This Week's Message
from Fr. Amesse
April 21, 2024

The anniversaries of 3 priests who serve you are approaching.  What does it mean to be a priest?  To answer that question would take more space than I am allowed.  So much can be said about the priesthood.  I’ll offer my 2 cents worth by stating a priest is a lot like St. Mary Magdalene. 

She longed to be with the Lord.  Mary spent time in prayer.  She also was the apostle to the apostles.  Magdalene was the one who told them Jesus rose from the dead.  Her favorite place was being at the feet of Jesus.  Perhaps, for us, being at the feet of Christ means, offering Mass and absolving sinners.   

When Father Conserva was studying in Canada’s capital, Ottawa, he went out, every weekend to help at a local parish.  When Father Gene was studying in Washington, D.C. he offered Mass and heard confessions at the Basilica of the National Shrine, located across the street from where he lived. 

Mary Magdalene also kept busy.  At Bethany, while Martha, her sister, prepared the meal, Mary sat with the Savior.  At the home of the leper, Simon, she broke the vase of precious ointment, pouring it over Jesus’ feet.  Mary bathed those feet with her tears and dried them with her hair.   

Ten years before I was ordained, a priest told me via a letter, “If you give yourself wholeheartedly to Christ, your life will be a happy one.  You will suffer, there will be setbacks, gripes and disappointments.  But, giving yourself to Jesus Christ as an Oblate priest, your life will be filled with hope and meaning.”  

I remember you at Mass!

April is the Month of the Holy Eucharist

The month of April is dedicated to both devotion to the Eucharist and devotion to the Holy Spirit. This tradition has developed because Easter Sunday often falls in April, and when it does fall in March, the Easter season continues on through all of April. In essence, April is a month of Easter, and during the Easter celebration, we remember the Eucharistic sacrifice Christ gave us and the baptism in the Holy Spirit, which would come after Jesus's resurrection.

Faith in the Eucharist

 O my God, I firmly believe that You are really and corporally present in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar. I adore You present here from the very depths of my heart, and I worship Your sacred presence with all possible humility. O my soul, what joy to have Jesus Christ always with us, and to be able to speak to Him, heart to heart, with all confidence. Grant, O Lord, that I, having adored Your divine Majesty here on earth in this wonderful Sacrament, may be able to adore it for all eternity in Heaven. Amen.

Legion of Mary
at the Shrine

Meetings are held in the downstairs Conference Hall each week after the Sunday 12:00 noon Mass.

The Legion of Mary is a Marian movement founded in Ireland in the 1920’s. It is currently the largest apostolic organization of lay people in the Catholic Church.

Pope Francis’ April
Prayer Intention
is for the role of women

Let us pray that the dignity and worth of women be recognized in every culture, and for an end to the discrimination they face in various parts of the world.

Oblates of Mary Immaculate in Brazil

Four young Oblates from the Eastern U.S. arrived in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 1945, after difficult travel in the immediate post-war period.  The Superior was Lowell native, Father Walter Mooney, OMI.  Beginning with ministry to the English-speaking colony of the area, they and succeeding U.S. Oblates were assigned to outlying priest-less districts and the desperately poor urban favela slums of Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Recife, and Belen in the Amazonian north.

Several Oblates were targeted by the authoritarian regime for imprisonment and even torture because of their championing the interest of the indigenous people and the poor of the city of Recife whom they served.

Joined the 1960’s and 1970’s by Oblate missionaries from the Central U.S., Canada, France, Belgium and Ireland and an increasing number of Brazilian Oblates, the Brazilian Province now numbers 65 priests, Brothers and seminarians in four districts.  They work to extend the Word and Work of the Gospel through pastoral ministry, social services, and the formation and support of Basic Christian communities throughout the vast country.

The vast favela slums of the cities where Oblates have lived and served.

On that Good Friday, standing at the foot of the Cross, you were led to understand your vocation to give yourself to the service of your Savior through the gift of your whole life as a priest.

 St. Eugene, guide us to the Savior in our time of need!

St. Joseph
Chaste Guardian of the Virgin
Pray for us!

Litany of St. Joseph

Praying with the Stained Glass Windows of
St. Joseph the Worker Shrine

Part I - The 100 Year+ Windows Series
Part II - The St. Joseph Windows

Self-Guided Tour
St. Joseph the Worker Shrine

View Twilight Stations of the Cross March 29

Ring the Bells of the Shrine

Everyday of the year, the “Bells of St. Joseph” ring-out God’s praise for all to hear!

Our Carillon can play Special Hymns of your choice any day of the year. At your request, our chimes will ring in honor of loved ones for the entire community to hear and prayerfully remember.Your offering of $20.00 will be greatly appreciated and will assist us in maintaining the Shrine and its ministries. Thank You!

Bell-ringing selections may be reserved for specific days & times throughout the year(s) in the Shrine Gift Shop/Bookstore.

St. Eugene de Mazenod’s Prayer to the Sorrowful Mother

 O Lord, Almighty God, you endowed the Blessed Virgin Mary with the fullness of every gift and grace. By allowing her heart to be pierced with the deepest sorrow, you crowned her merit and placed her at the head of countless legions of martyrs who, for love of your Son Jesus Christ, have shed their blood. Through the painful martyrdom endured by this gentle Mother seeing her beloved Son dying as a Victim because of his love for us, grant us the grace to bear with fortitude the disappointments and setbacks in our life, and not to fear torment or death itself, when we are called to confess our faith in Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

Click to Light a Candle 
Thank you!

Please choose your donation amount. $5.00 is the standard donation per candle online

Click on the Image to view the prayer of Consecration of Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Archdiocesan COVID protocols lifted
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Confession

Mon - Friday
10:00 am - noon
4:30 pm - 5:15 pm

Saturday 
10:00 am - 1:00 pm

First Wednesday of the month

Eucharistic Adoration

The Blessed Sacrament will be exposed for adoration on -

Saturday after the noon Mass until the 4:00 pm Mass
First Fridays after the noon Mass until the 5:30 pm Mass

Say NO to Physician Assisted Suicide in Massachusetts
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