Daily Mass at St. Catherine changed
- Details
St. Catherine of Siena Parish - a change in daily Mass and location of same. Starting August 1, 2017 the daily Mass of 8:10 a.m., Monday through Friday will discontinue. Instead, there will be daily Mass at 7 a.m., Monday through Saturday, this held at the Visitation Monastery on Spring Hill Avenue. This will be the daily Mass for the community of Sisters, as well as open to the public, especially parishioners of St. Catherine's. The monastery is in our parish boundaries, and only a few minutes away by car.
This will create a Mass for parishioners not offered now in the parish church - i.e., that being Saturday morning - 7 a.m. at the Visitation. And the parish's regular Sunday morning Mass at 7 a.m. continues, but will be celebrated at the Visitation Monastery, thereby securing Mass every day for the community of Sisters. On some days I will need a substitute and will have the assistance of one or more priests to offer the daily Mass in lieu of me. The Tuesday night Blessed Seelos Prayer Group and Mass will continue in the parish church proper, and the remaining Saturday night Vigil Mass (5 p.m.) and Sunday morning Masses of 10 a.m. and 12 Noon (in Spanish) will continue in the parish Church proper.
Some of the daily Mass attendees remain after the 8:10 a.m. Mass to pray the Rosary. This devotion can well continue: either after the daily Mass at 7 a.m. at the Visitation, or at the currently practiced time of 9 a.m., though at the Visitation chapel which remains open daily for visitors to pray in lieu of the parish Church site. In essence, I will continue to serve as Pastor of St.Catherine of Siena, but also be serving as chaplain for the Sisters of the Visitation. I have long been devoted to them and their cause, and having them in my parish boundaries has been a blessing, and will continue more so in this arrangement as a blessing for both me and all of our parishioners. The Sisters do, as neighbors, remember us daily in their prayers. They will continue to pray for our parish even more devotedly.