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Dear Parishioners, ADVENT is here. It is the Season of HOPE and EXPECTATION. The Advent and Christmas seasons will look very different for all of us this year – in our homes, in our parish, in our schools and workplaces.

8th grade religious education students in Barbara Jorda's class gathered last weekend to prepare 75 homeless care bags for Net of Compassion in Worcester.  

What a difference a year makes? We are all experiencing something we wouldn’t have dreamed of a year ago. COVID-19 has changed the way we do things and go about our daily lives. We have all had to adapt to a “new normal” way of living. During this season of Thanksgiving, we want to sincerely express our gratitude to you, our Parishioners.

St. Mary’s Parish extends our prayers and congratulations to Seminarian Juan Parra who is in the Third Year of Theology at St. Mary Seminary in Baltimore.

Thanks to your generosity, St. Mary Parish continued to support our sister parish, St. Michel, in Roche-auBateau, even during the COVID pandemic.

November is the month when the Church pauses to remember and honor all our brothers and sisters who have been called home to Christ. At St. Mary’s, we also place a memorial book on the altar for parishioners to write the names of their loved ones so that we can remember them at Mass throughout the month. On Monday, November 2nd, we will celebrate a special Mass of Remembrance at 5:00 p.m.

October is Respect Life Month in the Catholic Church of the United States. As Catholics, we believe that every life is sacred, from the moment of conception until natural death. Every person is made in the image and likeness of God, and so each and every person has inherent dignity. 

We extend our prayers, blessings, good wishes and congratulations to Mary Layden who is celebrating her 100th Birthday today - Sunday, September 27th. Mary is the oldest life-long member of St. Mary’s Parish.

As we prepare for this coming Fall and the re-opening of our schools, we write to you today to share that the 2020 St. Mary’s Family Festival has been cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.  As you know, the purpose of the annual Family Festival is to provide a fun-filled weekend for our school, parish and local community while, at the same time, raising funds for our parish school and religious education programs.     

I am pleased to announce that our search for a new Director/Coordinator of High School Religious Education and Youth Ministry has been successful. Mark Smith will be joining the St. Mary’s Parish Staff this summer on August 1st. Mark is a native of Derry, New Hampshire and a 2019 graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville with a Bachelor of Arts in Theology.

We extend our congratulations and prayerful best wishes to JOSE CARVAJAL who was ordained a Deacon this Saturday, June 20, 2020 by Bishop Robert McManus at St. Paul’s Cathedral and who will join us on Sunday, June 21 at the 5:30 pm Mass to serve and preach as Deacon.

We extend our congratulations, prayers and best wishes to Shawn Noronha, a graduating senior at Shrewsbury High School, who has been named as a 2020 U.S. Presidential Scholars Semifinalist.

St. Mary's has participated in the CMHA Walk for the Homeless for over 15 years. The walk supports the Worcester county members who are homeless, at risk for becoming homeless, and those struggling with hunger. Help is given to 500 families to maintain stable housing as well as assist over 1100 people to have safe shelter, healthy meals, and household goods. Unfortunately, due to Covid 19 the 35th annual walk took place virtually. 

First, I would like to thank all of you for welcoming me here at Saint Mary’s. Your willingness to host seminarians every year is a great gift to our diocese and to the universal Church. I already know that Saint Mary’s has much to offer me in my own priestly formation. Monsignor Rose asked me to write a little bit more about myself for you to know me better.

The Sacrament of Penance will be offered once again on Saturday afternoon from 3:30 – 4:15 pm beginning next Saturday, June 6th. Our parish confessional remains unsafe due to the closeness of the priest and penitent seated only a few feet apart or separated only by a grill not designed to prevent virus transmission.

We are excited that the day has finally come for us to offer public celebrations of the Mass and the sacraments. Since there are still restrictions in place set forth by Governor Baker, Bishop McManus has continued suspension of the obligation to attend Sunday Worship until December 31, 2020. That means we want to welcome those who feel that they can comply with the restrictions set forth by the Commonwealth - and who are not in a high risk group.

In response to Governor Baker's announcements today regarding re-opening Houses of Worship, Bishop McManus has issued the following:

THANK YOU to the hundreds of parishioners who joined us yesterday in our surprise car parade for Msgr. Mike and Fr. Javier. Thank you to Beth Duncan who thought up this wonderful idea. A continuous 40 minute stream of cars, that at times backed up to 140, flowed into the parking lot.

One of the last in-person Youth Ministry group gatherings was to host a Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper helping us to all kick off the Lenten Season. They set up the Hall, greeted parishioners and flipped and served about 500 pancakes to a large crowd.

We remain a community that is spiritually united together though we are physically apart. Our parish staff members are working remotely from home and spending some time at the Pastoral Center and we are all finding new ways to stay connected.