Parish Staff Pastor Rev

Parish Staff Pastor Rev. David Powers Sch.P. Parochial Vicars Rev. Nelson Henao Sch.P. Rev. Richard Wyzykiewicz Sch.P. Parish Secretary Mrs. Rosemarie Ortiz Business Manager Anne Kathy Rice Facilities Manager Alina Hernandez Music Director Mr. Patrick Marques Musicians saint Mr. Jim Donaldson Mr. Alex Henriquez Helena November-December parish 2017 Bronx, NY Mass Schedule (Horario de Misas) St. Helena’s School (718) 892-3234 http://www.sthelenaelementary.org Early Childhood (3Yr Olds & Pre-K for All) Elementary School (Grades K-8) Principal: Mr. Richard Meller 2050 Benedict Avenue Bronx, New York 10462 High School: Monsignor Scanlan H.S. (718) 430-0100 http://www.scanlanhs.edu/ Principal: Mr. Peter Doran Arrangements must be 915 Hutchinson River Parkway made at the Rectory for Baptismal Bronx, New York 10465 Class Bring a copy of the child’s Birth Certificate. St. Helena Rectory: Arrangements for 1315 Olmstead Avenue weddings should be made as soon as possible at the Rectory. Bronx, N.Y. 10462 All Catholics Phone: (718) 892-3232 who live within the parish boundaries Fax: (718) 892-7713 should fill out a registration card at the Bookstore or Rectory. www.churchofsthelena.com Email: [email protected] Alumni: [email protected] ST. L BRONX, Thanksgiving Prayer and grow corn. In fact, Squanto, the beloved hero of Thanksgiving Father in Heaven, at Plymouth Rock, was Catholic. Squanto had been enslaved by Creator of all and source of all the English, but he was freed by Spanish Franciscans. Squanto goodness and love, then received baptism and became a Catholic. So it was a Please look kindly upon us baptized Catholic Native American who orchestrated what became and receive our heartfelt known as the First Thanksgiving. gratitude in this time of giving thanks. In 1621, the year of the first English thanksgiving at Plymouth, Thank you for all the graces and another group of English settlers arrived in Ferry, Newfoundland. blessings. The land had been granted to George Calvert, the First Baron of You have bestowed upon us, Baltimore. Calvert’s son, Cecilius, the Second Baron of Baltimore, both spiritual and temporal: was granted another chunk of the New World, which he settled in Our faith and religious heritage, 1632. He called it Maryland. Why did England give this land to George Calvert and his son? As compensation for the fact that Our food and shelter, our health, George Calvert had been stripped of his title of Secretary of State, The love we have for one another, because he declared that he was a Roman Catholic. Maryland Our family and friends. (named for the Roman Catholic wife of King Charles I) was the Dear Father, first English Catholic settlement in the New World, and one of its In your infinite generosity, founding principles was…freedom of religion. please grant us continued Today, there are many things that we can do to keep the “thanks” graces and blessings in Thanksgiving. Families can pray before and after the family throughout the coming year. celebrations, and they can underscore community-building in their This we ask in the Name of Jesus Christ, Thanksgiving Day activities by performing service to the poor prior ‘Your Son, and our Brother. AMEN. to attending family celebrations or by inviting outsiders to share in their Thanksgiving meal. There are many single persons, elderly While the traditional Thanksgiving celebration is not an especially folk, or others who live far from family and may welcome an Catholic holiday, the idea of thanksgiving is a very Catholic invitation to a family-style event. Fr. David tradition. Christianity and Judaism are unique among all of the major religions in their emphasis on thanksgiving. After all, we believe in a God who has truly entered into human history, and we AMERICA GETS ANOTHER BLESSED give Him thanks for His mighty deeds in the Eucharist. Remember Venerable Solanus Casey, an American-born Capuchin priest who that “Thanksgiving” in Greek is Eucharistia. Thus, the Body and died in 1957, will be beatified Saturday at a November 18 Mass in Blood of Christ is the true “Thanksgiving Meal.” Detroit. Known for his great faith, attention to the sick, and ability The first American Thanksgiving meal was actually celebrated on as a spiritual counselor, he will be the second American-born male September 8 (feast of the birth of the Blessed Virgin) in 1565 in to be beatified, the first being Blessed Stanley Rother. St. Augustine, Florida. The Native Americans and Spanish settlers Born Bernard Casey on November 25, 1870, he was the sixth held a feast, and the Holy Mass was offered. This was 56 years child of 16 born to Irish immigrants in Wisconsin. He contracted before the Puritan pilgrims of Massachusetts. Don Pedro diphtheria as a child, leaving his voice thin and wispy. At