Pentecost XI

zelusdomustuae
Bishop’s Corner
The great feast of summer is the Assumption. I hope you will plan to bring yourself, your children, your garden produce and flowers to the High Mass at 9:00 AM. We begin at the Grotto with Rosary beforehand, and process into church with the blessed flowers, led by the children who represent the Assumption angels.

Tomorrow evening, at 7:15, we have another procession, rather more penitential in character, as we beg God for “peace in our day” through Mary’s Immaculate Heart. This year the geese have stayed put all around the ponds where we process, carpeting every bit of sidewalk with droppings, which must be dodged. The cumulative effect, I admit, is rather unpleasant, and the whole procession assumes a most humble and penitential air. I found, however, that if I kept my eyes on the droppings and my heart thus duly humble, that I could pray very well, almost distraction-free, a rarity at public rosaries. Come yourself, and let me know how you do.

Today I offer Mass in the Southwest of France, at Chambéry, where Our Lord revealed so much of the Five Wounds devotion to Sr. M. Martha Chambon. The congregation there now counts perhaps fifty souls, having had its difficulties over the years. This afternoon I have a long six-hour drive to the convent of Clos Nazareth for evening Mass. I am happy to be spending the week with the sisters, and celebrating the Assumption with them, before returning to the Curé of Ars Chapel in Chambéry for my final Sunday in France (or Savoy, as some maintain).

Today is the feast day of our St. Clare Chapel, now happily resettled in Chillicothe, Ohio, at Fr. McGuire’s boyhood home. The chapel continues to serve faithful from all over the region whenever a priest can make it for Mass. The Blessed Sacrament is reserved there, making it a true spiritual beacon. How happy St. Clare must be to be put back together again. We wish them a blessed feast day, and promise our prayers for perseverance and growth.

God bless you all!
–Bishop Dolan

Mass Location Update
If you are traveling in Connecticut or Rhode Island this summer, visit the new St. Vincent Ferrer chapel, where new Fr. Stephen McKenna offers Mass every Sunday at 5 PM.

Also, consult our extensive list of recommended Mass centers when you are traveling this summer.