St. Mary of the Seven Dolors

06/13/2026

06/12/2026

Today, June 12th we celebrate "The Sacred Heart of Jesus"

In Catholic churches and homes, one of the most popular images of Jesus is the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is the image of God’s love revealed in the pierced heart of His Son. It is the symbol of a love that conquers sin and transcends death, the symbol of the One who loved us to the end.

Love has always been associated with the heart, so it was only natural that the love of God became represented by a heart, the heart of his Son Jesus. In him, God the Father revealed his infinite love for us. On the Friday after the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The Church was born from the pierced heart of Jesus on the cross. In the first creation, Eve was born from the side of Adam. In the new creation, the Church was born from the side of Jesus. The Bride from the Heart of the Bridegroom! When the soldier thrust his lance into Jesus’ side, immediately blood and water flowed out. Saint John Chrysostom had this to say about this passage: Beloved, do not pass over this mystery without thought; it has yet another hidden meaning, which I will explain to you. I said that water and blood symbolized baptism and the holy eucharist. From these two sacraments the Church is born: from baptism, the cleansing water that gives rebirth and renewal through the Holy Spirit, and from the holy eucharist. Since the symbols of baptism and the eucharist flowed from his side, it was from his side that Christ fashioned the Church, as he had fashioned Eve from the side of Adam … As God took a rib from Adam’s side to fashion a woman, so Christ has given us blood and water from his side to fashion the Church. God took the rib when Adam was in a deep sleep, and in the same way Christ gave us the blood and the water after his own death.

Since the Church was born from the pierced side of Christ, from his Sacred Heart, this should have great meaning for us. In prayer, we contemplate the pierced Heart of our Savior. We contemplate his incredible love. We reflect on the mercy, compassion and love that God has bestowed upon us. We become enthralled by Christ, like Saint Paul, who prayed that Christ might dwell in the hearts of the Ephesian Christians through faith and that they might know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge. When Christ dwells in our hearts, when we know his love deeply, in our minds and hearts, we are moved to live the great commandments of love of God and neighbor. We are motivated by the Sacred Heart of Jesus to open our hearts to him so that they are filled with love for our brothers and sisters. In this way, we learn to live Jesus’ commandment: Love one another as I have loved you.

The Church, born from the pierced heart of Jesus, has a mission in the world to proclaim the redeeming love of God in Christ. This is a great mission. There are many systems of thought and action which seek to construct the human world on the basis of wealth, power, force, science or pleasure. But that’s not the Christian system. Our mission, our work, is to proclaim love, salvation, redemption, eternal life. The Sacred Heart of Jesus is precisely the image that expresses our mission. It is the image of the infinite and merciful love which the heavenly Father has poured out upon the world through his Son. The goal of all we do in the Church should be to lead people to encounter this love. Only this love, the love of the Heart of Christ, can transform the human heart and bring true peace to the world.

In our lives and in our work in the Church, we must place all our hope in the One who said Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart. This is one of the most beautiful scriptural references to the heart of Jesus. His heart, the symbol of his redeeming love, is also a symbol of his meekness and humility. Jesus invites us to learn from his heart and to imitate his love, his meekness, and his humility. This aspect of devotion to the Sacred Heart is evident in the common prayer or invocation: Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto thine.

I invite you to cultivate a devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The month of June is a month when this devotion is practiced more intensely. Some wonderful practices include praying the Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, making a consecration to the Sacred Heart or having the image of the Sacred Heart enthroned in your home. These devotions are not just some relics of the past. They have continued relevance today. When we draw close to Christ in the mystery of his heart, this enables us to dwell on the great mystery of our faith, that God is love. This also strengthens us and inspires us to imitate his love and to help build the civilization of love. From the Sacred Heart of Jesus, our hearts learn meekness, humility, mercy, and love.

Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is profoundly Eucharistic. It finds its summit at Mass where we lift up our hearts to the Lord. We unite our hearts with the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the offering of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. At Mass, we are nourished at the Paschal banquet of our Redeemer’s Body and Blood. The Eucharist is the sacrament of charity. It is a school of love where we are educated by Jesus. We pray in the prayer after Communion on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart: May this sacrament of charity, O Lord, make us fervent with the fire of holy love, so that, drawn always to your Son, we may learn to see him in our neighbor. The Eucharist has been called “the outstanding gift of the Heart of Jesus”, the Heart that gives life to the Church and to all of us, her members.