age 17 Menendez came ashore amid the sounding of trumpets, artillery he left home to work at various jobs, including as a lumberjack, a salutes and the firing of cannons to claim the land for King Philip II hospital orderly, and a prison guard. Re-evaluating his life after and Spain. The ship chaplain Fr. Francisco Lopez de Mendoza witnessing a drunken sailor brutally stab a woman to death, he decided to act on a call he felt to enter the priesthood. Because of Grajales chanted the Te Deum and presented a crucifix that his lack of formal education, he struggled in the minor seminary Menendez ceremoniously kissed. Then the 500 soldiers, 200 and was eventually encouraged to become a priest through a sailors, and 100 families and artisans, along with the Timucuan religious order rather than through the diocese. Indians celebrated the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in gratitude to God. So in 1898, he joined the Capuchin Franciscans in Detroit and after struggling through his studies, Casey was ordained in 1904 The second American Thanksgiving happened on April 30, 1598, as a “sacerdos simplex” – a priest who can say Mass but can not when Spanish explorer Don Juan de Oñate requested that the publicly preach or hear confessions. friars say a Mass of Thanksgiving, after which he formally proclaimed “La Toma”, claiming the land north of the Rio Grande He was very close to the sick and was highly sought-after throughout his life, in for the King of Spain. The men feasted on duck, goose, and fish part because of the many physical from the river. The actors among them dressed and presented a healings attributed to his blessings and play. All this took place twenty-three years before the Pilgrims set intercession. He was also a co-founder of sail from England on the Mayflower. Detroit's Capuchin Soup Kitchen in 1929 The Puritan pilgrims were violently anti-Catholic. They left England and for 21 years he was porter at because they thought that the Church of England was too St. Bonaventure Monastery in Detroit. Catholic. These Puritans were strict Calvinists. The pilgrims also He is also known for his fondness for opposed celebrating Christmas, dancing, musical instruments in playing the violin and singing, although he church, and even hymns as papistical. Interestingly, the pilgrims had a bad singing voice because diphtheria damaged his vocal were not known as “pilgrims” till about 200 years afterward. They chords. Even in his 70s, Fr. Solanus Casey remained very active, were Puritans, a radical Anglican “low church” sect that loathed and he would often join the younger religious men in a game of the “high church” Anglicans that happened to include the King of tennis or volleyball. He died from erysipelas, a skin disease, on England. In fact, about 30 years after the Puritans arrived in July 31, 1957, at the age of 87. America, some of their fellow Puritans back in England arranged A miracle attributed to Venerable Casey's intercession was for King Charles I to have his head chopped off. And, there were recognized by Pope Francis at a May 4 meeting with Cardinal at least nine other British settlements before the Plymouth colony. Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of In fact, one of them was at Plymouth. All but one of them failed, Saints. “The beatification of Father Solanus will be a tremendous including the first settlement at Plymouth. blessing and an opportunity for all of us to experience the love of Jesus Christ,” said the Archbishop of Detroit. The Puritans who came to Plymouth in 1620 almost didn’t survive. Half the settlers died the first winter. They were saved by a Native The November 18 beatification Mass will be said at Ford Field in American named Squanto, who taught them how to hunt and fish 2 Detroit, which can accommodate as many as 60,000 people. THIRTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME Decrees of the Congregation for the consecrated to God, through the hands of the High Priest, Heli. Causes of Saints In the second book of the Maccabees, we find mention of virgins, who lived and were educated in the Temple, that is, in a On 8 November 2017, the Holy Father Francis authorized the building annexed to it. Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate the Decrees regarding: As with Mary’s birth, we read of Mary’s presentation in the temple only in apocryphal literature. In what is recognized as an - the martyrdom of the Servant of God Giovanni Brenner, a unhistorical account, the Protoevangelium of James tells us that diocesan priest, born on 27 December 1931 in Szombathely, Anna and Joachim offered Mary to God in the Temple when she Hungary, and killed in hatred of the faith on 15 December 1957 in was 3 years old.

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