Summer for me as a child meant spending time at my Uncle Frank’s beach house near Scarborough beach on the Rhode Island shore and going out with him to dig for clams at low tide. We would bring them back to his house and then have little necks on the half shell with lemon and…
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Evangelization in the Post-Modern World
At the last Parish Council Meeting we spoke about the future of St. Mary’s. There is complete agreement that St. Mary’s will continue its special mission to be a Traditional parish in the best sense of that phrase: we will continue to celebrate the Holy Mass in the two forms of the Roman Rite in…
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The Mass and Vocations
The Diocese has three dinners each year for priests to bring young men that they think may have a religious vocation. They are called the St Andrew’s dinners, called that because of St Andrew’s words to St Peter with reference to Jesus: “Come and see”. This past Tuesday I brought 13 young men from St…
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The Shrine of Our Lady of Norwalk
Many of our parishioners have told me how much they love the statue of Our Lady of Norwalk. It is wonderful to see so many people lighting candles at the Lady Altar at all times of the day. You will remember that Bishop Caggiano came to St Mary’s to bless and dedicate the statue as…
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Our New Parochial Vicar
FROM THE PASTOR'S DESK: PALABRAS DE NUESTRO PÁRROCO FR. CIPOLLA: It is with pleasure that I announce to the parish that we will have a new priest by the first week in February. Fr. Donald Kloster will be coming to St. Mary’s as the Curate (Parochial Vicar) of the parish. He will assist in all…
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Traditions of Epiphany
This weekend we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany. Because we celebrate both the Traditional Mass and the Novus Ordo Mass with their different calendars, we will have a Solemn Mass on Saturday 6 January, the traditional date of the Epiphany, and all Masses on January 7 will be celebrations of this great feast. The…
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The Octave of Christmas
The time between Christmas and New Year’s Day is a unique time of the year. Despite the after-Christmas sales and all of that stuff, there is quietness about this octave, these eight days. People go to work—at least those who can’t afford to go to skiing for a week or go someplace warm—but there is…
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“How silently, how silently the wondrous Gift is given”
This Advent was just three weeks instead of the usual four. But there is always enough time to prepare for and reflect on the meaning of Christmas Day. “For unto us is born a Savior, Christ the Lord.” No one prepared for the birth of the Son of God. Very few noticed, and those who…
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Joyful Anticipation: the O Antiphons
This week we begin Late Advent, when we focus ever more deeply on spiritual preparation for Christmas. We began on Friday evening with our choirs singing Advent Lessons and Carols, as we listened to the readings that tell of the coming of Christ on Christmas and the carols that tell us to watch and pray…
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Advent and the Saints
The season of Advent is blessed by the commemoration of some of the most beloved saints on the Church calendar, including St. Nicholas and St. Lucy. St. Nicholas and St. Lucy are associated with wonderful stories and customs. St. Nicholas was bishop of Myra, a small city that is part of Turkey today. He was…
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