Pentecost

Those being confirmed line up to receive the sacrament
On the Vigil of Pentecost, confirmands, with their sponsors, line up to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation. More confirmation photos are coming soon.

Also listen to Bp. Dolan’s sermon from the Pentecost Vigil: Wear the Cross Boldly on Your Forehead

zelusdomustuaeBishop’s Corner
It is an overcast and chilly Wednesday afternoon as I write the Bishop’s Corner. School children were just in, a great gang of them in the office, to inquire as to the clergy’s sandwich preferences. Pressed to choose between grilled cheese and peanut butter for second place, I opted for the former, but alas! it was only a survey and no sandwiches were forthcoming.

I am not the only one disappointed in the matter of lunch. Puccini had cornered a baby bunny in my garden, whose piteous cries caused me to rescue him and put the cat on “time out” in my office. (He doesn’t mind, his afternoons are best passed napping, anyway. He was only doing his feline duty.) Fr. Cekada similarly saved a poor shivering bunny the other evening from the combined cats. Even though the bunnies may be connected with the loss of some tulips this Spring (but perhaps it was the deer?) I can’t bring myself to let the kitties make them into lunch!

This past week was a busy one, as we prepared for yesterday’s beautiful Pontifical Mass and Confirmation for fifteen new Soldiers of Christ. Many thanks to parents and teachers as well the “usual suspects” who made everything so warm and bright with the charity of the Holy Ghost.

It’s a good thing we prayed so intensely during Rogation Week. I wasn’t sure what to do with the Rosary Procession on May 13, since the first one fell on a busy Holy Day evening. So, we just did it, since Rosary Processions are so powerful. Guess what? We had a fine turn out for a beautiful May evening, a distinctly family affair with little ones and oldsters and in betweens, and two fine young priests to accompany the old Bishop. We all processed and prayed, and then visited a bit before dispersing. Deo Gratias et Mariae! I asked John Seyfried to memorialize the occasion in a poem, and he did.

Fr. Cekada was at the seminary last week, for his penultimate teaching tour. Schools will soon conclude the year. In the meantime, Father has been planning the promotion of his book on the New Mass. You’re invited to a book signing next Sunday!

Our green grass has all beautifully gone to clover, and last Saturday’s sunshine made it fragrant, with the smell almost of natural honey. What a beautiful Spring God gave us this year! May our souls, under the sunshine of God’s Holy Spirit, be even more fragrant and delightful. I wish you a blessed Pentecost, one filled with peace.

–Bishop Dolan

Our Lourdes Grotto on Mother's Day
New slide-show posted May 14: Click the above photo for images from our Greater Litanies Procession in April, and from our 2010 May Crowning.


We also have a short video clip of our May Crowning available above.