Saturday, March
15
Vigil Mass –Passion/Palm Sunday
4:00 PM
X
Mary Welch by the Sullivan Family
Sunday, March
16–Passion/Palm Sunday
7:30 AM
X
Josephine R. Stones (13th Anniv.)
by Daughter, Eleanor Kiddie &
Dorothy Fox
9:00 AM
X
Lottie Kuczynski by her Husband and Family
11:00 AMX Mary Pat & John
O’Sullivan
by the
O’Connor Family
Holy
Monday, March 17
12:05 pm X Georgiann Martel by the Rodgers Family
Holy Tuesday,
March 18
8:00 am X Leo & Angeline Diana
Spy Wednesday,
March 19
8:00 am X Joseph Peretto by his
Family
X HOLY THURSDAY, March 20
7:30 pm - Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper
X
GOOD FRIDAY, March 21
1:00-1:30
pm – Confessions (church hall)
3:00 pm - Celebration of the Lord’s Passion &
Death
5:30-6:00
pm – Confessions (church hall)
7:00 pm - Celebration of the Lord’s Passion & Death
8:00 pm - Stations of the Cross
X
HOLY SATURDAY, March 22
2:00-3:00pm
Confessions (church hall)
8:00 pm - Solemn Vigil Mass of the Lord’s Resurrection
- Intention: For the Parishioners
of Saint James
X EASTER SUNDAY, March 23
7:30 am – For All Our Deceased
Parishioners
9:00 am – Special Intention
11:00 am – Special Intention
12:30 pm – For Those God is Calling to
the Priesthood
"Hosanna
to the Son of David; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; hosanna
in the highest." And when he entered Jerusalem
the whole city was shaken and asked, "Who is this?" And the crowds
replied, "This is Jesus the prophet, from Nazareth
in Galilee." - Mt 21:9-11
Your
offertory gifts for the support of
Saint James Parish
totaled $8,771.00
last weekend. Thank you!
The 2nd
Collection this weekend is for the Seasonal Sharing efforts of the
Christian Involvement Committee of our parish.
The Sanctuary Lamp
burns this week for the greater honor and glory of God
and in memory of
George
& Emily Panas
Classes for Grades 1-8 will meet as usual this week
The Junior
High School Youth Group
will meet on Sunday, March 16th,
from 7:00-8:30PM in the
church hall.
All 6, 7 & 8th
grade students are welcome to attend.
Saint James
School apparel is now available! Proudly show your school spirit by
wearing a sweatshirt, t-shirt, baseball cap or winter hat. Please see www.saintjamesschool.net
for a photo and full description of the items. These items are available
immediately for purchase through the school store, the main office or by
filling out the order form from the website. Please make checks payable to Saint
James School. If you have any questions or would like to suggest another
item, please call 860-533-1487 or e-mail development@saintjamesschool.net.
Proceeds from the sale of these items will benefit Saint James School.
Archdiocese of Hartford
Catholic School’s
Spelling Bee Contest
Congratulations to our Saint James
School Students who recently won at an
Archdiocesan Spelling Bee:
Nathan Pattavina – 4th
Grade
Tiffany Dias – 5th
Grade
Danielle Gacek – 6th
Grade
Donut Sunday hosted by the
Saint James Home & School Association was a success. We would like to thank
the volunteers who so graciously donated their time and energy. Thank you, we
couldn’t have done it without you!
Readings for the Week of March 16, 2008
Monday: Is
42:1-7/Jn 12:1-11
Tuesday: Is
49:1-6/Jn 13:21-33, 36-38
Wednesday: Is
50:4-9a/Mt 26:14-25
Thursday: Ex
12:1-8, 11-14/1Cor 11:23-26/Jn 13:1-15
Friday: Is
52:13-53:12/Heb 4:14-16; 5:7-9/Jn18:1-19:42
Saturday: Vigil:
Gn 1:1-2:2 or 1:1, 26-31a/Gn 22:1-18
or 22:1-2,
9a, 10-13, 15-18/Ex 14:15-15:1/
Is 54:5-14/
Is 55:1-11/Bar 3:9-15, 32-4:4/
Ez
36:16-17a, 18-28/Rom 6:3-11/Mt 28:1-10
The Passion
of the Christ
will be shown
on a large screen in
Saint
James
Church Hall
this Wednesday,
March 19th
@ 7:00PM
Join us for this moving film as we prepare to
celebrate the Lord’s death and resurrection.
