Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church

* There will be no Religious Education Classes on December 8 in observance of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Classes will resume on Monday, December 12 as regularly scheduled.

* Handcrafts from the Holy Land will be on sale after all Masses this weekend. A perfect Christmas gift from Bethlehem will complete your shopping list for Christmas giving and help people in great need in the land where Jesus was born.

* Please join us for our monthly Taizé Prayer Service this Monday, December 12. Please note the change in time to 8:30pm. Now in our 9th year, we have met each month to pray for Christian unity in our community and in the world. All Christians are warmly invited; invite your friends!

* Religious Oil Paintings Exhibition this Sunday through the 2pm Spanish Mass. A percentage of the sales supports St. Mary Parish and the remainin proceeds will be used to encourage artists who paint works which give glory to God.

* Remember someone you love, either living or deceased, with a donation for our beautiful Christmas Flowers. Envelopes are available in your envelope packets, in the Church, and in the Parish Office.

* Complete some of your holiday shopping by purchasing SCRIP gift cards! Set up an account today and earn rebates for HCA. Email Torie Baldwin at scripcoordinator@holycrossweb.com for the school enrollment code.

* Subscribe to the Saint Mary website, stmaryfred.org and receive important updates via email. The subscription box is on the homepage. Enter your email address, click “subscribe.”

* Saint Mary Calendars are now available in both English and Spanish in the vestibule of the church. Please, one per family.

* Celebrate our Parish Feast Day and Holy Day of Obligation: Immaculate Conception, December 8. Vigil Masses at 6pm on Wednesday evening and Masses throughout day on Thursday, December 8 at 6:30am, 9am,Noon, 6pm and 7:30pm (bilingual).

* There will be no Religious Education Classes on December 8 in observance of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Classes will resume on Monday, December 12 as regularly scheduled.

* Handcrafts from the Holy Land will be on sale after all Masses December 10 and 11. A perfect Christmas gift from Bethlehem will complete your shopping list for Christmas giving and help people in great need in the land where Jesus was born.

* Complete some of your holiday shopping by purchasing SCRIP gift cards! Set up an account today and earn rebates for HCA. Email Torie Baldwin at  scripcoordinator@holycrossweb.com for the school enrollment code.

* Subscribe to the Saint Mary website, stmaryfred.org and receive important updates via email. The subscription box is on the homepage. Enter your email address, click “subscribe.”

* The second collection this weekend is for the Parish Building Fund. To explain to newer parishioners, and as a reminder for all of us: this monthly collection is a commitment we made seven years ago when we began the renovation of our church and all buildings on the parish property. Rather than have a capital campaign with a five-year pledge, we decided to pay off the debt with a $48K monthly mortgage payment over the next ten years. So far we have paid about $900K thanks to this monthly collection. An easy way to remember to help with this is by giving electronically through Faith Direct. Thank you for your generosity.

* Please join us Tuesday evening, November 22 for our annual Ecumenical Thanksgiving Prayer Service this year being hosted at St. Mary. Pastor Larry Davies from Fredericksburg United Methodist Church will preside. All are welcome.

* Don’t forget we have one, very special  Thanksgiving Day Mass at 10am when we all gather and give thanks to God. As a sign of our gratitude we have a Food  Collection for the Fredericksburg Food Bank. Bring bags of nonperishable foods, keep them with you in the pews and at the Offertory everyone brings the food forward and it is placed all around the altar as our offering. There will be no 6:30-9am Masses on Thanksgiving.

* Our annual State LARCUM Conference will be held on Dec 2-3 in Ashland, Virginia on the campus of Randolph-Macon College. Dr. Joseph Small will speak on the the need for a proper response to the Reformation today. Registration is still open, forms are in the parish office.

* The CCW will hold its annual Mini Bazaar on Sunday December 4, 8am until Noon. Stop by and pick up a few last minute stocking stuffers!

* Parish directories have arrived! Please stop by the parish office after 2pm Monday–Friday to pick up your copy. The 2016 Parish Directories are available to those individuals and families who participated in the program.