Oct 02, 2025

Greetings,

We have slipped into October and that means a couple of things.  At each of the Sunday Masses this weekend and next you may notice ushers walking down the aisle about halfway through Mass and looking over the congregation.  They are performing our October Counts.  This count, required by the diocese, is performed every year so that we can have some sort of idea of how we are doing as a diocese and where we might want to focus our resources.  

It is also the month of the Rosary.  Traditionally this is the month when a concerted effort is made to promote the praying for the Rosary since the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary is on October 7.  This date commemorates the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, the victory of which was attributed to the Virgin Mary through the praying of the Rosary.  It is a great way to spend some meditation time on the significant moments in the life of Jesus and Mary.   

If you need assistance in praying the Rosary, there are innumerable podcasts and video clips with which you might pray along.  While not ideal, praying during a commute is praiseworthy and better than listening and thinking of lesser things.  Consider a daily Rosary at least for this month.

Our next concert in the Musical Arts Series at St. Sebastian will be on October 19 at 4pm in the Church.  This organ recital will be performed by Andrew Peters.  The concert is free and open to the public.  

In a classic case of, “When it rains, it pours”, on that very same day, Fr. Anthony Simone, former parochial vicar of St. Sebastian will be installed as pastor of his parish in Cleveland.  Congratulations!  Please keep him in your prayers.

IN OTHER NEWS: 

ARE YOU CEREUS?:  I was greatly surprised and pleased that so many of you came out to visit at the Greenhouse on Thursday last to see the show put on by the Night Blooming Cereus.  It is estimated that over the course of the evening there were about seventy-five people who stopped by to see the stunning display of beauty.  I really thought it would be me sitting out there mostly by myself with an occasional person stopping by for a moment or two and maybe Fr. Marcelli would feel sorry for me and come out and sit for a spell.  But it was a busy night and donations, which were added to the greenhouse fund, were accepted for cuttings.

SCHOOL NEWS:  Enrollment in diocesan schools increased this past year about 2%.  St. Sebastian increased about 4%.  Our initial testing results have come out and these will be shared with you as soon as we come closer to the State of the Parish and School talks and St. Sebastian students scored well above Ohio schools in general and even among her peers among schools in the Diocese of Cleveland.  Way to go students!

In 2023, St. Sebastian Parish School was awarded Blue Ribbon Status by the U. S. Department of Education ranking our school as among the best schools in the nation, a designation that a school may keep for five years.  As part of the cutbacks in that department, the Blue-Ribbon program is no longer being offered and even the website has been taken down making our school among the last to receive this award.

WANT TO BECOME CATHOLIC?:  Currently there are 18 adults and 3 children in our Order of Christian Initiation for Adults (OCIA - formally known as RCIA).  There seems to be growing interest across the nation for people interested in joining the Church with dioceses reporting increases in persons signing up for OCIA.  If you are interested in joining the Church and would like St. Sebastian to be your spiritual home, please contact Mr. Keith Johnson at 330-836-2233 or at johnsonk@stsebastian.org.  

God bless,

Fr. Valencheck