The diocese’s annual Mission Sunday Mass will be concelebrated by Bishop Earl Fernandes and Bishop Joseph Feudijo of the U.S. Virgin Islands at 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 21 in Columbus St. Joseph Cathedral, 212 E. Broad St.
Pope Francis’ theme for the worldwide event honoring the Church’s missionary efforts is “Hearts on Fire, Feet on the Move,” said Sister Zephrina Mary, FIH, director of the diocesan Missions Office. “As we prepare to observe this special day, we are invited to ignite our hearts with Christ’s love and extend that love to everyone,” she said.
There will be a time of food and fellowship in the cathedral undercroft after Mass. Persons wishing to attend are asked to RSVP to srzephrina@columbuscatholic.org.
Newman Center to host annual White Mass
The Columbus chapter of the Catholic Medical Association will sponsor its annual White Mass at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 18 in the Columbus St. Thomas More Newman Center, 64 W. Lane Ave. Bishop Earl Fernandes will be the celebrant.
The Mass traditionally is celebrated on the Feast of St. Luke, who was a physician as well as one of the four Gospel writers. The Mass places an emphasis on those in the health-care professions, but all are invited.
Ss. Augustine & Gabriel plans Friends and Family Day
Columbus Ss. Augustine & Gabriel Church, 1550 E. Hudson St., will host a Friends and Family Day potluck lunch after the 10 a.m. Mass on Sunday, Oct. 15.
Alumni are encouraged to attend, and all are welcome.
Bishop to celebrate Swahili Mass at St. Pius X
Bishop Earl Fernandes will celebrate Mass in the Swahili language at 1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 8 in Reynoldsburg St. Pius X Church, 1051 Waggoner Road.
Masses for the diocese’s Swahili community have been celebrated for the past five or six years at 3 p.m. on the first Sunday of each month at Columbus St. Peter Church, 6899 Smoky Row Road. The date and site for this Mass were changed to accommodate the bishop’s schedule and because St. Peter has a Mass in Spanish scheduled on Oct. 8 at 1:30 p.m.
St. Peter’s neighboring parish, Powell St. Joan of Arc Church, also has an event on that date.
St. Pius was selected as an alternative site because Father Milton Kiocha, SJ, who speaks Swahili and is the celebrant for the Masses at St. Peter, is parochial vicar at the Reynoldsburg parish. He also served the Swahili community while he was parochial vicar for Chillicothe’s two Catholic churches and during an earlier assignment at St. Pius X.
Deogratias Tungaraza, a spokesman for the Swahili community, said 50 to 100 people usually attend the monthly Masses at St. Peter. Most have origins in Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan. Swahili is spoken throughout east Africa and is used by about 80 million people as their first or second language.
Tungaraza said it has taken about 2 ½ years to have a Columbus bishop as celebrant for a Swahili Mass. Efforts were made for former Columbus Bishop Robert Brennan to perform the role and had to be restarted when Bishop Brennan was appointed bishop of Brooklyn, New York in late 2021.
Christ Child Society announces Foster Hope program
The Christ Child Society of Columbus has launched a program titled Foster Hope, which is designed to help foster children transition to their new homes with their full dignity as children of God and to support the families who open their hearts and their homes to those children.
Foster Hope will help the children feel special and loved by giving each child a duffle bag to transport personal items to the foster home. Inside the bag will be gender- and age-appropriate books, activities, toiletries and other items that have been personalized for each child, together with a special blanket from My Very Own Blanket and a full-sized pillow with a monogrammed pillowcase.
Participating foster parents will receive a basket containing a gift card for a dinner or two through Door Dash, tickets for a family outing, family games and activities, snacks and other helpful items.
The program also will sponsor parties for families served by the agencies it partners with. These parties are designed to give foster families and foster children an opportunity to meet and have fun with those in a similar situation.
The Foster Hope program partners with two agencies that place children in foster care through Franklin County Children Services. The Christ Child Society anticipates serving as many as 40 children and 30 families in 2023.
Diocese begins program to train parish singers
The Diocese of Columbus is sponsoring a vocal training program designed to strengthen the vocal skills of parish singers and to introduce chant singing in a way that everyone can understand and appreciate.
