Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church

Dear Folks,

Palm Sunday and Holy Week begins with great crowds. During the first Holy Week, the crowds thinned at each successive event. While our crowds will be thinner than today on Holy Thursday and Good Friday, they will still be signicant. For that reason, our celebrations for the Triduum will all be held at the Fredericksburg Convention Center (formerly the EXPO Center).

Giving you a heads up: for years I have been promising a pilgrimage to Greece and Turkey. Well, the very day I received pricing and the itinerary, the current unrest began in the Middle East. However, my contacts in Jerusalem and Turkey assure me that none of this has reached the areas where we would be traveling. The proposed dates are October 23 to November 6, and the trip would include the town of St. Nicholas and the home of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Ephesus. The cost is approximately $5,500 per person with double occupancy. That price may come down depending on the number of pilgrims and the cost of flights, as it currently includes an estimate of $1,500 for airfare. If you are interested, please email me for the itinerary and more information at frmosimann@stmaryfred.org.  If there is more interest in delaying the trip until 2027, feel free to let me know that as well.

A resounding note of joy and gratitude for two wonderful retreats that took place here this past weekend. More than 30 couples attended a marriage enrichment retreat, where Margaret and David Bereit have elevated our program from good to great! At the same time, Gustavo and Kathryn Guzman organized a retreat with the Jesus Esta Vivo ministry for our Spanish- speaking brothers and sisters.

Donna Harring the Legion of Mary have also been doing beautiful work praying with our elderly parishioners, especially those in nursing homes. They recently worked with our Outreach Ministry to spearhead an initiative to provide crucifixes and images of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus & Mary to residents. (I know that many of you assisted with this act of mercy.) There were many smiles and even tears of joy as residents were able to enthrone Our Lord and Our Lady in their rooms. Keep an eye out after Easter for our family home enthronement initiative!

What makes St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception great? It is every member of the lay faithful using their gifts and talents, in harmony with the clergy, to welcome and love our Lord in every home and heart.

May your Holy Week slow down so that you can walk the mysteries of the our salvation with our Lord in these most solemn liturgies.

pax,

Father John Mosimann

Dear Folks,

It has been a few years since I answered these two questions, which someone asked me this week. So, I thought I’ d address these again.

“Father, why are the statues covered up?”

The origin of this seems a little obscure, but it is traceable to a 9th century custom in Germany, or to the even more ancient practice of public penance. With public penance, the entire congregation was received into the order of penitents with Ashes symbolically placed on the head (remember Ash Wednesday?) The penitents were expelled from the church, kneeling at the door asking for prayers (glad we don’t do that anymore!) and the entire congregation would be symbolically expelled by the veiling of the statues. Sin separates us from God, from our friends and even from the saints in heaven.

Furthermore, have you noticed that when you are carrying a particularly burdensome cross, you can’t see beyond the present moment? It is as if the weight of the cross blinds your spiritual vision. is is why we try to train ourselves to remember the good things the Lord has done for us, so that when we are bearing the blinding weight of the cross, we might not lose sight of Heaven!

Thus the statues in our churches can be veiled, to echo in a symbolic way this separation from the Lord, angels, saints, and each other. The Church allows us to veil them beginning this weekend, as the passion week and weight of the cross loom larger and larger! Veiling statues is an option, and one that only more recently seems to be chosen in a variety of parishes to draw us into the mystery of salvation by her symbols.

“Father, why are the candles on the front of the altar?”

There are many options for candle placement. The late Pope Benedict XVI, favored and encouraged the very placement with which I have become very comfortable. The purpose of this is to center the Liturgy on Jesus Christ. We gather to celebrate the paschal mystery of His suffering, death, and resurrection. Every Mass is directed to the worship of God and movement towards the East from whence the glorious resurrected Lord will come at the end of time. This arrangement serves to emphasize visually and in symbol the common direction of priest and people towards Christ.

Some folks receive this as a distraction, as it visually interrupts their line of sight. For those who are affected thus, I am glad that our church is sufficiently round and large so that they can find a seat with unimpeded sight lines. On this point, Pope Benedict XVI wrote, “The common turning to the East during the Eucharistic Prayer remains essential. is is not a case of accidentals, but of essentials…. What matters is looking together at the Lord…. Is the cross disruptive during Mass? Is the priest more important than Our Lord?”

With you I am on a journey towards fuller union with Jesus Christ in every Mass. For you I stand in service at the altar to offer in persona Christi. T ogether let us always seek Him.

If you’d like to read more on this topic, Google “Putting Christ at the Center: On the Benedictine Arrangement.”

And a reminder that Palm Sunday will be in the Church, but Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday will all be celebrated at the Fredericksburg Convention Center (formerly the FXBG Expo Center).

pax et bonum,

Father John Mosimann

Additional Lenten Confessions

Easter Sunday April 5

8am Mass

10:15am Mass

12:30pm Bilingual Mass