Welcome to St. Alphonsus Church!
During Lent, Stations of the Cross will be conducted each Monday morning immediately after the 8:15 a.m. Mass, each Friday afternoon by the school children at 2:30 p.m. (adults welcome), and Friday evening at 7:00 p.m. with the Way of the Cross followed by Mass.
All Fridays of Lent are days of abstinence (abstaining from meat and meat products for those who are 14 years of age and older).
Fasting: Catholics 18-59 years of age who are in good health are obliged to fast and abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. On all the weekdays of Lent the U.S. Bishops strongly encourage the faithful to participate in Mass and to observe a self-imposed fast. The law of fasting allows only one full meal a day, but does not prohibit taking some food in the morning and evening. Customarily, the two smaller “collations,” when considered together, should not equal the main meal – and ideally should be eaten only if needed to maintain one’s strength.
Abstinence: All Catholics 14 years of age and older are obliged to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and all the Fridays of Lent (unless the Friday is a solemnity).
In their Penance and Abstinence pastoral, the U.S. Bishops declared: “the obligation both to fast and to abstain from meat, an obligation observed under a more strict formality by our fathers in the faith, still binds on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. No Catholic Christian will lightly excuse himself from so hallowed an obligation…” They also stated: “we preserve for our dioceses the tradition of abstinence from meat on each of the Fridays of Lent, confident that no Catholic Christian will lightly hold himself excused from this penitential practice.”
Flowers and Music: During Lent, flowers are not to be used to decorate the altar, with the exceptions of the Fourth Sunday of Lent, and the Solemnity of St. Joseph (March 19), and the Solemnity of the Annunciation (March 25); musical instruments are only to be played in order to support the singing, with the same exceptions.
Gloria and Creed: The Gloria and the Creed are sung/said on the Lenten solemnities. Note that when the Creed is said during the Mass on the Annunciation that all genuflect at the words, “and by the Holy Spirit, he was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.”
Covering Crosses and Images: Crosses and images should not be covered for the whole of Lent. The appropriate time to cover crosses and statues in purple is before the Saturday Vigil Mass of the Fifth Sunday of Lent, March 26, 2023 (after the Saturday morning Mass of that day). Crosses remain covered until the end of the Celebration of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday; other images remain covered until the beginning of the Easter Vigil.
Holy Water: Removing holy water from the fonts during the season of Lent (and replacing it with sand, etc.) is not permitted; holy water is removed after the evening Mass Holy Thursday and refilled on Holy Saturday with water blessed at the Easter Vigil.
Funeral Masses: The celebration of a funeral Mass is not permitted on the Sundays of Lent and Easter, Holy Thursday, and the days of the Easter Triduum. However, when necessary, a “Funeral Liturgy Outside Mass” may be used.
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Weekday Masses (Monday – Friday) are celebrated in the Church at 6:30 a.m. and 8:15 a.m. Saturday 8:15 a.m.
Weekend Masses are celebrated at 4:00 p.m. for the Saturday Vigil; Sunday Masses are celebrated at 7:30 a.m.; 9:00 a.m.; 11:30 a.m.; and 5:30 p.m. A Spanish Mass is celebrated at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday.
A limited amount of bulletins are printed. You are also able to view the bulletin on the parish app or website. If you need assistance, call the church office during regular business hours.
Our Parish App is one great way to help make the liturgical season more present in your daily life. Helpful reflections will aid you in reflecting on the Mass readings each day. Also – under FORMED, you will be able to stream hundreds of hours of inspiring movies and video series, read bestselling Catholic eBooks, and listen to audio presentations from the Church’s most compelling speakers and is available from virtually any device…anytime, anywhere. Don’t have the App or FORMED yet? If you have either an iPhone or Android smart phone you can download the App by texting App to phone number 55321, or by visiting myparishapp.com. To gain access to FORMED – go to the website at www.formed.org and enter our Parish Code f1f5a9 (case sensitive) on the homepage, create an account with your user name/email and password.
St. Alphonsus Parish is a Catholic community, called to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ; and we welcome all to join us. We fulfill this Call by our worship of God, our witness to one another and to the world, and by our service to all those in need. Our goal is to affirm the individual gifts in people of all ages so that they may continue to grow in their faith and be ministers of the Gospel…One with God and one another.
