Oct 17, 2025

Greetings,

The past two weekends we have been conducting our October Counts.  Every parish in the diocese is asked to count how many people are in attendance at all Masses.  This is to provide the diocese with the information that they need when deciding such things as where to distribute resources.  For example, the number of people attending Mass in a particular region might influence the number of parochial vicars in the area.

Everyone who is present at the Mass is included in the count including such people as servers, choir members and children.  I thought about concelebrating Mass with Fr. Marcelli to help our numbers but then thought that would be cheating.  (I am joking).  Along with the numbers we were asked to include any information that might have influenced the count such as the Browns having a game in Europe on Sunday morning!

It is a happy thing to report that our numbers are up substantially from last year.  The counts for the weekends were 901 and 1,007 respectively for an average of 954.  Our online presence included an additional 137 and 93 for a total of 230 or an average of 115 per week.  

Last year’s attendance numbers were 800 and 833 for the two weeks for an average of 816.5.  The online numbers were 43 and 37 for a weekly average of 40.  For this I am truly grateful.

IN OTHER NEWS:

CONGRATULATIONS!:  A hearty pat on the back to our Boy’s Cross Country team for being CYO champions, our Girls Cross Country for being runners up and to our Girls Sixth Grade Volleyball team for being CYO champions!  

EVENTS:  Here are some immediate events about which you might want to be aware:

FR. SIMONE TO BE INSTALLED PASTOR:  Fr. Simone will be installed as pastor of his parish this weekend.  Mass at 9am, St. Jerome, 15000 Lakeshore Blvd, Cleveland, OH 44110. Mass at 11am, Holy Redeemer, 15712 Kipling Ave, Cleveland, OH 44110. Fr. Simone was parochial vicar here from 2017 to 2021.  Congratulations  Fr. Simone!  Please keep him in your prayers!

CONCERT:  There will be an Organ Concert in the church this Sunday, October 19 at 4pm. Admission is free, and the performance is open to the public.  This is an excellent opportunity to introduce your children to the etiquette of attending a formal concert while enjoying our mighty pipe organ!  Hope to see you there.

THEOLOGY ON THE ROCKS:  This Monday is TOR at Our Lady of the Cedars.  Rosemary Reed will be speaking on “Meditating on the Holy Face of Jesus.”  Doors open at 7pm and the talk begins at 7:30pm.     Cost at the door is $15.  See the Theology on the Rocks Akron website or elsewhere in the bulletin for more details.

AN INVITATION:  October 25/26 is Priesthood Sunday.  As in keeping with tradition, there will be a seminarian speaking at all the Sunday Masses.  This year it will be our very own Gabriel Kasper.  If there is a young man in the parish (high school through college) who is even remotely thinking about a vocation, Fr. Marcelli, Mr. Kasper and I would like to invite you to dinner at the rectory that Saturday evening.  (No pressure, just prayer and fraternity).  If you would like to join us, please call Mrs. Cathy Sivec at the rectory at 330-836-2233.

God bless,

Fr. Valencheck