Oct 28, 2026

Greetings,

Happy All Hallows’ Eve this week, which will lead us into the Solemnity of All Saints. Typically, this is a Holy Day of Obligation, but since it falls on a Sunday this year we will already be at Mass together. On this day that we honor God through all His saints, including those who are not officially recognized by the Church (for everyone who is in heaven is a saint, so be careful about throwing around the quip, “Well, I’m no saint”), we remember in particular our patron Saint, St. Sebastian and St. Christina whose relics are in residence during this time that our cathedral is being renovated.

If anybody has had an experience with St. Christina through prayer, I would appreciate hearing about it. She will be with us until about Easter, at which point she will return to the cathedral. If you have not seen these relics, they are housed in the St. Padre Pio chapel in the back of the church.

IN OTHER NEWS:

ALL SOULS’ DAY: Monday is All Souls’ Day. It is not a Holy Day of Obligation but there will be two Masses that day. The first will be our regular morning Mass and the second will be at 7pm.

NIGHT MASS FOR ALL SOULS: There will be a night Mass at 7pm on Monday, All Souls’ Day. The intent is to have Mass entirely (or at least mostly) lit by candles, and St. Christina’s relics will be present in our sanctuary. Fr. Damian Ference will be the main celebrant and homilist. There will be a bevy of servers (the more to light and hold candles!), a seminarian or two (who will assist in coordinating), and possibly some guest priests if they can make it.

It takes a lot of people to make something like this happen, and I am grateful for all of you as well as those who come to pray. But I would like to give special mention to Karen Spangler who has been holding on to candle stubs and figuring out how to use them for this evening event.

ST. CHRISTINA PAINTING: Unveiled for All Souls’ Day will be a painting of St. Christina by one of our parishioners, Miss Izzy LaVictoire. It came as a surprise and I am excited to share it with you. It is rather imaginative and wonderful. Well done, and thank you!

DAYLIGHT SAVING: It’s this weekend! Remember to FALL BACK one hour on Sunday.

PRIESTS AWAY: Fr. Joseph will be away from the parish much of next week. I have been out and about quite a bit myself performing parish visitations in my role as Dean of Southern Summit County. Hopefully things will slow down a little soon.

ELECTION DAY: Elections are this week. As you pray over how you will vote, it would probably also be wise to throw in a prayer for our nation in general.

God bless,

Fr. Valencheck