Jan 14, 2021

Greetings,

Happy Feast of Saint Sebastian! He has been our faithful patron saint for 93 years and is needed now more than ever since he is one of the patron saints to invoke against plague and pandemic. I do not speak lightly when I say I found him to be a powerful intercessor.

There is a great song on Youtube written and performed by Miriam Marston entitled, “A Prayer to Saint Sebastian”. (I also have it on my playlist from iTunes.) She gave me permission to print the words for you.

A prayer to St. Sebastian is what my heart is singing
in the moment when my knees are in danger of giving up.
When it feels like I am breathing on just one lung,
I believe that St. Sebastian's there to help me carry on,
to see it can be won.

And I believe he's quite familiar with matters of determination; cuz’ he handled all these awful things, and kept his faith and patience. He kept them in the face of certain termination.
Fortunately it is not like I am being made to walk into a lion's den. But still I'll call on him eleven miles in. Eleven miles in.

A prayer to St. Sebastian is what my heart is singing in the moment when the smallest hill becomes the tallest mountain,
I believe that St. Sebastian's there to help me along the way,
to offer inspiration from a few of his saintly ways.

And when it feels like I can breathe no longer,
and I can move no farther,
my hope is suddenly stronger, he's on my side.
The end is getting is closer, and when it's finally over, I'll drink to that saint, St. Sebastian.
I’ll drink to that St. Sebastian.

A prayer to St. Sebastian is what my heart is singing
in the moment when I cross the line he'll be running by my side.
He’ll be running by my side, he’ll be running by my side.

For twelve years we have had some sort of display out on St. Sebastian Day. The very first one involved a display of historic pictures in the hallway that connects the church to the rectory and in the rectory dining room were many historic items from our history. Some of the other displays have included blue prints, designs of buildings proposed for our parish but never built, sacred vessels, a history of Monsignor Zwisler and history of the life of St. Sebastian, among presentations. Because of the pandemic, there may not one this year.

But what there will be is a brand new Saint Sebastian vestment made by our very own Karen Spangler. The image on the back was taken from a small tapestry that I brought home from Rome years ago. Occasionally it would be displayed on the front of our ambo. Now it is put to much better use on this beautiful vestment. Thank you!

Also, the paintings by Eric Armusik (https://www.ericarmusik.com) as well as those of local artist, Mother Mary Thomas PCPA, Mother Iliana and Nathan McDevitt will be on display throughout the church. Holy cards are available at the St. Sebastian Shrine.

IN OTHER NEWS:

SEMINARIANS: You may have noticed that Ian Kelly, one of the seminarians who has been staying with us over the Christmas holidays, has been missing in action this past week. He is on his diaconate retreat preparing to be ordained to the transitional diaconate after which, God willing, he will be ordained to the priesthood later in the year. He will be back in time for our patronal feast day but on Monday, he and Joe and Vincent will be returning to the seminary.

We were incredibly fortunate to have them here during a very challenging Christmas season. They made things so much easier and helped make all of our services absolutely beautiful. I thank them deeply and ask you to keep them in your prayers.

God bless,
Fr. Valencheck