Watch Monday, May 29, 2023 - End of 40 Hours of Devotion Eucharistic Procession
Live-Streaming Mass from St. Joseph the Worker Shrine
Click on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass image below.
Mass Times
Monday - Friday
8:00 AM - 12 Noon - 5:30 PM
Weekend Mass
Saturday
8:00 AM - 12 Noon - 4:00 PM
Sunday
8:00 AM - 10:00 AM - 12 Noon
Holiday periods may affect these times
Confession Schedule at end of page
Pure in Heart
Pure in Heart (young adults ages 18-35) meets at 7pm in the Shrine Conference Room on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of every month. The next session will be June 13. Learn more.
- 5:30 - Mass at the Shrine
- 6:15 - Social
- 7:00 - Meeting
St. Joseph the Worker Shrine Gift Shop/Book Store
Fresh supplies of First Communion and Graduation items are now in stock.
Gift Shop/Bookstore Summer Hours
Beginning June 5
This Sunday, June 4th, the Shrine Gift Shop/Bookstore will be open during morning Mass times, from 9 AM to 1 PM, for your convenience.
A fine selection of Baptism, First Communion, Confirmation and Graduation gift items are still in stock. This will be the final Sunday opening for the Gift Shop/Bookstore until Fall. June 5th marks the start of summer hours: Monday through Saturday, 9AM to 4PM.
This Week's Message
from Fr. Amesse
June 4, 2023
Today we honor women and men who have graduated from college and high school. These are young adults who attend St. Joseph Shrine with families. We wish the best for them. I have asked Father Tremblay
to offer Mass and to preach. He will do well. Most of his life as an Oblate priest was to educate young men and women in college and high school.
Next year Father Trembly and Father Conserva will celebrate their 50th anniversaries. I do have some plans for us to celebrate. Let me know if you would like to help. 50 years of service to the people of God. And both of these men, along with Father Ron and all the Fathers who have been stationed here at the Shrine, have served so well.
Father Terry told me immediately when I arrived in October of 2020: The reason why so much good is done here at St. Joseph’s is because of the outstanding Oblates who have been stationed here. On this day back in 1989, my dad died. I was with him when he passed. He frequently challenged me to be a better priest.
I am glad he did. I am tempted to be lethargic. I tend to take the easy way out of a problem. Remember what Jesus said in the book of Revelation about those who are lukewarm? I will spew you out of my mouth! I would like to reflect more about the priesthood in this column. Why? We need priests and it will help me to be better.
The four of us, in the 60’s-70’s-80’s went though difficult times regarding priesthood. Some asked, is it worthwhile to be a priest, do we really need them? I can hear your replies resound. YES! So, what does it mean to be a priest? I answer with the words of St. Jean Vianney, the Cure of Ars… the Priesthood is the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I remember you at Mass.
Archdiocesan Lifting of COVID protocols starting on the weekend of June 11th.
Learn more here.
Pilgrimage to Blessed Michael McGivney Pilgrimage Center
New Haven, Connecticut
June 30, 2023
Please join us for a summertime day-trip to New Haven on the southern shore of Connecticut.
Our day will begin with a bus ride to New Haven. The day will include visits to St. Mary’s Church and the Blessed Michael McGivney Pilgrimage Center in New Haven. We will be having lunch in New Haven as well, but the restaurant has not been selected yet. On the way home, the bus will make a rest-area stop where everyone will have time to get something to eat for dinner (not included). We would love to have you come along.
Click here for more information
Can You Help Us?
Many of us regularly receive unsolicited religious items in the mail - along with requests to support various charities. After contributing to one or two charities of our choosing, those endless monetary requests can be declined in good conscience. But frequently folks are puzzled as to what to do with the accumulated religious tokens they were also sent.
If you or your friends/family have a stockpile of such religious items, please bring them here to the Shrine and we will make them available as gratis religious tokens for folks to take home during the Folk Festival (coming this year from 7/28 - 7/30).
We use these items to fill and refill the “Basket 0’ Haloes” in our sidewalk welcoming tent.
Thank you so much!
June is the Month of The Sacred Heart
The meaning of the image of the Sacred Heart in the words of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque from an apparition of Jesus to her on the first Friday of December 1674.
“After that the Divine Heart was shown to me as on a throne of flames, more dazzling than the sun and transparent as crystal, with that adorable wound and surrounded by a crown of thorns signifying the pricks caused to it by our sins and above there was a cross, which meant that from the first moment of His incarnation, as soon as this Sacred Heart was formed, the cross was planted in it and it was filled at once with all the bitterness which humility and poverty, pains and scorn would cause it and which His Sacred Humanity was to suffer throughout His lifetime and His sacred Passion.”