All are invited!
Monday,
March 17
12:30pm
– Senior Adults meeting
7:30
pm – St. Vincent de Paul
Society (church
hall)
7:30 pm –R. C. I. A. (church hall)
Saint James
School Foundation
An Endowment Fund committed to providing partial
Tuition to needy students and funding the “Margin of Excellence” Program. Your
contribution will benefit present and future Saint James School Students.
Donations can be sent to: P.O. Box 254, Manchester,
CT 06045-0254
or call 860-614-5368 with questions.
To add a Prayer Intention to the Saint James Circle of Love Prayer Line
call Lena Simmons (649-0001) or Fran Gagnon
(646-6652).
The 2008 Archbishop’s
Annual Appeal has begun in our parish and throughout our Archdiocese. We have
the opportunity to help those being served through our many Archdiocesan
programs If you’d like to make a gift, simply mail in your pledge card, contact
our parish secretary, visit the website at www.archdioceseofhartford.org or
call the Appeal Office at (800) 781-2550.
Answers to the Sacred Triduum Trivia
from last week’s bulletin
can be found on the insert in today’s
bulletin.
X Thursday, March 20 at 7:30 pm
Evening
Mass of the Lord's Supper
During
the evening of Holy Thursday, the Mass of the Lord's Supper is celebrated. It
is celebrated in the evening because the Passover began at sundown.
There
is only one parish Mass on Holy Thursday. Holy Thursday recalls the Last Supper
at which our Lord instituted the Holy Eucharist and established the priesthood
of the new covenant.
At
the conclusion of the liturgy the Holy Eucharist is carried in procession
through the church and then transferred to the repository.
After
the Mass, we recall the Agony in the Garden, and the arrest and imprisonment of
Jesus. The altar is stripped bare.
It
was on this night that Jesus asked his followers: "Could you not watch one
hour with me?" (Matt 26:40) For this reason there is a tradition of silent
adoration before Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. Adoration will continue until 10
pm.
X Friday, March 21 at 3:00
pm & 7:00 pm
Celebration of the Lord’s
Passion & Death
Following
the ancient tradition of the Church, Holy Mass is not offered on Good Friday. Instead
the liturgy of Good Friday has three parts the Liturgy of the Word, the Veneration
of the Cross and Holy Communion.
The
liturgy begins with the priest going to the altar in silence and prostrating himself
for a few moments in silent prayer, then an introductory prayer is prayed.
This
year at Saint James relics of the True Cross will be used during the second
part of this liturgy – the Veneration of the Cross. During part three, the
congregation receives Holy Communion.
The
Stations of the Cross will be prayed at 8pm on Good Friday night.
X Saturday, March 22 at
8:00 pm
Solemn Vigil Mass of the Lord’s
Resurrection
Where,
O Death, is your victory? (1 Cor. 15:55) Death has been defeated by the Lord’s
death and resurrection – Alleluia!
Easter
is the greatest feast we have. No other celebration trumps the Lord’s
resurrection. The Easter Vigil Mass is the most beautiful liturgy of the entire
Church year. The ritual of that the Church employs on this night is unmatched.
On
this night the Lord’s victory over death is celebrated in a dramatic fashion.
It is also the night on which we recall our baptism when we died with Christ
and rose with him to new life. This year four adults will be baptized,
confirmed and receive their first Holy Communion; and another three adults will
be brought into full communion with the Holy Catholic Church and receive
Confirmation and the Holy Eucharist. Join us on this most sacred night!
