St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church

06/12/2026

Yesterday, on the final day of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ spring plenary meeting, the bishops consecrated our country to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. This consecration is especially fitting considering this is our nation’s 250th anniversary.

Here's the prayer of consecration used at the liturgy:

O Most Sacred Heart of Jesus:
You know the longings of our hearts, and you desire that we enjoy friendship with you.
From your pierced side, you have poured out the wellspring of life, for which we thirst.
Your heart burns with a love for all people to return to a right relationship with you.
We celebrate the abundant gifts you have given this nation, founded on the self-evident truths that our Creator has endowed all people with the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
We make reparation for the offenses against you and against human dignity that have taken place in this nation.
May our hearts be united to yours, so that our families and communities enjoy peace and happiness; may broken relationships be reconciled, injustices repaired, and the wounds of our land be healed.
May your holy Catholic Church serve as a sign, pointing all people to your infinite love.
O Desire of Nations and Center of History, we ask you to bless these United States of America.
Who live and reign with God the Father
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
Amen.

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!

Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us!

The bishops entrusted the nation to the love and care of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to accompany the country’s 250th anniversary.

06/10/2026

06/08/2026

Our first procession at our new home was a great success. Please keep the parish and parishioners of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton in your prayers as we continue to grow and show the Love of God in Friendsville, TN

06/06/2026

Join us for a solemn procession of Corpus Christi immediatly following the 10:15 Mass this Sunday with a potluck to follow! 1015 N. Union Grove Road, Friendsville, TN 37737

06/06/2026

WE HAVE A NEW HOME!

We will be holding masses at this new location just south of Knoxville starting June 7th for Corpus Christi! Please come join us as we celebrate having a place of our own and take part in the work that there is to be done to make this place into a fitting house for God.

1015 N. Union Grove Rd, Friendsville, TN 37737

05/27/2026

Fasting days and Emberings be
Lent, Whitsun, Holyrood, and Lucie.

This old English rhyme helps us to remember an ancient tradition of the Church: the Ember Days. The summer Ember Days are the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday following Whitsunday (Pentecost). Practiced by Christians for many centuries, these days are set apart for prayer, fasting, thanksgiving for the fruits of the earth, and seeking God’s blessing upon the changing seasons. They also became traditional times for ordinations, as the faithful prayed for holy clergy and for the strengthening of the Church. The Ember Days invite us to pause amid the ordinary rhythm of life and to offer ourselves anew to God with gratitude and devotion.

05/25/2026

Four times a year, the Church sets aside three days to focus on God through His marvelous creation. These quarterly periods take place around the beginnings of the four natural seasons. These four times are each kept on a successive Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday and are known as "Ember Days," or Quatuor Tempora, in Latin. The first of these four times comes in Winter, after the the Feast of St. Lucy; the second comes in Spring, the week after Ash Wednesday; the third comes in Summer, after Whitsunday; and the last comes in Autumn, after Holy Cross Day.

Embertides are spent fasting and voluntarily partaking in other penitential acts with the intentions of thanking God for the gifts He gives us in nature and beseeching Him for the discipline to use them in moderation.

Ember Days are days favored for priestly ordinations, prayer for priests, first communions, almsgiving and other penitential and charitable acts, and prayer for the souls in Purgatory.

05/25/2026

Today we pause to remember the men and women who gave the last full measure of devotion in service to our nation. Memorial Day is not only a day for gratitude, but a day for remembrance and prayer. We honor those who laid down their lives for others, and we remember the families who continue to carry their memory. May we never take their sacrifice for granted, and may Almighty God grant eternal rest to the fallen and comfort to those who mourn. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. And may the souls of the faithfully departed rest in peace.

Collect for Memorial Day

O LORD our God, whose Name only is excellent and thy praise above heaven and earth: we thank thee for all those who counted not their lives dear unto themselves but laid them down for their friends; grant us, we beseech thee, that having them always in remembrance we may imitate their faithfulness and sacrifice; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

05/16/2026

Reminder: Mass tomorrow (5/17) will be at 6 p.m. due to Fr. Baker being on vacation. Confession will be 5-5:45 p.m.

05/11/2026

Sign-ups are still open for Vacation Church Camp! Please see the link below to sign up: https://setonordinariate.flocknote.com/signup/256578