Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church

Dear Saint Mary Parish Community,

Greetings! For the past three weeks, I’ve had the pleasure and honor of living and serving here among you for my summer assignment. I thank you for your abundant kindness and hospitality that you’ve shown in welcoming me here in Fredericksburg, it’s been a pleasure meeting you all and I’m excited to continue to get to know you and the parish as a whole a bit better as the summer progresses. This week, Father Rooney generously has given me a bit of space in the bulletin to introduce myself.

Right now, I’m currently coming to the end of my Seminary studies at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, and God willing, I’ll be ordained a Deacon in October and then a Priest for the Diocese next June. My time in seminary has been a blessing and a graced opportunity to fall deeper in love with Christ and I’m enthusiastically looking forward to serving God and His Church as a Priest in the very near future.

Next to my faith, I’d have to say my family is probably the most important thing in my life. I grew up in Burke, Virginia as the oldest child in a family with four kids. My parents, Richard and Patricia, still live in Burke, and that’s where I call home. I have a younger brother, Tom, and two younger sisters, Alison and Mary Catherine. In terms of our faith, I’d say we were a pretty average family. We went to Mass on Sundays and prayed during the week as a family. My parents were involved in the parish (Nativity) and my brother and I always served Mass on Sunday as well, but I never really considered being a Priest when I was in primary or high school. When I finally did graduate from Lake Braddock Secondary School, I wanted to be both a Scientist and a Musician, so accordingly I entered the University of Rochester to study Physics and the Eastman School of Music for Saxophone Performance.

My vocation story really took off when I got to college. Through a number of graced experiences and some good friends, God was at work in my life, encouraging me to grow in discipleship and a personal relationship with Christ in faith. He used my love of the beauty of music to come to know and love Him as the source of all beauty in the arts, and my love of order and truth in the sciences to fall in love with the Word, the Son of God who is truth. Slowly but surely, my life changed for the better: I began to attend daily Mass, pray regularly and go to weekly confession. Then one day, the idea of Priesthood dawned on me while at daily Mass. “What if I’m supposed to be a Priest?” At the time, I wasn’t overjoyed at the prospect. So, I dismissed it and moved on with life. And yet, the idea still came back to me in prayer, time after time. I ran from it for quite a while. I graduated with degrees in Mathematics, Physics and Music Performance and got a job in Arlington working for SAIC, a large defense contractor.

I really gave the life I thought I wanted my best effort, and still I wasn’t content. So after two and a half years, I contacted the Vocations Director for the Diocese of Arlington, and then entered the Seminary. From that point on, I’ve been constantly awestruck by the grace of God, the blessings I’ve received and the great happiness and peace that has come from learning to accept God’s will and vocation for my life. As I said, I’m joyfully looking forward to being a Priest in the near future, and I’m elated to be here in Fredericksburg for the summer!

God bless,

Rich Miserendino

Dear Good People of Saint Mary,

Hope everyone is having a great 4th of July holiday weekend. Usually about this time of the year we reach our lowest attendance point, so many people are traveling. If you do the math, with about eight vacationable weeks in the summer, if everyone takes two weeks of vacation, that means that as much as 1/4 of the parish could be gone at any one moment throughout the summer! According to my estimate, we are about 1,500 people short all summer long. No wonder there are so many seats, latecomers are getting spoiled!

I love hearing about everyone’s travel plans. I don’t have any this summer except for the occasional meeting and overnight trip. But later in the year we do have a couple of trips in the planning stage, and we’re wondering if you are interested:

Trip idea #1.
Some people have wondered if we might be going to Italy this fall. I had originally considered going to Rome for the diaconate ordination of our parishioner, Joe Farrell, and now that our current seminarian Rich Miserendino is also waiting for the call, we have double the reason to go. My time is limited, though, so I would be with you for part of the trip. Here is a possible itinerary. Starting around September 22, there could be a motor coach tour starting from southern Italy. There are so many treasures to be found in the area around Sorrento, the Amalfi Coast and Naples. I
would be able to meet up with you in Rome early in the week of September 29, and tour Rome for a few days. We could attend the ordination at St. Peter on Thursday, October 2, and I would return on the 3rd. You, of course, could take advantage of the weekend and spend a day or two in Orvieto in Tuscany, or Assisi. If you are interested in a trip like this, we need to talk quickly. Call Margaret Ford (our parish tour coordinator) at 373-6900. Flights are steep right now and we would need a good group to try to secure a good rate.

Trip idea #2.
I’ve blocked off the days March 3-14 in my calendar for a parish trip to the Holy Land. In order to see all the things we normally see on our trips to Israel/Palestine and Jordan we would need a few days more than this. We propose that the trip start a few days before I arrive. The group can visit Tel Aviv, Acre, the Dead Sea, Masada and Qumran, and I’ll meet up with you in Galilee (sound familiar?) where we will see all the holy sites surrounding the sea, Nazareth, Cana, and Mt. Tabor. Then wego south together to Jericho, Bethlehem and Jerusalem for several days, before crossing into Jordan to the baptism site, Mt. Nebo, Petra, the desert and other favorites. If you are interested in this idea, also please call Margaret and let her know and we can start planning now.

In the meantime, I invite anyone who would like to join me in visiting the HOA NGHIEM Buddhist temple at Ft. Belvoir on Saturday evening, July 12. We are invited to join the community for a light vegetarian meal together, then view a screening of the American opera “The Tale of Lady Thi Kinh.” This opera is about Quan Am Thi Kinh, the Vietnamese Avalokiteshvara who is revered for her forbearance and compassion. Critically acclaimed, and written by Vietnamese music professor Dr. Phan Quang Phuc at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, it has received great reviews. Don’t worry, subtitles are in English.

Let me know quickly if you want to go.
May God bless you.