St. Ann's Catholic Parish

NOVENA FOR PEACE IN UKRAINE

• THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8th: FEAST OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION: Holyday of Obligation. Masses at St. Ann's  7;15AM, 8:30AM and 7PM - all in the Main Church. Masses at St. John the Baptist 5PM Vigil Wednesday evening, 8AM & 12PM Thursday.

• RECONCILIATION MONDAY: December 19th. Advent is a great time to engage with the Sacrament of Confession in preparation for Christmas. St. Ann's 2-4PM and 6-7PM in our Main Church. St. John's 4-5PM and 7:30-8:30PM. If it has been a while since your last confession, remember, “Do not fear” (Is 41:10). Our priests will help guide you, or you can visit the Archdiocese's website for resources to help you prepare.

• PLEASE NOTE THAT OUR CHAPEL IS  OPEN FROM THE 7:15AM MASS WEEKDAYS UNTIL 4PM ONLY. ON SATURDAY THE CHAPEL IS ONLY OPEN FOR THE 8:30AM MASS. WE APOLOGIZE FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE.

• ADORATION: Held Fridays in our Chapel. 8AM at the conclusion of Mass through Benediction at  8PM. Restroom access is in the Rectory ONLY.

• MASS INTENTIONS & MASS CARDS: Please note that all Masses for 2022 have been sold. Masses for January through March 2023 will become available December 18th. Please watch the bulletin for details. 

• BAPTISMAL CLASS: Held on the THIRD Monday of every month at 7PM in Fr. Anthony Hall (31 College Place). If you are planning a Baptism in the near future, please read the Baptism tab above (see Sacraments) and download the materials. Then phone the Rectory so that we can schedule you for the next available class.  THE NEXT CLASS IS DECEMBER 19th.

• ROSARY & BIBLE STUDY:  Tuesdays 6:30PM in our Chapel at 854 Midland Avenue. Not required, but if you register your email, you will receive alerts for any changes in the schedule.

• LAY MINISTERS SCHEDULE THROUGH JANUARY 2023 is available at the Ministries tab, above. If you see a vacancy that you would like to take, or need to change an assignment, please phone the Rectory at 914-965-1555 or email us.  

• STOP & SHOP and SHOPRITE SUPERMARKET GIFT CARDS are back in stock. Purchase them at the Rectory Monday-Friday 9am-4pm. Five percent of your purchase benefits St. Ann's!  They make great gifts for family and friends or food pantries!

St. Ann's defines an “active/participating parishioner” as one who is registered and worshipping at this parish on a regular (weekly) basis and who commits to a stewardship of time, talent and financial resources to help support the parish and the Archdiocese of New York. Every family member and single adult* must be properly registered in the parish, attending Sunday Mass, receiving and regularly using the parish weekly donation envelopes (or using online giving). Only once someone has been registered and active for a minimum of six months can the parish issue documents attesting to parish membership and Catholic practice, such as a letter to be a Godparent or Sponsor.         

* NOTE: children of member families must register once they reach age 21.

To register at our parish please click here or phone the Rectory weekdays:  
https://newyork.parishsoftfamilysuite.com/Register.aspx
and please make sure to include your email address and phone number!

ELECTRONIC GIVING ("e-giving")
You can register for Online Giving by clicking here. You can register a checking account, debit card or credit card, and choose the frequency (such as one time donation, weekly, monthly, etc.).  You must do this personally; we cannot register you.

COLLECTION ENVELOPES
If you prefer to receive collection envelopes in the mail, please call the Rectory at 914-965-1555 to register. Packets include two months of envelopes, for the months of Jan-Feb, Mar-Apr, May-Jun, Jul-Aug, Sep-Oct and Nov-Dec. They are generally mailed about two weeks before the start of the cycle and will always include the first envelope of the following cycle just in case the mail is slow.

FLOCKNOTES
Once you have registered, please go to the box below and register for FlockNotes. This allows Cardinal Dolan or Father Norton to reach the entire Parish in an emergency situation, or on very limited occasions about time-sensitive issues. Your email or phone is absolutely not shared with anyone else. 

The Archdiocese of New York has provided a wonderful way for the Cardinal to reach all parishioners with important news as well as for each pastor to contact his flock quickly. It is by use of Flocknotes. Thanks to this program, whenever we need to get information to you immediately, we can easily send an email and/or a text message to you so that you get the information right away. WE WILL NEVER GIVE YOUR PHONE NUMBER OR EMAIL ADDRESS TO ANYONE ELSE! This is solely for in-parish and intra-archdiocesenal use. Signing up is very easy, just text STANNYONKERS to 84576 or visit http://www.flocknote.com/stannyonkers. It is simple and free. Please sign up today!

Contribute to the 2021 Cardinal's Appeal and help St. Ann's make its goal. Click here:  https://cardinalsappeal.org/

 When you shop Amazon through Amazon smile, a portion of  your purchase is donated to St. Ann's Parish! Just click the image below to begin.

My dear people of St. Ann’s Parish,

Thursday, December 8, is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. It is a Holy Day of Obligation for Catholics of the United States. You may be thinking, why specifically the United States? The answer is that the United States of America is dedicated to Mary under her title of the Immaculate Conception.   

In 1846 the Bishops of the US dedicated the country to Our Lady, and a year later (1847), the Pope affirmed the decision, so we are protected as a Nation by the Immaculate Conception.

Mary is the Immaculate Conception because she is sinless from the moment of her conception in the womb of her mother, Ann, our parish Patroness. Mary is the only person in the history of the world to be conceived without sin, and we honor her as the Immaculate Conception. 
Mary’s sinless conception reminds us of another essential truth. The life of every person begins at conception. Each person is made to be holy, and God reminds us to recognize all people's dignity from conception until natural death. No one, except God, has rights over human life. All life is precious, and each person is unique to God. Mary reminds us of this important truth as the Patroness of our country, and we are called to celebrate Mary on the feast day of our Nation by attending Mass. 

We also continue to celebrate the season of Advent. We are still preparing for the coming of Christmas, and just as a reminder, Catholics celebrate Christmas for eight days beginning on December 25th.  Therefore, we have plenty of time to enjoy the joy of Christmas, but only a few more weeks remain to continue our spiritual journey of the Advent Season. 

Until next week, Happy Advent!
Fr. Stephen P. Norton
St. Ann, pray for us.
December 2, 2022