St. Martin de Porres
#1
We were privileged to have a Bishop from Canada visit our parish for a Sunday Mass. He was in town to officiate an Ordination for the Capuchin Order of Priests and Brothers. He was staying at a Friary next door to our church with his Capuchin Brothers. He came to our parish before leaving on a flight home. Our parish priest invited him to concelebrate with him which he most cordially accepted. This Sunday was during Advent. He blessed our Advent wreath as it was lite by members of our parish. This photo is an elderly member of our parish who stepped out in the isle and stopped him as he was processing out at the end of mass. The congregation watched as she asked him to bless a rosary she had, and he most graciously blessed the rosary. This was a happy moment for our parish as the member cried with joy as she thanked him. We were blessed to have a Bishop visit our parish unexpectedly and we were very happy to have him with us that Sunday of Advent.
#2
On December 24th, 2019, Christmas Eve, our parish had midnight mass. All during the month of December we have a giving tree. We have envelopes on a tree and parishioners take an envelope and return them to church with donations. We provide hot chocolate and cookies too. We are then able to purchase gifts for our children that they receive after mass. We also have wonderful donations. We had an entire room of toys for our children of all ages and gift cards for our teens. One may think that giving gifts after Midnight mass may be too late. But, to the contrary, our church was full of families. After the children received their gifts, we had donations/gifts for adults. This photo is of our pastor trying on a pair of gloves as parishioners look on. For any children who did not come to midnight mass we had gifts giving the very next Sunday. This is a wonderful family time with lots of love and happiness.
#3
This is a photo of the four people we have in our RCIA class. This celebration is to introduce those who will be fully accepted into the Catholic faith on Easter Vigil night. There are three who will receive the sacrament of Confirmation as they have previously been baptized and received their first Holy Communion. There is one who will receive all the sacraments of Baptism, Communion and Confirmation. Our pastor welcomed them to the entire parish, and they are blessed on all their senses by our pastor, the catechists, and their sponsor. We had this ceremony on November 24th, the celebration of the Feast of Christ the King. We have them knock on the doors of the church and ask to enter at the beginning of this service. It is the first time the congregation knows who they are, and everyone is asked to pray for them as they continue this process. It was beautiful and very well accepted by everyone.
#4
This is our collaborated group of adults who are receiving instructions to become fully accepted into the Catholic Faith receiving the Sacraments of Baptism, Communion and Confirmation. We have a combined group of parishioners from 6 different parishes. This program starts in September and continues until just before Easter Vigil, including an all-day retreat, and then we come back to discuss the experiences they had on East Vigil. The classes are once a week. We ask people from the different parishes to come and talk to the group. The speakers are all experts in the area they present to us. They are priests, professors, and catechists who are asked to present a topic. This night we had a Capuchin priest who spoke to the group with the topics of Confession and anointing of the Sick. He explained the two sacraments and answered any questions. After the explanation he actual called on two Catechists, one to show the group about how to go to confession. This was a mock confession, very well done. Then he had an anointing of the sick for one person who has an illness.
# 5
This is a baptism we had for two children of a new family at our parish. Our pastor has a long-standing history with this young family. He officiated the service for this couple when they were married, he also baptized their oldest daughter. Our Pastor had full immersion for the children. It was a beautiful ceremony. We are blessed to have a font that can be heated. One of the most beautiful parts was when one of the sponsors/God parents surprised the parents with baptismal garments that she had blessed by the Pope while she was on a recent trip to the Vatican. It was a joyous day for our parish and for the new family.
