This weekend begins a period of grace for all who participate in the sacred events planned here at St. Peter’s.
It all begins with our parish consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary in the context of the 5:00 p.m Mass on Saturday, October 7, the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. This Mass will be preceded by the recitation of the rosary at 4:30 p.m. Then we immediately launch into our Forty Hours celebration on October 8, 9 and 10. On Sunday, October 8, we will have our traditional Mass of Anointing for the Sick at 3:00 p.m. Every person suffering from some form of serious illness or about to undergo serious medical treatment is eligible to receive the Anointing of the Sick at this time.
On Monday, October 9, we will commission our new altar servers at a special 7:00 p.m. Mass. Our servers form the backbone of our liturgical worship at the parish. We are deeply proud of them and we will honor these servers properly in this ceremony of investiture.
On Tuesday, October 10, we will have our closing Mass at 7:00 p.m. As always, it will include a grand Eucharistic procession. This service is always inspiring and uplifting. For the three days, our guest preacher will be Fr. Jack Stefanski, S.Th.D. He was born and raised in Israel. After immigrating to the United States, he was ordained a priest in 1994 in Camden, New Jersey, where he was assigned to St. Joseph’s parish in Camden as Parochial Vicar and hospital chaplain. In 2000, he moved to Poland, where he first served as a parish priest and was later appointed Director of Spiritual Formation for seminarians as well as seminary professor of Sacred Scripture and biblical Hebrew. Fr. Stefanski holds a doctorate in biblical theology from the University of Adam Mickiewicz in Poznan. He is a priest of the Diocese of Elk in northeastern Poland, where he now serves as Director of Spiritual Formation and Retreat Master at the retreat center of the Diocese of Elk in Wigry.
We will close the week on Friday, October 13, with a tribute to Our Lady of Fatima. It will be 100 years to the day, when Mary made her last visit to the village of Fatima in Portugal and 70,000 people witnessed the Miracle of the Sun. To commemorate this day, we will have the Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima in our church for the entire day. We will close this commemoration with a candlelight rosary and benediction service at 7:00 p.m.
Our preacher for this service will be Msgr. James Turro, Ph.D. Msgr. Turro is a priest of the Archdiocese of Newark. He has a BA in Classical Languages, Seton Hall University; an STL, Catholic University; an SSL, Pontifical Biblical Institute, Rome; and a Ph.D., New York University. He is Professor of New Testament Studies at Seton Hall University and St. Joseph’s Seminary, Dunwoodie, NY. He has taught Sacred Scripture for 60 years.During those decades, Msgr. Turro has also provided spiritual guidance to thousands of priests, religious men and women, and laity. He has also led numerous pilgrimages to the Holy Land, Greece and Turkey, and continues to be a much sought-after international speaker. Msgr. Turro has combined the highest qualities of thorough scholarship with an abiding love of God’s Word. He has popularized much of his technical work in numerous articles, books, columns and parish talks. Today, his monthly column, “Your Word is a Lamp,” is one of the most popular sections of the Magnificat Magazine. Msgr. Turro has served as a visiting professor at Fordham University, Fairfield University, LaSalle University, St. John’s University and Immaculata College. For many decades, Msgr. Turro has taught at St. Joseph’s Seminary, Dunwoodie, St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, Overbrook and at Holy Apostles Seminary in Cromwell.
In addition, there will be the usual periods of Eucharistic exposition, and morning and night prayer. The whole edifice of worship constructed for the week will give praise to Our Eucharistic King, honor our heavenly Mother, and draw down a watershed of graces upon our parish and upon all those who attend! Don’t miss it!
Forty Hours Devotion
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2017
3:00 PM - Special Anointing of the Sick Mass Homilist: Fr. Jack Stefanski TOPIC: “Two Crowns from Our Blessed Mother”
4:00 PM to 10:00 PM - Exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament NO 7:00 pm Mass
10:00 PM - Night Prayer
MONDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2017
No Morning Masses
8:00 a.m. - Exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament and Morning Prayer
Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament until 10:00 p.m. (interrupted only by the 7:00 p.m. Mass)
7:00 p.m. - Mass for Vocations and Investiture of the Knights of the Altar and Adorers of the Precious Blood Homilist: Fr. Jack Stefanski TOPIC: “The Immaculate Conception”
10:00 p.m. - Night Prayer
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2017
No Morning Masses
8:00 a.m. - Exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament and Morning Prayer
7:00 p.m. - Solemn Mass of Thanksgiving & Procession with the Most Blessed Sacrament Homilist: Fr. Jack Stefanski TOPIC: “Mediatrix of All Graces”
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2017
100th Anniversary Commemoration of Our Lady of Fatima
Masses 6:45 a.m. and 9:00 a.m.
Visitation of the Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima displayed in the Sanctuary from 9:30 a.m. – 6:45 p.m.
Candlelight Rosary Vigil at 7:00 p.m.
Preacher: Msgr. James Turro, Ph.D. “The Relevance of Fatima Today”