Remember back in November that I announced in the bulletin that we would have throat blessings after all the Masses? Somehow I was thinking we were celebrating the feast of St. Blaise on November 3rd, but everybody knows it’s February 3rd, this Sunday. I was having some kind of time warp in my brain. But I’m better now & know that this weekend really is the feast of St. Blaise, so Deacon Pat & I will start blessing throats during the closing song. Here’s the prayer we say: “Through the intercession of St. Blaise, bishop and martyr, may God deliver you from every disease of the throat and from every other evil, in the name of the†Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
The JourneySong music books in the pews were pur- chased over 15 years ago. Though hardbound and sturdy, they prevent us from singing songs that have been written since that time. So we have ordered annual paperbound books called “Breaking Bread” hymnals that are in use in many parishes. They also include the Mass prayers & read- ings which may allow us to eliminate the Mass cards that are in the pews. I am hoping to keep the JourneySong books in the pews along with the Breaking Bread hymnals but I’m not sure if both books will fit. Let me know what you think of the new song books when they arrive & are put into the pews.
I was asked by one of our school teachers to show the “Reconciliation Rooms” to the 2nd graders who are prepar- ing to make their first confession. Most of us know these rooms as the “confessional” but I used to think of them as the torture chambers when I was a kid. At that time, in the 1960’s, there was no “face to face” option. The confessionals were typically very dark and small and you knelt before the screen waiting nervously for the priest to open that screen door. How times have changed. It’s not scary anymore. I’ll say more when the Diocese has our annual “Evening of Confession” next month.
I will be visiting with friends & my sister down south this week and I’m glad I’ll have a chance to thaw out after our below zero temperatures this past week. I was visiting a nun friend of mine who is having cancer surgery this Wednesday (please say a prayer for her!) & she reminded me that the date of my surgery, February 11th, is the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, a title for Mary who appeared to St. Berna- dette in Lourdes, France. Millions of people have made a pilgrimage there seeking healing of their illnesses, so I couldn’t think of a better day for me to seek healing than on this feast day. So we pray, Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for all the sick.