May 29, 2026

Greetings,
Congratulations to all our graduating students from St. Sebastian Parish School and from our Parish School of Religion! May you have a joyful and blessed summer as you prepare to enter high school. I look forward to seeing you at Mass over the summer months as you more fully live out your sacrament of Confirmation.

IN OTHER NEWS:

ST. CHRISTINA: This weekend, Bishop Woost, Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland, will be visiting St. Sebastian Parish for the 9am Mass (May 31) to help us celebrate not only Trinity Sunday, but the transfer of the relics of St. Christina from our Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist to St. Sebastian Parish where she will be “in residence.” The Cathedral is undergoing a major renovation. The first major renovation of the Cathedral took place in the late 1940s. A second major renovation happened in 1977 and is how most of us know the cathedral today. The cathedral has been largely unchanged for almost half a century, and is now entering into a new phase in which there will be much that is being restored and other aspects that will be entirely new. Pictures of renderings can be found online.

Restoration is beginning in the transept where the crypt is located. This gated offside area is where the former bishops of our diocese are buried and where St. Christina’s relics are located. In order to keep them safe and available for veneration, Bishop Malesic has graciously honored our parish to be her host until such time as her chapel has been fully refurbished.

One hundred years ago, Pope Pius XI gave these relics to the diocese. Her story is largely unknown. A girl of about 13 or 14 years of age, she was martyred about the year 300, just a little after the time of St. Sebastian.

There will be certain hours that the chapel will be open in order to keep the relics safe. I look forward to introducing her to you during this time as we come to be more aware of St. Christina’s relics and martyrdom.

FR. MARCELLI: Next weekend is our final weekend of having Fr. Marcelli as our parochial vicar. As it happens, it is also Corpus Christi weekend. Fr. Marcelli will be the celebrant of the 9am Mass, at the conclusion there will be a procession with the Blessed Sacrament ending with a benediction. What a fitting way for Fr. Marcelli to end his two years here as a priest, giving us the Eucharistic Benediction.

Just a note to make it as pleasant a day as possible, if you are parked in the church parking lot for the 9am Mass, please move your car to the brick parking lot following Mass so that you neither block someone in who wishes to leave nor find yourself trapped here until after the 11am Mass. There will be a simple reception following the Sunday Masses for those who might wish to express their thanks and offer fond
farewells.

CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION NEXT WEEKEND: The Eucharist, Jesus’ presence among us Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, is our source and summit. As such, at the heart of our community is not a teaching, a building, a philosophy or a list of rules, but a Person with Whom we are invited to be in relationship. Next weekend we celebrate that relationship by publicly showing our devotion to Him in procession.

Even if you do not attend the 9am Mass, consider coming to the Church (about 9:50am) and joining in the procession. Following the procession, there will be donuts to help celebrate!

God bless,
Fr. Valencheck