05/31/2026

The feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary celebrates the visit of Mary, the Mother of God, with the child Jesus in her womb, to her cousin Elizabeth. The visit took place when Elizabeth was herself six months' pregnant with Saint John the Baptist.

At the Annunciation of the Lord, the angel Gabriel, in response to Mary's question "How shall this be done, because I know not man?" (Luke 1:34), had told her that "thy cousin Elizabeth, she also hath conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren: Because no word shall be impossible with God" (Luke 1:36-27).

Arriving at the house of Zachary (or Zacharias) and Elizabeth, Mary greets her cousin, and something wonderful happens: John the Baptist leaps in Elizabeth's womb (Luke 1:41).

John's leap was no ordinary movement of an unborn child, for as Elizabeth tells Mary, "as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy" (Luke 1:44). The joy of John the Baptist, the Church has held from the time of the early Church Fathers, came from his cleansing at that moment of Original Sin, in accordance with the angel Gabriel's prophecy to Zachary, before John's conception, that "he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb" (Luke 1:15).

Elizabeth, too, is filled with joy, and cries out in words that would become part of the chief Marian prayer, the Hail Mary: "Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb." Elizabeth then acknowledges her cousin Mary as "the mother of my Lord" (Luke 1:42-43). Mary responds with the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55), a canticle or biblical hymn that has become an essential part of the Church's evening prayer (vespers). It is a beautiful hymn of thanksgiving, glorifying God for choosing her to be the mother of His Son, as well as for His mercy "from generation until generations, to them that fear Him."

The Visitation is mentioned only in Luke's Gospel, and Luke tells us that Mary stayed with her cousin about three months, returning home just before Elizabeth gave birth. The angel Gabriel, as we have seen, told Mary at the Annunciation that Elizabeth was six months pregnant, and Luke seems to indicate that the Blessed Virgin departed for her cousin's home very soon after the Annunciation. Thus, we celebrate the Annunciation on March 25 and the Birth of Saint John the Baptist on June 24, about three months apart. Yet we celebrate the Visitation on May 31—a date that doesn't make sense according to the biblical narrative. Why is the Visitation celebrated on May 31?

For close to six centuries, the Visitation was celebrated on July 2, but with his revision of the Roman calendar in 1969 (at the time of the promulgation of the Novus Ordo), Pope Paul VI moved the celebration of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary to the last day of the Marian month of May so that it would fall between the feasts of the Annunciation and the Birth of Saint John the Baptist—a time when Luke tells us that Mary would certainly have been with Elizabeth, taking care of her cousin in her time of need.

05/26/2026

June 2026 Liturgy Schedule

05/26/2026

05/24/2026

Pentecost is the solemn anniversary of the day on which the Holy Ghost came down, under the appearance of fiery tongues, upon Mary the Mother of Jesus, and His apostles and disciples, who were assembled in prayer at Jerusalem. It is the 7th Sunday after Easter.

The Acts of the Apostles, II. 1-11.

When the days of the Pentecost were accomplished, they were all together in one place: and suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a mighty wind coming, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them parted tongues as it were of fire, and it sat upon every one of them: and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they began to speak with other tongues, according as the Holy Ghost gave them to speak. Now there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men out of every nation under heaven. And when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded in mind, because that every man heard them speak in his own tongue. And they were all amazed and wondered, saying: Behold, are not all these, that speak Galileans? And how have we heard every man our own tongue wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, Egypt, and the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews also, and proselytes, Cretans, and Arabians: we have heard them speak in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.

The Church celebrates this day to praise and thank God for sending the Holy Ghost, Who gave so many spiritual graces and fruits to men.

The Holy Ghost appeared under visible signs because it was done to attract attention, and to indicate outwardly what took place inwardly. The roar of the mighty wind, according to the language of the prophets, pointed to the approaching Godhead, and was intended to announce something extraordinary. The appearance of tongues signified the gift of languages, and the division of them the difference of gifts imparted by the Holy Ghost. The fire which lightens, warms, and with which the apostles, and mankind through them, should be filled, and indicated the rapid extension of Christianity.

