Next weekend we will be celebrating the feast of the Presentation of the Lord which is celebrated every year on February 2nd, but this year that happens to fall on a Sunday. We will have the blessing of candles so you are encouraged to bring with you next weekend any candles you would like to have blessed. You can just keep them with you in your pew and they will be blessed at the beginning of Mass. We will also have the blessing of throats at the end of each Mass next weekend as we customarily do on or near the feast of St. Blaise which is on February 3rd.
Monday, January 27th, is the feast of St. Angela Merici, the foundress of the Ursuline Order of Nuns. She wanted her religious community of sisters to be named after St. Ursula, hence they are known as the Ursuline’s and they use the initials O.S.U. after their name which stands for the “Order of St. Ursula” (not Ohio State University!). Sister Erin, our previous Principal, is an Ursuline sister and she continues to send her greetings and prayers to the people & students of St. Leo’s so please keep her in prayer as well.
This Friday, Deacon Pat & I will be attending the annual Clergy Night Dinner with the Knights of Columbus (K of C) at the seminary in Wickliffe (known as the Center for Pastoral Leadership). It’s a good time for me to remind you to consider joining this wonderful fraternal organization if you are looking to make some new friends. They meet here at St. Leo’s and have made us their home in the last few years and we are happy they are here. I believe I failed to mention that they very generously donated $4000.00 to us when we had our new shrines built in the back of the church. This was a big help, especially when we learned that we had to pay for the removal of asbestos that was found in the paint of the old confessional ceilings (a very tiny trace amount, but the law requires this be removed with extensive safety precautions). I want to publicly thank them for their generosity to us and pledge our prayers to them.
All continues to go very well with our parish school. I know it’s something most of you probably don’t even think much about as they are not in session when the majority of parishioners are here but it’s an important part of who we have been and are here at St. Leo’s. We have the wonderful leadership of our Principal, Mrs. Denise Burns, who has continued to increase our enrollment significantly each year. Our teachers and staff are dedicated and I believe are the main reason why so many choose to send their children here for their education. Our school has a long and important history in our parish and we would not be the same without it so I want to express my appreciation to all those who continue to make it what it is. I celebrate Mass with the school community regularly and enjoy my visits to the children. We pray that they may grow, as the child Jesus did, in “wisdom, age and grace.”