ST. JOSEPH  THE  WORKER  SHRINE

Want to come to a better understanding of why we Catholics believe what we believe?  Want to be able to explain the basis of our beliefs to your children or grandchildren? Want to deepen your understanding of Sacred Scripture?  Want to be able to defend your faith?  Want to better appreciate the uniqueness of Catholicism and its 2,000-year old apostolic tradition?  Then these sessions are for you.

We would like to hear from you as to your interest and intention to take advantage of this opportunity to grow in the knowledge of your faith (we at least need a count for the opening session so as to prepare adequate space and provide for dining needs).  Please call St. Joe’s at (978) 458-6346 or e-mail us at (Info@stjosephshrine.org) or drop us a note at 37 Lee St. Lowell, MA  01852.  Let us hear from you.  Please mark your calendars now and contact us ASAP so that planning can go forward for this exciting new offering at St. Joe’s.  Help us to make the best use of St. Joseph the Worker Shrine as a spiritual and faith education resource in our area.   It would be hard to beat the convenience and quality of the Adult Faith Education Program conducted here every Spring and Fall – there were some 40 participants at last Fall’s sessions on The Nature of Belief!  Think about it, pray about it and let us hear from you in the coming days.

For more information visit www.stjosephshrine.org

Fr. Gene Tremblay, OMI, S.T.L.

Adult Faith Formation at St. Joseph the Worker Shrine, Lowell, MA

            Adult Faith Formation has been identified as a very urgent need in our times – it is one of the 5 strategic priorities in the Archdiocese!  St. Joseph the Worker Shrine is positioned to be a resource for the Archdiocese of Boston to help meet that need.  In addition to our regular ministerial service, we are offering faith education/enrichment classes for those interested in educating themselves in the faith and/or possibly working toward catechist certification.

Fr. Gene Tremblay OMI, S.T.L., who joined the Shrine staff after some 30 years in educational ministry and most recently, Retreat House work, is offering a series of classes on the truths of our Catholic faith.  The Spring 2012 offering will be the 5^th in this on-going series.

            The faith education piece finds a place in the Wednesday niche of available time and space; that is, an evening program consisting of a 90-minute session once per week on successive Wednesdays in a 7 week block - faith formation needs to be approached in a systematic way if it is to be effective.  There will be 2 such “blocks” presented in a calendar year (Spring and Fall) and the contents of these “blocks” will vary among Scripture, doctrinal and morality courses.

            The content here is challenging; however, decades of teaching experience have honed the skills necessary for rendering these materials understandable to college age young people and, therefore, to anybody interested in learning.

            The populations served by such a program might be:

                        - DRE’s and Youth Ministers                  - Catholic School faculty members

                        - on-going education for Deacons           - any interested laity in the area

                        - catechists                                              - collegians

- follow-up for ACTS retreatants            - Oblate Associates

            A full set of class notes is provided and a certificate of completion is awarded at the end of each 7-week program.

Wednesday, February 1^st, and every 1^st Wednesday of the Month we are extending our evening confessions.

These hours are:

4:30 pm – 5:15 pm & 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Please take advantage of our evening hours and let others know of this great opportunity.

With your generous outpouring we have covered the cost of this new system.  All future reservations will go towards the care and maintenance of the Shrine.

Those who would like to reserve a special time, date and hymn to observe a special occasion or honor a deceased loved one may do so with a donation of $100.00.  Request forms can be obtained in our Gift/Book Store.

All offerings are also accepted in the collection when you designate your offering “for the Bells”.

Lowell no longer a mill city has not forgotten its past. Several of the former mills serve as active museums that are maintained be the Lowell National Historical Park.  To preserve its past history, St. Joseph Shrine opened The Oblate Historical Museum in 1995.  Among collectables from Oblate foreign missionaries the visitor can see a dramatic 5′ by 7′ painting of Lowell by renowned artist Wayne Morrell of Rockport, MA.

The founder of the Oblates was Father Eugene de Mazenod.  As a young priest he ministered to the dock workers of Marseilles.  Up to that time priests preached in classical French, oblivious that many of the working class spoke “Provençal,” a dialect of that region of France.  Fr. de Mazenod soon realized that language was an obstacle to their spiritual growth.  His decision to preach to the people in their own language, combined with his natural eloquence, opened the door to a very successful ministry.

In 1837 Fr. de Mazenod became bishop of Marseilles and governed the Oblates until his death on May 21, 1861.  On December 3, 1995, Bishop de Mazenod was made a Saint of the Catholic Church by Pope John Paul II.

In the sanctuary of the Shrine church is a life-size statue of the young Father de Mazenod, a work of internationally renowned sculptor Mico Kaufman.

 The preaching was so successful that the people refused to let him leave. They raised enough money for a down payment on an abandoned Unitarian church structure at 37 Lee Street. (Hey, that’s us!) Soon a group of volunteers rearranged the interior of the church for the first Mass which was held on Sunday, May 3, it was St. Joseph’s Day. (Hey, that’s where we got our name!)

As the French population grew, Father Garin began the construction of St. John the Baptist church in 1890 to accommodate more parishioners. Our building here on Lee Street remained as a chapel, and in 1956, with the encouragement of Richard Cardinal Cushing of Boston, we were blessed as a shrine in honor of St. Joseph the Worker.