The first two of several vocal workshops planned throughout the diocese will take place from 10 a.m. to noon Saturdays, Oct. 28 and Nov. 4. The first workshop will be at the Lancaster Basilica of St. Mary of the Assumption, 132 S. High St., and the second will be at Marysville Our Lady of Lourdes Church, 1033 W. 5th St.
The workshops will be led by Dr. Richard K. Fitzgerald, diocesan director of music, and Dawn Beckman, head instructor for the program. Fitzgerald is music director and Beckman is on the music staff at Columbus St. Joseph Cathedral.
The mission of the diocesan vocal training program is to serve the liturgy through the singing of sacred music and liturgical chant overlaid with the word of God in Scripture. Workshop participants will learn basic techniques of singing as they improve their skills, using this creative outlet to lift the spirits of the listener and enhance the musical and spiritual experience of the liturgy.
Women’s Care Centers Mass is scheduled for Oct. 19
Bishop Earl Fernandes will celebrate a Mass honoring the work of the Women’s Care Centers of Columbus at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 19 at Columbus St. Catharine Church, 500 S. Gould Road. The Mass will be followed by recital of the rosary, Exposition and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament and a pizza party.
The centers provide free confidential counseling, support and education for pregnant women at two Columbus locations. They are among 34 centers that serve 30,000 women annually in 12 states.
October dates for parish closing Masses announced
Plans for final Masses in October have been announced for Corning St. Bernard Church, Columbus St. Anthony Church and Crooksville Church of the Atonement. All three are being closed as part of the diocese’s Real Presence Real Future initiative.
Dates and times for the Masses, to be celebrated by Bishop Earl Fernandes, are: Saturday, Oct. 14, 4 p.m., St. Bernard, 300 Winter St.; Sunday, Oct. 15, 10:30 a.m., St. Anthony, 1300 Urban Drive; and Saturday, Oct. 28, 4 p.m., Church of the Atonement, 425 Adams St.
The St. Bernard Church congregation was formed in 1881, and the current church was built in 1915. The Crooksville parish has a history dating to 1823, with the current church being built in 1901. The two churches are part of the Perry County Consortium of Parishes, formed in 1986. The consortium’s remaining two members are New Lexington St. Rose and Junction City St. Patrick churches.
St. Anthony Church was opened in 1963 on Columbus’ north side. Its congregation will merge with that of Columbus St. Elizabeth Church. St. Anthony School was closed at the end of the 2022-23 academic year.
Bishop Fernandes leading pilgrimage to France
Bishop Earl Fernandes will lead a pilgrimage next spring to honor the 350th anniversary of the revelations of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in Paray-le-Monial, France.
Pilgrimage dates are May 31 to June 9. Besides the apparition site, stops are scheduled in Paris, Nerves , Ars, Annecy, Lisieux, Lyon and Normandy. Space is limited.
For more information, contact Emily Jaminet at (614) 425-6714 or emilycatholictravel@gmail.com or go to
https://www.ctscentral.net/trips/france/celebrate-the-350th-anniversary-of-the-revelation-of-the-sacred-heart-in-france.
DeSales students to stage ‘Alice in Wonderland’
The performing arts department of Columbus St. Francis DeSales High School, 4212 Karl Road, will present Anne Coulter Martens’ adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s classic fairy tale “Alice in Wonderland” at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 21 and 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 22.
Dera Hicks-Prieto will be in the title role. Also featured will be Ava Manfresca as the Mad Hatter, Emma Minser as the March Hare and Ben Reither as the Cheshire Cat.
Tickets will be available on the school’s website, www.sfdstallions.org, beginning Friday, Oct. 13. All seats are reserved. Adult tickets are $10, and student tickets are $5.
Children of Mary will host open house this month
The Children of Mary are planning an open house at their convent in Newark on Oct. 15-16 from 1 to 8 p.m.
The sisters will introduce their new pilgrimage site and outdoor shrine to the Eucharistic Lord with a tour of the grounds at 1 p.m., a short Eucharistic procession and Benediction at the shrine at 2 p.m., and a healing Holy Hour followed by a guest speaker at 4 p.m. The Divine Office will be chanted in the chapel at 5 p.m.
Those who wish may bring a packed supper and eat in our welcome center or by the pond on picnic tables.
The day will conclude with night prayer from 7:30 to 8 p.m.
For more information, call 740-323-1977.