.RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

Group Sessions will continue as scheduled on Mondays at 2:45 p.m. for groups one and four, 5:00 p.m. for groups five and six and 6:00 p.m. for the remaining groups. St. Agnes sessions continue as indicated by the catechists.

First Eucharist & First Reconciliation - Parents are asked to continue working with their children to prepare for the celebration of these sacraments.

Parents meeting - First Reconciliation - Wednesday, March 31st at 6:30 p.m. in the vestry of Star of the Sea Church.

Parents meeting - First Eucharist - Wednesday, April 14 at 7:00 p.m.

Children’s sessions continue as scheduled in the outline for each sacraments.

.STAR OF THE SEA NEWS

Altar Servers - a practise for Holy Week will be held Wednesday, March 31 at 3:00 p.m.

Ministries Schedule for Holy Week - will be available to those who are involved in the ministries.

Annual General Meeting - is scheduled for Sunday, April 11 immediately after Mass at the Canso Lions Club. This will be a POT LUCK event so bring what you would like to eat and we will share it.

Paschal Candle - with special thanks to an anonymous donor we have purchased a new Paschal Candle and it will be lit at the Easter Vigil.

Club 100 - tickets are on sale. For more information, please contact Ray White or the parish office.

Prize Bingo - proceeds were $369.58, special thanks to all who supported this event.

Bake Sale - thank you to all who helped out, baked items, made fudge/candy and supported this event.

.ST. JOSEPH NEWS

Family Night continues on Friday evenings at 7:00 p.m. .

Women’s Night - is held every Wednesday evening at 7:00 p.m. at the Convent. We have prayer, sharing, fun and lunch. Women from our four parishes are welcome come at any time.

.ST. AGNES NEWS

We wish to acknowledge a donation of $4,500.00 from the Municipality of the District of Guysborough to St. Agnes parish. We wish to thank local area councillor Janet Peitzsche for her assistance.

.SUNDAY COLLECTIONS

Star of the Sea (62) 744.00

Loose 34.75

St. Agnes (34) 274.00

Loose 12.00

St. Vincent de Paul (11) 110.00

Loose 5.00

St. Joseph ( 27) 208.00

Loose 17.00

Telethon pledges honored 3,291.00

.COVERING OF CROSSES AND IMAGES - Crosses and images are covered during the last weeks of Lent. The custom in many places is to veil from the Mass of the Fifth Sunday of Lent while others limit this veiling from after the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday. Crosses are unveiled after the Good Friday Services. All other images are unveiled shortly before the Mass of the Easter Vigil.

.HOLY WEEK SCHEDULE

.Monday, March 29

Mass of Chrism

4:00 p.m. - Holy Family, Esakoni

.Holy Thursday, April 1

Mass of the Lord’s Supper

7:00 p.m. - Star of the Sea Church

Exposition of Blessed Sacrament

until 10:00 p.m.

.Good Friday, April 2

1:00 p.m. - St. Agnes

3:00 p.m - Star of the Sea

6:00 p.m. - St Joseph

.Easter Vigil, April 3

8:00 p.m. - Star of the Sea

.Easter Sunday, April 4

9:00 a.m. - St Agnes - Mike & Joe Kavanagh

10:30 - St. Joseph

12:00 - St. Vincent de Paul

.Sacrament of Reconciliation

Celebrated 20 minutes before each weekend Mass in our four parishes

.EASTER FLOWERS/DECORATIONS: Anyone wishing to make a donation in memory of a loved one to help with the Easter flowers and decorations can do so by dropping the information into the collection basket in an envelope marked Flowers/Decorations. Easter flowers can be placed in the vestry after March 28.

.NOTES

Mission - The National Catholic Mission 2101, “A God for All Seasons” will be broadcast on VISIONTV on Monday, March 29 and Tuesday, March 30 at 10:00 p.m. and repeated at 12:00 a.m. It will feature Spiritan Fr. Pat Fitzpatrick and Benedictine Sr. Joan Chittister.

Antigonish Ecumenical Grief Support Group As we go through life, loss in its many forms can cause very difficult challenges. Many grievers struggle with deep emotional pain as they try to regain meaning and sense in their lives. A 6-week grief support program, facilitated by Gladys MacDougall, is being offered to help people walk through the grief process as they encounter a most difficult and painful, yet normal experience. The group starts Tuesday, March 30th and runs until May 4th, in Room 21, St. Ninian Place For more information, please contact Gladys at gladysmacdougall@hotmail.com or call 863-1375.

Pilgrimage to the Holy Land - Are you interested in walking in the footsteps of Jesus in Nazareth, having Mass in Bethlehem, praying at Calvary, or visiting Cana? Then join Fr. Doug MacDonald, a priest of the Diocese of Antigonish as he leads a pilgrimage to the Holy Land from Sept 18 – 28, 2010. Fr. Doug has spent five weeks traveling throughout Israel and has visited all these holy sites connected to our faith and is now returning as a priest to lead a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. If you are interested in more information, please call Angela Luddington at 902-752-5567 or email: angelaluddington@eastlink.ca.

Boys Camp at Camp Rankin, St. Peter’s from August 7 - 14, 2010. More information to follow.

.PLEASE NOTE - Eucharistic Ministers will be required for both the Bread and the Cup effective April 1 in all parishes.

Double Alleluia - during the Octave of Easter a double “alleluia” is added to the dismissal and its response at Mass. i.e. Go in the peace of Christ, alleluia, alleluia, Thanks be to God, alleluia, alleluia.

Good Friday Collection - there will be a Pontifical collection for the Holy Land in support of Christian communities, the works of the Holy Land, the upkeep of the Holy Sites and the formation of future priests. Let us give generously to respond to the needs of the Church in the land of Jesus.