Our Lady of Czestochowa - Turners Falls

01/14/2026

Catholic Customs for the Whole Year

Unlike the pagan religions which often view time as an endless cycle of death and rebirth, the Christian view of time is linear. While God alone has always existed and has no beginning, time had a beginning. There was a first day on earth. And there will be a last day. There will be a day ultimately when the sun will rise for the last time and when it will set for the last time. Time will end. And God Himself will end it as time belongs to Him. It is our duty to honor God in time. And we can do so by sanctifying the days, weeks, months, and seasons of the year.

The Church’s Liturgical Year is a harmonious interplay of feasts and fasts interwoven in both the temporal and sanctoral cycles that define the rhythm and rhyme of Catholic life. While there are many customs associated with the seasons of the liturgical year and high ranking feast days, the entire year is replete with opportunities to live out our Catholic heritage through the customs our forefathers instituted.

The Church’s annual liturgical calendar is comprised of two different, concurrent annual cycles. First, the Proper of the Seasons, or Temporal Cycle, traces the earthly life of Our Lord Jesus Christ. In the Roman Catholic Church, it consists mainly of Sundays related to the various liturgical seasons – that is, the seven liturgical seasons contained in two cycles of its own: the Christmas Cycle and the Easter Cycle. It starts with Advent then goes through Christmas, Epiphany, Septuagesima, Lent, Easter, and Time after Pentecost. The determination of the date of Easter dictates nearly all the other dates in this cycle. But there is a second cycle: the Proper of the Saints, called the Sanctoral Cycle, which is the annual cycle of feast days not necessarily connected with the seasons.

Beyond assisting at Mass and praying the Divine Office, we can and should observe the forgotten customs that further underscored authentic Catholic culture. Catholic culture is more than just going to Mass – much more. Catholic culture is built on fasting periods, assisting at Processions, having various items blessed at different parts of the year (e.g. herbs on August 15, grapes on September 8th, wine on December 27th). It features days of festivity like during Martinmas and promotes family time and charitable works like visits to grandparents on Easter Monday. It is replete with food customs to celebrate the end of fasting periods and filled with special devotions during periods of penance. It is our heritage. These traditions are our birthright. They are ours as much as they were our ancestors. We must reclaim them. We must spread them. We must love them and observe them. And this book will show today’s Catholic how.

https://amzn.to/3TjPqpN

12/14/2025

We honor today St. John of the Cross, Doctor of the Church. This 16th-century Spanish mystic and Carmelite reformer endured profound suffering, including imprisonment by his own order. Within his cell, he composed sublime poetry on the soul’s journey to God. His writings, like The Dark Night of the Soul, explore the painful purification necessary for divine union. He teaches that in emptiness, we find fullness in God. His legacy endures as a guide to spiritual ascent. His Feast Day is on December 14.

St. John of the Cross, Pray for us!

12/14/2025

Join us today, Sunday, Dec 14, 2025 for an Advent Carol Service. Followed by light refreshments and fellowship afterwards.

12/14/2025

"Patient" might not be the word you wanted to hear as you eagerly await Christmas, but there are plenty of reasons still to rejoice - the coming of the Lord is at hand!

For Fr. Joseph's insightful Advent reflections - https://missions.ewtn.com/seasonsandfeastdays/advent/

12/13/2025

THE FEAST OF THE CROWN OF CANDLES
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In Nordic countries like Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland, a girl is chosen to represent St. Lucia on her feast day. Wearing a white gown with a red sash and a crown of candles on her head, she walks at the head of a procession of women, each holding a candle. The candles symbolize the fire that refused to take St. Lucy's life when she was sentenced to be burned. The women sing a Lucia song while entering the room. After finishing this song, the procession sings Christmas carols.

12/13/2025

The Amazing Story of St. Lucy

St. Lucy’s witness still shines with the fire of early Christian courage. Born in Sicily in the 3rd century, Lucy consecrated her life to Christ and refused to enter an arranged marriage. When she distributed her wealth to the poor, her persecutors retaliated—yet every attempt to harm her failed until she surrendered her life in quiet fidelity to Jesus. Her name, meaning “light,” reflects the clarity of her martyrdom: a young woman whose steadfast purity and charity testified that Christ alone is the true Light of the world (Jn 8:12).

