Did you realize that October is the month of the Rosary? Starting to Pray the Rosary may seem like a difficult task at first, but it is actually quite simple, especially if you start with a Decade a Day. As simple as that may sound, the impact will unlock the Power of the Rosary in your life. (FYI a Decade is to pray one Our Father and Ten Hail Marys while meditating on one of the Twenty Mysteries.) Following the 11:00 a.m. Mass on October 6th, our parish is encouraged to join in a Rosary prayer right on Manchester Road in front of our main entrance. You can pray for whatever need you have, or you can join our Respect Life group to pray for children in the womb. Our parish is also sponsoring a community Rosary at Loyola Retreat House next Sunday, October 13 at 3:00 p.m. Come with a friend to walk the path or bring a chair to enjoy some comfort in prayer. While you’re marking your calendar for some prayer time, why not secure the first weekend of November (1st through the 3rd) when we will offer our biggest weekend of the year with our annual 40 Hours/ Eucharistic Devotions. The opening Mass will be an All Saints Day celebration at 10:00 a.m. with our day school. The closing Vespers on November 3rd at 6:30 p.m. will be led by a former seminarian who was assigned to us a few years ago, Fr. James Kulway. He carries deep within his heart a sacred awe for The Blessed Sacrament and wants to share with us why. Thank you so much for the many words of support, emails, calls and texts in understanding why I needed to accept the Bishop’s offer to become the Spiritual Director for Saint Mary Seminary next summer. One of my requirements for the Institute for Priestly Formation (IPF) certification is that I need to make an annual silent retreat with them at Mundelein Seminary. So if you could join me in some silent prayer while you are doing your everyday life next week I would love it! Pax, Fr. Bline
