A Note From Father Eickhoff

December 4, 2022

Since this is the first weekend of December, it is a good idea to go over what will be happening here at St. Anne Parish this month.  As you know, December is always a busy month for a Catholic parish.

The first big event of the month is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception on Thursday, December 8.  This solemnity is not only a Holy Day of Obligation for Catholics, but it also has an important tie-in for us as parishioners of St. Anne.  The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception refers to how Mary, the Mother of God, came into existence within the womb of her mother St. Anne without any trace of sin. For salvation history it is important that the Mother of Jesus, the Son of God, be herself without sin.  This great gift of God towards Mary, the exemplar of the human race, is celebrated on this day.  Masses for the solemnity will be held at 7AM, 12PM, and 7PM in the church.

On Saturday, December 17 we will be trying something new here at St. Anne.  We will hold a special Eucharistic Adoration service in the church for three straight hours beginning at 2PM and ending just before the 5PM Mass.  During this service there will be periods of time when lectors will read from the writings of the saints, followed by a period of silence, then a period of music from our music ministry, followed by a period of silence and so on.  The idea is to break up adoration into smaller more manageable periods of time and also to give time for praise and thanksgiving to God through celebratory music.  You are welcome to come for the entirety of adoration or just a part of it.  Even if you have but 20 or 30 minutes to give to God on Saturday, December 17 that will be great.  If you are not sure as to what to do during adoration, there will be materials available in the church to help guide your prayer time before the Lord.  There will also be confessions available from 2.30PM to 4.30PM that day.

It is not too soon to start thinking about which Mass you are planning on attending for Christmas.  The Mass schedule for Christmas will be:

Christmas Eve – 4PM, 6PM, 10PM

Christmas Day – 8AM, 10AM

Finally, if you are really looking ahead you will notice that the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God, which is also a Holy Day of Obligation, is on January 1.  This year January 1 is a Sunday so the regular weekend Mass schedule will be in effect on the weekend of December 31 and January 1.

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Stephen Eickhoff
Pastor