X Easter Sunday, March
23 –
7:30 am, 9:00 am, 11:00 am & 12:30 pm
The Celebration of the Lord’s Resurrection
Many
of you have recently seen me wearing my “hard hat” – figuratively, at least –
and have asked Father Manna or me “What’s going on?” Here’s the story.
If
you’ve seen some dust flying lately, it’s because we have taken out the
original plaster ceiling of the sacristy (the room where the priest and altar
servers prepare for Mass). This started as a project to upgrade some wiring and
lighting fixtures, and led to the discovery of further deficiencies as well as
several leaks in the sacristy’s nearly flat roof. If you’ve never experienced plaster dust,
count your blessings!
Once
we started work in the sacristy, we were able to uncover an original stained
glass window, which had been sheet-rocked over during an earlier renovation.
It’s nice to have it back; it adds light, warmth and beauty to the entire
sacristy.
Energy Conservation. We have recently
completed an energy survey, and are awaiting a proposal from CL&P on how we
can improve the efficiency of our lighting, heating and cooling systems. There would seem to be plenty of opportunity. One example: each of our hanging chandeliers
uses a specially-made 1,000 watt bulb which requires its own electrical
circuit. That’s ten circuits to handle
the hanging chandeliers alone! Another
case in point: our heating controls are still completely manual – and a major
upgrade is needed. Improvements such as
these will most definitely enable us to save money and conserve considerable
amounts of energy. A bonus: 40% of the
cost of energy-saving upgrades will be funded by CL&P! I should point out
that whatever work we do will be accomplished with aesthetics in mind. I do not want to detract from the beauty of
this historic church!
Water Problems. We’ve been working in
the church basement, as well. Problems
there are the result of a water drainage problem caused by old gutter pipes, a
porous foundation, and a dirt sub-floor that lacks a proper moisture
barrier. In addition, some external
drainpipes have been backing up—resulting in more water flowing directly into
the basement. As a result, the basement
floor, particularly in the area around the dais, is in varying degrees of
disrepair. Much of the wood under the tiles has begun to rot; one section, in
fact, had to be completely dug up and new plywood and tiles installed. An adjoining wall area which was suffering
from mold and mildew had to be repaired, and has been newly sheet-rocked.
While
we have made temporary fixes to stem the water damage, we will eventually have
to undertake more substantial repairs to get at the heart of these problems.
The Roof. Another concern – one that’s
even more serious than those I’ve mentioned – is the condition of the roof of
the church. We’ve discovered that the
roof has five layers of shingles, including the original wooden shingles dating
from 1874 and the most recent layer added in 1979 – and that two of those
layers contain asbestos. As you can
imagine, this is a serious issue, and one which we must address soon. As you
know, a leaky roof can destroy an entire building – and it is imperative that
we do whatever is necessary to protect this magnificent and historic structure.
I
have received permission from Archbishop Mansell to engage an architectural
firm to study the condition of the roof and make a recommendation on how we
should proceed. At the same time we will
also seek professional guidance in dealing with the other problems mentioned
and several additional issues we have been looking at.
Big Decisions Ahead. As you can see,
there’s a lot to sort out, and some big decisions to be made. I am extremely grateful for the assistance of
Charlie Crocini for working with me to review our needs and to set priorities
for the work which must be done. While
there are several problems we should be able to remedy fairly quickly, there
are others – the roof being the principal example – which will be major undertakings.
I
am committed to working with you to protect and preserve your magnificent
church and to make it as beautiful as it deserves to be. We have the wonderful example of several
projects completed at Saint James in recent years – such as restoration of the
stained glass windows, installation of air conditioning, and maintenance of the
organ – which have been done to high standards.
We will follow that example of producing quality work in whatever we
undertake.
Needless
to say, there’s a lot going on. As we go
along I will continue to update you on problems uncovered and solutions we’re
working on. I’ll keep you up-to-date on whatever progress we make.
Please
say a prayer for our success in protecting and preserving the treasure that is
Saint James Church!