From: Divine Mercy Robert Stackpole
Why not spend a few moments before Jesus in the tabernacle in the sacrament of His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in thanksgiving for the immense and bountiful love of Jesus for all of humanity? Take a few moments before or after Mass in thanksgiving and praise to our most loving Lord.
Legion of Mary
The Legion of Mary will be established here at the Shrine. Meetings will be 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.
SUMMER CONFESSION SCHEDULE
JUNE - JULY - AUGUST
(JUNE 5th - Labor Day)
Monday - Friday: 10:30 - 11:45 AM
4:30 - 5:15 PM
Saturday 10:00 A.M.- 1:00 PM
First Wednesday 7:00 P.M. - 8:00 PM
Downes Parking Garage Ticket Validation
- Available in the Gift Shop/Bookstore on Monday through Saturday from 9 AM - 5 PM.
- Sunday street parking is always free
- Those attending the Saturday 4PM Vigil Mass who park in the Downes Garage can still validate their ticket in the Gift Shop before Mass.
St. Joseph
Pillar of Families
Pray for us!
-Litany of St. Joseph
The First Missionary Team
The Youthful Province of Today
Oblates in Cameroon/Chad Central Africa
On May 4, 1946, the first team destined for this Cameroon-Chad Mission was formed. This new Mission was under the direct authority of the General Administration. This team of young Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate celebrated the solemnity of Christ the King for the first time in the territory entrusted to them on October 27, 1946 . Over the years, these poineer missionaries were joined by Canacian, Polish and Italian Oblates.
On their knees, they recited the litanies of the Sacred Heart and the consecration to the Sacred Heart to entrust their new ‘home’ to the Lord.
132 Oblate priests and Brothers currently serve in this Province of whom 47 are seminarians, preparing to be Missionary Oblates, here and in other parts of the world.
In short, during the past 75 years, our Oblates tirelessly proclaimed the Good News of Jesus Christ and gave rise to a people of faith. And those seeds they planted continue to grow today, extending to Nigeria and Chad. It is up to us today to “go out into the deep with hope”.
Pope Francis’ June prayer intention
We pray that the international community may commit in a concrete way to ensure the abolition of torture and to guarantee support to its victims and their families.
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
St. Eugene,
Born into a rich upper-class family, you experienced what it meant to lose everything, your comfort, social position and friends. Yet you experienced that God our Savior did not abandon you.
St. Eugene, guide us to the Savior in our time of need!
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.
Shrine Memorial Plaques
Since 1868, this holy place - dedicated to the honor of St. Joseph - has been a treasured oasis of prayer and serenity in the heart of the city of Lowell. For generations, many have found great solace and experienced healing and reconciliation for themselves and their families within this holy sanctuary.
In testimony to their answered prayers and remembrances, many have chosen to memorialize their loved ones by inscribing their names on the very walls of this grace-filled place. Over time, the Remembrance Wall in the confessional lobby has been completely filled with these memorials. For that reason, we have installed and illuminated new mounts for additional memorials on the inside back wall of the Shrine. The mounts can be expanded to accommodate additional remembrances throughout the coming years.
To inscribe the names of loved ones on our newly expanded Remembrance Wall, please make arrangements in the Gift Shop/Bookstore – at the same desk where Masses are registered.
Light Up Shrine Candles Online
Click to Light a Candle
Thank you!
Please choose your donation amount. $5.00 is the standard donation per candle online
Confession and Adoration
Confession
Summer Confession Schedule
Mon - Friday
10:30 AM - 11:45 AM
4:30 PM - 5:15 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Eucharistic Adoration
The Blessed Sacrament will be exposed for adoration on -
Saturday after the noon Mass until the 4:00 PM Mass, approximately 12:45 PM - 3:45 PM
First Fridays after the noon Mass until the 5:30 PM Mass, approximately 12:45 PM -5:15 PM
Gift Shop, Office and Museum Hours
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday
9:00AM - 4:00PM
Closed Thursday
Bro. Craig Bonham, Business Manager
Ed Wilk, Office Manager/Bulletin Editor
Gift Shop & Bookstore
Aurea Torres, Gift Shop Manager
Hours
Monday - Saturday 9:00AM - 5:00PM
First Sunday of the Month
9:00 AM -1:00PM
If for any reason you're still unable to visit the Shrine or Gift Shop and you'd like to book a Mass Intention request please call the Gift Shop Manager at 978-459-9522 x213 or email [email protected]
Oblate Historical Museum
Saturdays 10:00AM - 2:00PM
Sundays 8:30AM -11:30 AM