For centuries, the Church has honored Lucy as a model of fearless Christian discipleship. Her devotion to the Eucharist, her care for the poor, and her unwavering faith amid persecution remind us that holiness is possible in every age. In today’s secular world, her example invites us to reject fear, live the Gospel boldly, and entrust our vocation entirely to God. As Fr. Chris teaches during this live Explaining the Faith talk from the National Shrine, saints like Lucy illuminate the path of grace—showing that the Light of Christ cannot be extinguished by suffering, violence, or the powers of this world. May her intercession strengthen us to persevere with the same clarity, courage, and joyful trust.

12/13/2025

12/01/2025

Last call! 🚨
Our Advent Daily Anchor series begins tomorrow! It's 25 quick meditations to help you rediscover the hope and joy at the heart of Christmas.

If you’ve been meaning to sign up…now’s the time.
Don’t miss Day 1.

👉 Subscribe today! Link in comments.

11/30/2025

Advent is here! What are you doing to prepare your heart and home for Christ?

For more info on this season and to get Fr. Joseph's Advent reflections: https://missions.ewtn.com/seasonsandfeastdays/advent/

11/30/2025

Today is the Feast of St. Andrew. St. Andrew, the first apostle, was with our Lord throughout His life, as recorded in the Bible. St. Andrew's brother was Simon Peter, the first pope. After Our Lord's Ascension into Heaven, St. Andrew journeyed to Greece to spread the faith. He was martyred in Patras, Acaia (in the southern part of Greec) on November 30, 60 AD by Nero who bounded him, not nailed, to an X-shaped Cross. As St. Andrew suffered for 2 days, people still came to him to hear his words. He is the patron saint of Russia and Scotland.

For more on the lives of all the Apostles, pick up a copy of "The Twelve: Lives and Legends of the Apostles" on paperback or as part of the online course on the Apostles, which includes a Certificate of Completion.

Excerpt of The Church's Year of Grace by Pius Parsch:

Andrew, Peter's brother, and John were the first disciples to follow the Lord. With tender delicacy the Gospel (John 1:35-42) describes their first meeting with Jesus. Andrew did not belong to the inner circle of the apostles, Peter, James and John, and the evangelists narrate nothing extraordinary about him (John 6:8); but tradition (resting on apocrpyhal Acts) extols his great love of the Cross and of the Savior; and the Church distinguishes him both in the Mass (his name occurs in the Canon and in the Libera since the time of Pope St. Gregory I who had a special devotion to him) and in the Breviary.

The story of his martyrdom rests on the apocryphal Acts which lack historical foundation. The pagan judge exhorted him to sacrifice to the gods. Andrew replied: "I sacrifice daily to almighty God, the one and true God. Not the flesh of oxen and the blood of goats do I offer, but the unspotted Lamb upon the altar. All the faithful partake of His flesh, yet the Lamb remains unharmed and living." Angered by the reply, Aegeas commanded him to be thrown into prison. With little difficulty the people would have freed him, but Andrew personally calmed the mob and earnestly entreated them to desist, as he was hastening toward an ardently desired crown of martyrdom.

When Andrew was led to the place of martyrdom, on beholding the cross from a distance he cried out: "O good Cross, so long desired and now set up for my longing soul I confident and rejoicing come to you; exultingly receive me, a disciple of Him who hung on you." Forthwith he was nailed to the cross. For two days he hung there alive, unceasingly proclaiming the doctrine of Christ until he passed on to Him whose likeness in death he had so vehemently desired. --The legendary account of our saint's martyrdom has this value: it presents to us the mysticism of the Cross of later times.

https://acatholiclife.blogspot.com/2005/11/feast-of-st-andrew.html

11/30/2025

Nov 30, 2025 - Bulletin - First Sunday of Advent