takes to feed 150 people? This much! Thank you to everyone who participated in Operation Tuna Salad this past Friday. Once a month from May-September, folks from the parish join members of the Hunger Task Force of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Delaware County to help chop veggies, cook pasta, open giant cans of tuna, measure out mayonnaise, and make enough tuna salad for 150 people at the Life Center of Delaware County. A special thanks to Sue Gibbons for organizing this!  We were working on processing and uploading the video for Sunday Mass, and were greeted with this in the first frame 😄! Hmmm...as one of our clergy in the Boston area once remarked, "We take our faith seriously, but not ourselves."  A special thanks to Paddy for bringing a smile to our faces this evening!
Congratulations to Dave Wood, who was ordained to the diaconate on June 9, 2018 at Holy Cross Chapel located at the Adelynrood Retreat Center! Our newest deacon lives in the Boston area and has a deep love for the traditional liturgy. We're excited for him and looking forward to his diaconate year as he takes his next steps to prepare for the priesthood. A few pictures below! We don't usually take many pictures during Holy Week services, but we managed to get a couple for each evening of the Triduum. Thank you to everyone who made this a special Holy Week for all! We are so happy for Tom, who received the Sacrament of Confirmation during the Easter Vigil! Below are Patrick (Tom's sponsor), Tom, and Bp. Tim.  |
