Sep 02, 2026

Greetings,

Next weekend, we will have our Annual Eucharistic Devotions. Following the Sunday 11am Mass through Tuesday night, the Blessed Sacrament will be continually present on our altar for adoration. It is primarily a time to worship God, to thank Him for the many blessings in your life and in the life of the parish, and to present yourself to Him as He gives Himself to you.

Here is how you can help your parish give glory to God while enhancing your own spiritual life. We are in need of people to sign up to be present with Jesus during exposition so that He is not left unattended while exposed on our altar. There are sign-up sheets on the altar rail near the Blessed Virgin Mary statue where you can sign up for an hour. We are also doing online sign-ups and you can visit our website www.stsebastian.org/eucharisticdev26.

It would be great to have at least two or three people signed up for each hour, so that if someone is delayed or experiences an emergency, there is someone else there to cover the hour.

The hours extend all through the day and night during these three days. Thank you for considering this ministry to Christ and the parish. May we be greatly blessed for our sacrifice of time during these festival days.

IN OTHER NEWS:

LABOR DAY:

MASS: Mass will be at 9am on Labor Day.

PARISH OFFICES: The Parish Offices will be closed on Labor Day.

CATHEDRAL RENOVATIONS: It isn’t a shocking thing to hear that the renovations at our Cathedral are taking longer than expected. Running into unforeseen challenges in the middle of the project is pushing back the date of the dedication of the altar, which was scheduled to be finished in time for Christmas. The new date is pushed back until April. That has two very significant impacts on St. Sebastian Parish.

The first is that St. Christina, who is currently in residence in the St. Padre Pio Chapel in the back of the church, is likely to extend her six-month stay. That means if you haven’t had a chance to visit and pray with her, you still have some time to visit her relics. I personally have found her to be a powerful intercessor, and recommend the visit. These relics are one of only two full-body relics in the entire United States, and one of them is here at your home parish (at least temporarily)!

Secondly, there was a question about having a major diocesan celebration at the Cathedral before the new altar is consecrated. Several plans were kicked around and it was decided that, since it was here once already, it went well, and we already know how to do it, St. Sebastian Parish will again host the Chrism Mass for the Diocese of Cleveland in 2027. I hope everyone kept their notes! And if you volunteered last year, would you consider doing your same ministry again?!

God bless,

Fr. Valencheck