Fran McLaughlin had been a parishioner of St. Leo’s for many years. She had a gentleness about her and a soft smile that made you feel comfortable in her presence. As she asked me frequently to keep her husband Bob and her son Dale in my prayers as they struggled with illness, she herself succumbed to cancer as she was taking chemo treatments. A Memorial Mass will be offered for her next month. Please keep Fran and her family in your prayers.
This past week we celebrated the funeral Mass for Helen Canitano who had been a parishioner here at St. Leo’s before moving to Twinsburg. She was devoted to Mary and to many of the saints and prayed the rosary often. She and her husband gave life to 5 children who had 12 children who had 24 children, one of whom had 1 great-great grandchild. Amazing how much life comes from the love of husband & wife. Through the intercession of Mary, may she rest in peace.
We also remember in our prayers Jason Ayala whose two children, Jamie & Emily, are students in our school. A funeral service for Jason was held this past Thursday by Deacon Berigan. May Jason rest in God’s peace.
In last weekend’s bulletin, I said I would be offering a blessing to John & Irma Zappitelli for their 66th wedding anniversary. But once again, my sense of timing was a bit off (remember how I announced throat blessings in November instead of February?). But this time I was only off by a week as they will receive a blessing this Saturday.
And here’s another date I missed (though this one was not my fault): February 22nd was the birthday of Deacon Pat Berigan. We are so happy to have him and his wife Joan as members and ministers in our parish. Happy Belated Birthday.
Deacon Pat baptized Abigail Elizabeth Breitmeyer last Sunday. May she know the joy of an active faith.
Due to the inclement weather, it’s been a while since Fr. Vesely has celebrated Mass with us but now that spring will be sprung this Wednesday, March 20th, we hope to have him back soon. In the mean time, you may see him at one of our Fish Dinners first.
As you know we have purchased a new hymnal called Breaking Bread (a name used for the Eucharist in the early church). Our older hymnals have been in use for about 15 years & so were missing much of the music that has become popular since then. This new paperback book will allow us to update them every year (before the beginning of Advent). You can also call it a missal as it provides the prayers and readings for Mass. It also allows us to remove the Mass cards from the pews as it conveniently contains the words of the Gloria and Creed on the inside front cover.
Finally, I will be enjoying my fair share of corned beef this Sunday on the feast of St. Patrick (though we still have to wear purple vestments instead of green at Mass). But I will certainly pass on the usual accompaniment of cabbage. Why ruin such a good meal with that?