Important temporary schedule changes effective July 24
Father Joseph Mary will be taking his annual month-long trip to Uganda beginning on July 24. He will return in time to offer Mass on Friday, Aug. 30. While he is away there will be a number of changes to our service and Mass schedule:
- The 5 pm Saturday Vigil and 8:30 and 11 am Sunday Masses are not affected.
- Confession will be offered on Saturdays at 3:30-4:30 pm. Sunday confessions are suspended until Sept. 1.
- Sunday Latin Masses are suspended after July 15. They will resume Sept. 1.
- Please check the calendar frequently for the weekday Mass/service schedule it will vary based on visiting clergy availability. Saturday morning Masses are suspended as of July 27. They will resume on Aug. 31. Saturday morning Masses are available at St. Thomas Aquinas.
- Thursday Holy Hours are suspended from July 25. They will resume Sept. 5.
- There will be no First Friday evening Mass on Aug. 2.
Father’s last daily Mass before his departure will be on Tuesday, July 23 at 7 am. Please pray for him, those in Uganda to whom he will minister and for our parish while he is away.
Corpus Christi Procession – View the Pictures!
The great feast of Corpus Christi was celebrated on Sunday, June 23. We marked the occasion with procession with the Blessed Sacrament.
Our thanks to Steve Paitsel for taking dozens of photos of our walk with the Eucharist downtown! You can view the entire gallery HERE.
Through this procession we profess our faith in the Real Presence and celebrate our unity in Christ. The Eucharist is the ultimate source and sign of unity. As part of our Holy Comforter 2020 goal to renew the parish, aim to make this procession an annual event and hope more and more parishioners and visitors join us!
We are already making plans for our next procession, which will be in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary in October. So if you cannot wait until next Corpus Christi to bring our Faith to the streets, please do join us in October!
Angelus and Midday Prayer
Holy Comforter has begun reciting the Angelus (or the Regina Caeli during Easter season) every weekday at 12 pm. At noon our church bell will be rung in three quick bursts, three times each, and then will give off nine longer rings, to remind all the Faithful who can hear our bell to pray to our Blessed Mother. Angelus prayer cards are available to help everyone participate.
This prayer will precede the noon Masses on Mondays and Fridays.
We also will say Midday Prayer (Sext) on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays immediately after the Angelus. On those days, the daily Mass is at 7 am.
If you work, live or lunch downtown, please join us. The Angelus and Midday Prayer takes only about ten minutes in total.
And if you cannot make it to church, you can always pray the Angelus at home!
Please support the Annual Diocesan Appeal!
The Annual Diocesan Appeal: Building Our Family of Faith provides critical funding to three key areas: Advancing Social Justice, Cultivating Catholic Leadership and Empowering Parish Communities. This includes hundreds of thousands of dollars toward seminarian education, supporting international priests and feeding the hungry through Fuel and Hunger Fund grants. Holy Comforter’s Outreach ministry has received a significant amount of money from those grants.
Please help the Diocese support our seminarians, holy priests, lay catechists, the poor, migrant workers and so much more.
For more information on what the Appeal does, please visit its website here.
To donate to the Appeal, please click HERE
God bless you!
Society of St. Vincent de Paul Chapter Launching
A new chapter of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul is beginning right here in Charlottesville! This ministry, which began in 1851 here in the United States, is aimed at helping the poor both materially and spiritually. Volunteers go out into the community two by two to help people with rent, electric bills and other necessities… and also to pray with them and bring the Gospel to their homes.
The Holy Trinity Conference of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul is a joint effort between the three parishes here in Charlottesville: St. Thomas Aquinas, Incarnation and Holy Comforter.
Contact Chuck McCurdy at cwm@virginia.edu for more information.