WEEKLY PARISH BULLETIN

PRAYER LISTS

Fr. Vincent Kelly, CSSR, Fr. Leo Dunn, CSSR, Fr. Lawrence Buckley, CSSR, Maureen Adams, Louis Agnese, David Bell, Mary Bottary, Anne Brennan, Clare Burke, Charlie Capodanno, Gregory and Matthew Carbone, Egerton Chang, John Cooper, Joe Cotrone, Cleo Crayton, Arlene Cronin, Amanda Daly, Bernadette DeGrandis, Marguerite DeJoie, Katie Dimanto, Joseph Dougherty, Dianne Eiserman, Mary Dowd, Mary Doyle, Patricia Eng, Jennifer Ferentzy, Tom & Kathy Finn, John Geary, Jack Gibbons, Susan Gury, Helen Hallissey, Nowell Hanibalsz, Thomas Hardiman, Tommy Healy, John Hegarty, James Holland, Mary Horgan, Brian Humberd, Daniel Kelly, Esmi Littleton, John & Margaret Lynch, Tommy Mahoney, Paula McEwen, Larry McInnis, Jackie McLaughlin, Esmi Littleton, Mary McMahon, Susan (Jewell) Merner, Mickey Monahan Michael Mullaney, Michael Nardone, M. Louise O’Brien, Patrick A. O’Brien, Sr. Evangelus O’Brien,SSND, Daniel O’Donnell, Dolores O’Halloran, Billy O’Hara,Theresa Poirer, Caitlin Marie O’Sullivan, Barbara Power, Terry & Glen Richmond, Anthony Scilingo, Connie Sheehan, Rodney Simoes, Al St. Cyr, Helen St. Cyr, Rita Sullivan, Michael Very and Tommy Walsh

Dear Parishioners:

What a blessing it is to have a Catholic school as part of our parish! Once again, I am deeply grateful to Ms. Maura Bradley, Sister Theresa Prior, Mr. Jack Currivan, Mr.John VÃ¡zquez, and the staff who prepared our children so very well to participate in the annual Christmas pageant this past season. It warms my heart to know that we have the "challenge" of trying to involve more and more children each year. We have added so many "animals" to the stable that we are sure we gave Noah some stiff competition. The smallest of our Christmas pageant participants were the "sheep". I love to see our well-trained shepherds bringing forth the "sheep", sometimes having a "lamb" in tow with one in each hand. Our readers rehearsed their parts and they shone as brightly as the brilliant star that the wise men followed that first blessed Christmas.

As we celebrate the feast of the Epiphany we are reminded of how the three kings came to pay homage to the King and Messiah. They laid at his feet gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. In that same tradition, may our school children, our parishioners, our families, and our friends continue to lay their gifts, their time, and their talent at the feet of the Savior. Let us all present our very self-our whole life - as a gift in His service.

This season of celebration is also a time to open the door for hospitality, a time to make our homes glitter with the exuberance and the mystery of gold, frankincense and myrrh. It is a time when Christian tradition practices the blessing of a family's home. One can use chalk to write above the inside doorway: 20 + C + M + B + 07. The four crosses represent the four seasons. C, M, and B are the initials of the magi: Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar. The current year encloses their initials. That is how we mark our doorways to welcome all guests as Christ. That is how we bless our homes in this new year.

Rev. Richard S. Bennett, C.Ss.R.

PRAY THE ROSARY

THE CRANES AND THE ABBESS FROM ORFORDAcross the river from Orford, I saw a flock of cranes arise.
With straightened necks and legs like stilts rising before my eyes.
The cranes came in the Springtime but did not long bide.
They would make their nests on some distant stretch along the riverside.
The town of Orford like other towns is a restless place at best.
Young folks leave as the cranes left for a final place of rest.
One day, a young girl from Orford set out at break of day
And drove to a hill near St. Botolph's town. A score of miles away,
She joined nuns working in a field, praising God night and day,
She left all things behind her, even the clothes she wore,
And clothed herself with rough Trappist robes to wear forevermore.
The cranes came in their season as long as they could fly,
But the years roll on and it may be their coming has long gone by.
The young girl is now abbess like abbesses of old,
Chosen to rule with mother love and not with power or gold.
The Orford folk love the abbess though she left for the cloistered hill,
They know that she prays for them night and day and so is with them still.
The abbess prays for the young folk seeking a place of rest,
That they find their own road to the heart of God and that will be the best.

- John E. Doherty, C.Ss.R.