Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church

* The second collection this weekend is for the annual Catholic Charities Collection. Thank you for your generosity!

* 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.

* Join us Monday, December 14, at 8:15pm for our Taize Prayer Gathering in the Church. During this ecumenical prayer service, we ask God to bring healing to our world and end the divisions that separate peoples.

* Our Parish Christmas Collection will be taken up next weekend. This year, our collection will support The Holy Land Christians Society for the benefit of the Creche Orphanage in Bethlehem in the Holy Land, St. Joseph’s School in Gabis, Namibia, and the Fredericksburg Office of Catholic Charities. Thank you for your generosity!

* Watch your mailboxes! Our Christmas gift to you—our 2016 Parish Calendars —was mailed out on December 8.

* Please note that there will be no confessions on Saturday, December 26.

* The second collection this weekend is for the Parish Building Fund.

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

* Today is the CCW Mini Bazaar, up until 2pm in the Parish Life Center

* There will be no Religious Education Classes on December 7–10 in observance of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Classes will resume on Wednesday, December 9 as regularly scheduled.

* Advent Lessons and Carols, our annual Advent prayer service, is on Friday, December 11 at 7:30pm. Saint Mary Choirs present Advent songs along with scriptures and hymns for all to sing.

* Handcrafts from the Holy Land will be on sale after all Masses December 12 and 13. 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, www.stmaryfred.org and receive important updates via email. The subscription box is on the homepage. Enter your email address, click “subscribe.”

* Celebrate our Parish Feast Day and Holy Day of Obligation: Immaculate Conception, December 8. Vigil Masses at 6pm and 7:30pm on Monday evening and special Masses throughout day on Tuesday, December 8 at 6:30am, 9am, Noon, 6pm and 7:30pm.

* There will be no Religious Education Classes on December 7 and 8 in observance of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Classes will resume on Wednesday, December 9 as regularly scheduled.

* Advent Lessons and Carols, our annual Advent prayer service, is on Friday, December 11 at 7:30pm. Saint Mary Choirs present Advent songs along with scripture readings and hymns for all to sing.

* Handcrafts from the Holy Land will be on sale after all Masses December 12 and 13. 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, www.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 Catholic Campaign for Human Development. Our diocese retains 25% of the collection to fight poverty right here in the diocese. Please donate prayerfully and generously. More information is available at overtyusa.org.

* 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 nor 9am Masses on Thanksgiving.