The effects of the descent of the Holy Ghost upon the apostles were being enlightened and made acquainted with all truth, freed from all fear and faith-heartedness, and undaunted, the apostles preached everywhere Christ crucified, and for love of Him endured with joy all sufferings. Their discourses were understood by all present, as if they had carefully learned each particular language. From that time Christianity spread with wonderful rapidity throughout the whole world. Pray to the Holy Ghost today to enlighten you also, to inflame you with holy love, and to give you strength daily to increase in all goodness.

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ, According to St. John, XIV. 23-31.

At that time Jesus said to His disciples: If any one love Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and will make Our abode with him. He that loveth Me not, keepeth not My words. And the word which you have heard is not Mine: but the Father's Who sent Me. These things have I spoken to you, abiding with you. But the Paraclete, the Holy Ghost, Whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring all things to your mind, whatsoever I shall have said to you. Peace I leave with you; My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, do I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid. You have heard that I said to you: I go away and I come unto you. If you loved Me, you would indeed be glad, because I go to the Father: for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it comes to pass: that when it shall come to pass, you may believe. I will not now speak many things with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and in Me he hath not anything. But that the world may know that I love the Father: and as the Father hath given Me commandment, so do I.

The Holy Ghost is called a spirit, and the Holy Spirit because He proceeds from the Father and the Son, and is, as it were, the Spirit of the Father and the Son.

The Holy Ghost effect in men is He renews their hearts, by cleansing them from sin, by imparting to them the sanctification and likeness to God gained through Christ, together with all these supernatural gifts and graces by which they can become holy and happy, and brings forth in them wonderful fruits of sanctity.

The gifts of the Holy Ghost are the seven following:
1. The gift of wisdom, which teaches us to value the heavenly more than the earthly, infuses into us a longing for the same, and points out to us the right means to salvation.
2. The gift of understanding, which enlightens us to rightly understand the mysteries and doctrines of our holy religion.
3. The gift of counsel in doubtful cases, which enables us to know what to do or omit, and what to advise others. This gift is particularly necessary for superiors, for those who are changing their state of life, and for those who are entangled in perplexing and unfortunate marriage relations.
4. The gift of fortitude, which banishes all timidity and human respect, strengthens a man to hate sin, and steadfastly to practice virtue; preferring contempt, temporal loss, persecution, and even death, to denying Christ by word or deed.
5. The gift of knowledge, by which the Holy Ghost enlightens us with an inner light, that we may know ourselves, the snares of self-love, of our passions, of the devil, and of the world, and may choose the fittest means to overcome them.
6. The gift of piety and devotion, which infuses into us veneration for God and divine things, and joy in conversing with Him.
7. The gift of the fear of God, that childlike fear, which dreads no other misfortune than that of displeasing God, and which accordingly flees sin as the greatest evil.

The twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit are the following:
1. Charity. 2. Joy. 3. Peace. 4. Patience. 5. Benignity. 6. Goodness. 7. Long-suffering. 8. Mildness. 9. Faith. 10. Modesty. 11. Continency. 12. Chastity.
These fruits should be visible in the Christian, for there by men shall know that the Holy Ghost dwells in him, as the tree is known by its fruit.

05/12/2026

Congratulations to St. Mary's Eighth Grade Graduates Michael & Klaire🎓
Congratulations to St. Mary's High School Graduates Jack, Braydon, Erin, Piper & Abigail🎓
Congratulations to St. Mary's Kindergarten Graduates Jace, Cora, Aurora, Iversen, Jack, Helen, Bentley, Eleanor, Layla & Anna🎓
We are so proud of all of you and your accomplishments this past year! Wishing you the very best with all of your new endeavors next year! Remember to take Jesus with you wherever you go✝️

05/11/2026

The Ascension refers to the day celebrated 40 days after Easter when Catholics celebrate the fact that Jesus returns to God after being with his disciples after the resurrection. It is a central element of our tradition and is included in the creed recited at Mass each Sunday. It is also a Holy Day of Obligation and Catholics are required to go to Mass on that day. Here are our Mass times.

05/10/2026

Happy Mother's Day💐

04/29/2026

Come join in the fun tonight!