Get Ready for Holiest Days of the Year

This weekend, we present our Elect and Candidates for a special rite in which, together with the entire congregation, they will scrutinize their consciences. As a reminder, the Elect are those preparing to receive Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist, while the Candidates are already baptized in another Christian tradition and are seeking full communion with the Catholic Church through Confirmation and Eucharist. This rite will take place at the 9:30 AM Mass.

All of this leads to the Easter Vigil—the pinnacle of our liturgical year. Beginning next weekend, we enter Holy Week, which opens with Palm Sunday. The Chrism Mass at the Cathedral follows on Monday. Then, we transition from Lent into the sacred Triduum: three holy days beginning with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, followed by Good Friday, and Holy Saturday when the Easter Vigil takes place. It is on this evening where our Elect and Candidates will receive the three awesome Sacraments in the journey to become Catholics. This is a celebration you should not miss! The celebrations don’t stop there. Easter Sunday then follows the Triduum, and it is this Sunday when coming to Mass early is truly an important strategy in order to simply get a seat in the church. So, plan well now for these celebrations and pray for all of us who will be leading use through these sacred days.

It all begins in just one week. This annual journey of feasts draws us deeper into the mystery of how God rescued us from darkness and brought us into His marvelous light. Please refer to this bulletin for dates and times for each of these powerful celebrations!

Blessings,

Fr. William Holtzinger
Pastor

Graphic Credit: ChatGPT

Catholic Bucket List

Over the last week, we have celebrated some amazing events in the life of the Church and our parish! We witnessed the ordination of four men to the priesthood on June 22nd, two of whom were seminarians from Holy Trinity: Fr. James Ladd and Fr. Justin Echevarria. Fr. James celebrated his first Mass with us last Sunday at our 11:15am Mass and Fr. Justin celebrated Mass with us last Thursday at our 8:15am daily Mass. We’ll have photos from both of those Masses printed in next weekend’s bulletin. Congratulations to all of our newly ordained priests!

Priestly ordination and a priest’s first Mass are two of my “must haves” (or “must attends”) for Catholics. They’re included in my informal list of events and places every Catholic should experience. Some of them are specific to the Archdiocese of Portland and some are national or international locales. Take a look at my list below:

My Catholic Bucket List to Attend / Visit

1. Priestly Ordination

2. First Mass of a priest

3. Confirmation Mass

4. Rite of Election

5. Palm Sunday

6. Holy Thursday Mass

7. Good Friday Service

8. Easter Vigil Mass

9. Easter Sunday Mass

10. Christmas Eve or Day Mass

11. Dedication of a New Church

12. Initial or Final Profession of a person into a religious community

13. Vespers with one our religious communities

14. Mass at our Cathedral, St. Mary’s

15. The Grotto

16. Mount Angel Abbey

17. Our Lady of Peace Retreat Center

18. Our Lady of Guadalupe Abbey

19. Vatican City & St. Peter’s Basilica

20. ??? What might you add here?

Which one(s) can you check off? Which one(s) do you greatly desire to do? Did I miss any? Feel free to email me about what you think should be added! I’m sure we can all benefit from taking the time to explore the depth of history and spirituality of our local and global expressions of our Faith.

Christ is Risen!

Alleluia! Christ is Risen! Join us for Mass.

Holy Week Approaches

Dear Parishioners,

We are near the end of Lent and about to enter Holy Week. Beginning with Palm Sunday, the Church gears up, liturgically speaking, to help guide us, spiritually, to celebrate the most important mysteries of Christianity—Christ’s Paschal Mystery: His suffering, death, and resurrection. While we are still just a week out, might I suggest you consider marking your calendar for the following events:

April 14 - Palm Sunday (ST. Anne, St. Patrick, Our Lady of the River)

April 15 - Chrism Mass w/ Priests’ Renewal of Promises & Blessing of Holy Oils @ 7 PM
(St. Mary’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland)

April 18 - Holy Thursday Mass @ 7 PM (st. Anne & St. Patrick)

April 19 - Good Friday Ecumenical Stations of the Cross @ Noon (St. Anne)

    Good Friday Service w/ Veneration of the Cross @ 7 PM (st. Anne & St. Patrick)

April 20 - Easter Vigil Mass w/ Blessing of Fire and Paschal Candle, Exultet,
Extended Scripture Readings, Baptisms, Confirmations, and
Eucharist for RCIA @ 8:30 PM (St. Anne)

April 21 - Easter Sunday Masses

St. Anne: 8 AM, 9:30 AM, & 11 AM (bilingual)
St. Patrick of the Forest: 11 AM
Our Lady of the River: 9 AM

Please consider inviting family, friends, and neighbors to join you in these most important mysteries of Christianity. Again, mark your calendars!

Blessings,

Fr. William Holtzinger
Pastor