Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church

* The Parish Office will be closed from 4:30pm on December 31 until Saturday morning, January 2.

* Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. January 1 is a Holy Day of Obligation. Plan now to join us for one of our special Masses: Vigil Mass, 31 December, 6pm, New Year’s Day, January 1, 7am, 8:30am, 10:30 am, 12:30pm and 2pm in Spanish. There will be no 8pm First Friday Mass or Adoration.

* Conversation and Coffee: On January 3, volunteers from our Music, Usher, Manna and Cold Night Shelter ministries will be available in the Parish Life Center after the 10:30 am Mass offering information about their good works and how they serve or parish and community. Please join us.

* Religious Education Family Week: Family Week is the first week of classes in 2016, January 4-7. Parents join your children for class and make the occasion a memorable family activity! It will be based on our parish theme for this year: “People of Thankfulness Sowing Seeds of Mercy.”

* On January 5, we begin Bishop Barron’s 6-week series with Fr. Don on The Mystery of God: Who God Is and Why He Matters !! See p. 7 for more information. The Study Guide for the program costs $20. Fr. Don needs to know if you are coming for planning purposes. RSVP by 4:30pm on December 31: call the office or email frrooney@stmaryfred.org and let us know if you will be joining us.

* This weekend, our Parish Christmas Collection will support the Creche Orphanage in Bethlehem, Palestine; the Oblate Sisters’ mission school St. Joseph’s School in Gabis, Namibia; and our Fredericksburg Family Counseling Center of Catholic Charities. Thank you for your generosity!

* Vigil Masses, Christmas Eve: 4 and 6:30pm (Church and Holy Cross), 8:30pm (Church), Carols concert at 11pm leading up to Midnight Mass.

* Masses for Christmas: 12am, 7am, 8:30am, 10:30am, 12:30pm and 2pm, all in the Church.

* Please note that there will be no confessions on Saturday, December 26. The Parish Office will be closed on Thursday and Friday, December 24 and 25, and from

* Already it is only two weeks before we begin Bishop Barron’s 6-week series with Fr. Don on The Mystery of God: Who God Is and Why He Matters (please see p. 7) on January 5!! The Study Guide for the program costs $20. Fr. Don needs to know if you are coming for planning purposes. RSVP by 4:30pm on DECEMBER 31:call the office or email him frrooney@stmaryfred.org by and let us know you will join us.

We wish everyone a safe and joyful Christmas holiday – may this celebration fill us with a deep and abiding sense of the nearness of God with us, and bring healing and peace to our families and to our world. Merry Christmas!

* 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.”