Blog Archives

Lent 2021 @ STM

2/17/2021

"Lent is a 40 day season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends at sundown on Holy Thursday. It's a period of preparation to celebrate the Lord's Resurrection at Easter. During Lent, we seek the Lord in prayer by reading Sacred Scripture; we serve by giving alms; and we practice self-control through fasting. We are called not only to abstain from luxuries during Lent, but to a true inner conversion of heart as we seek to follow Christ's will more faithfully" ("What is Lent?" - USCCB).

LENTEN FRIDAYS
February 19, 26 & March 5, 12, 19, 26

Divine Mercy Chaplet following 9:00AM Mass
Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament with Benediction: 6:30—7:00PM
Stations of the Cross: 7:00PM
Pray the Stations of the Cross with STM from home! Click here for our Lenten Friday Stations of the Cross from 2020.

SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION

Every Saturday at 3:30 - 4:30 PM
Monday-Friday at 8:40 AM
Tuesday, March 23 at 7:00 PM: Penance Service with Individual Confessions
Click here for details on the Sacrament of Reconciliation & other resources

EXPOSITION & ADORATION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT

Every Saturday at 3:30 - 4:30 PM
Click here for details on our Saturday Eucharistic Exposition & Adoration

FAITH QUEST 2021 - ONLINE ADULT EDUCATION FORUM

Sponsored by the parishes of West Essex (St. Aloysius, Notre Dame, Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, and St. Thomas More)
This year, offered online only via Zoom (live-stream webinar)
Click here for details/registration information

For the Lenten Regulations (including Fasting/Abstinence, "Easter Duty," etc.)
for the Archdiocese of Newark, please click here.

Archdiocese of Newark | 2021 Lenten Regulations

2/17/2021

The days of both Fast and Abstinence during Lent are Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. If possible, the fast on Good Friday is continued until the Easter Vigil (on Holy Saturday night) as the “paschal fast” to honor the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus, and to prepare ourselves to share more fully and to celebrate more readily His Resurrection. The other Fridays of Lent are days of Abstinence.
On a day of Fast, only one (1) full meal is permitted, and two (2) smaller meals, which, if added together, would not exceed the main meal in quantity. Those between the ages of 18 and 59 are obliged to fast.
On a day of Abstinence, no meat may be eaten. Those who have reached the age of 14 are obliged by the law of abstinence.
The obligation to observe the laws of Fast and Abstinence “substantially”, or as a whole, is a serious obligation.
The Fridays of the year, outside of Lent, are designated as days of Penance, but each individual may substitute for the traditional abstinence from meat some other practice of voluntary self-denial as penance.
The time for fulfilling the Paschal Precept (Easter Duty*) extends from the First Sunday of Lent, February 21st, 2021 to The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, May 30th, 2021.

*Canon 920, §1. All the faithful, after they have been initiated into the Most Holy Eucharist, are bound by the obligation of receiving Communion at least once a year.

Ash Wednesday | February 17, 2021

2/17/2021

Lent is fast approaching! On Wednesday, February 17th, the Church begins the Penitential Season of Lent.

Ash Wednesday Mass will be celebrated at 9:00 AM and 7:00 PM. Liturgy of the Word Services (with Distribution of Ashes) will be offered at 12:10 PM and 4:15 PM.

As per usual - Social Distancing (100-Person Max in Church / 50-Person Max in O’Connor Hall), as well as Mask Wearing, is mandatory.

By directive from the Vatican and Archdiocese of Newark, ashes will be sprinkled on the top of heads instead of traced on foreheads to avoid contact due to the pandemic. While this is unusual for us, this is the common practice in Italy, Poland, and other European countries. Perhaps in this adaptation and these pandemic times lies a challenge for us to enter into the Season of Lent more deeply. This year, without a visible mark on our foreheads, we are invited to truly pattern our lives on repentance and belief in the Gospel thereby offering a witness through prayer, fast, and almsgiving.

We hope you will join us as we enter into this Holy Season!

Lenten Regulations

Archdiocese of Newark
2021 Lenten Regulations

The days of both Fast and Abstinence during Lent are Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. If possible, the fast on Good Friday is continued until the Easter Vigil (on Holy Saturday night) as the “paschal fast” to honor the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus, and to prepare ourselves to share more fully and to celebrate more readily His Resurrection. The other Fridays of Lent are days of Abstinence.
On a day of Fast, only one (1) full meal is permitted, and two (2) smaller meals, which, if added together, would not exceed the main meal in quantity. Those between the ages of 18 and 59 are obliged to fast.
On a day of Abstinence, no meat may be eaten. Those who have reached the age of 14 are obliged by the law of abstinence.
The obligation to observe the laws of Fast and Abstinence “substantially”, or as a whole, is a serious obligation.
The Fridays of the year, outside of Lent, are designated as days of Penance, but each individual may substitute for the traditional abstinence from meat some other practice of voluntary self-denial as penance.
The time for fulfilling the Paschal Precept (Easter Duty*) extends from the First Sunday of Lent, February 21st, 2021 to The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, May 30th, 2021.

*Canon 920, §1. All the faithful, after they have been initiated into the Most Holy Eucharist, are bound by the obligation of receiving Communion at least once a year.

Valentine's Day 2021 | 8th Grade CCD Service Project

2/12/2021

Lent 2021 @ STM

Archdiocese of Newark | 2021 Lenten Regulations

Ash Wednesday | February 17, 2021

Lenten Regulations

Valentine's Day 2021 | 8th Grade CCD Service Project

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