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The Women's Guild membership drive for 2019 has started. If you were a member in 2018, you will receive a membership form in the mail. If you would like to join the Women's Guild please contact Ann Mikkleson for more information (mika716@comcast.net). The membership form can also be found on our webpage. Click the title for the link.

Please do not park in the parking lot directly across the street from the Church on Massaco. It is a private lot and the owners often need it for work on the weekends. Please respect their wishes. Town Hall parking is available for over flow. Our parking lot will soon be open, and we will have more than adequate parking for all.

IGNITE Youth Ministry will take its seventh annual trip to UMass-Lowell for this Catholic Youth Conference. All students currently in grades 8 - 12 are invited to join our group! This conference weekend has been a life-changing experience for so many of our teens. For travel information or to place a deposit, click the title.

This one-to-one lay ministry is named for Stephen, one of seven called by the church to assist the apostles in caring for others (Acts 6 and 7). Stephen ministry is listening, caring for others in Jesus' name. If you want to learn more about this ministry, email StephenMinistry@stmarysimsbury.org or call (860)658-7627.

"Advent is a time to welcome the Lord who comes to meet us, the time to look ahead, and to prepare ourselves for Christ's return." (Dec 2) "Advent is a time for renewing the faith, for purifying it, so that it can be more authentic." (Dec 3) "This Advent, make yourself small, make yourself humble, make yourself a servant of others, and the Lord will give you the ability to understand how to make peace." (Dec 4) "The beginning of faith is feeling the need for salvation: this is the way that prepares us to meet Jesus." (Dec 5) To view more quotes, click the title.

On Monday, October 1st, the U.S. Department of Education designated Saint Mary’s School as a Blue Ribbon School. We are proud of the accomplishments of the St. Mary’s School faculty and staff, and especially of its beloved principal, Mrs. Margaret Williamson, who has brought our school to a new level of excellence. St. Mary’s School is one of just five schools in Connecticut -- and the ONLY non-public school in New England! -- to be named a Blue Ribbon School this year. Well Done!

Are you (or someone you know) in the market for quality office space? Our parish offices will relocate once our Campus Connection building is complete, meaning our current office building at 3 Massaco is on the market. Contact Sam at Berkshire Hathaway (call/text) for more information: 860-803-9760

Join our parish and school communities in leaving a legacy by sponsoring a brick! Families are invited to create their own personalized brick with an uplifting message, a memorial to a loved one, commemoration of a momentous occasion or a recognition of a family name. By sponsoring a brick for our exciting Campus Connection project, your brick will be placed in the circular pathway surrounding our beloved St. Mary statue within the new Courtyard. Click on the title for information on how to personalize your brick.

Stephen Ministry is looking for new leadership. If you enjoy people, learning, and serving others please consider becoming a part of this ministry. This is an established program of one to one caring at St. Mary's Parish. All training is provided. Call 860-658-7627, ext 114.

When crossing from the Town Parking Lot to the Church, please do not jay walk. Use the crosswalk at the Post Office or at Massaco Street. Also, please do not park in the fire lanes around the church. Thank-you for everyone's continued support and cooperation.

Throughout the summer months, teens in IGNITE served at the shelter. They gathered in the Parish Center kitchen to cook for 75 men who live at Immaculate Conception Shelter (ImmaCare). After preparing the meal, they prayed for those who would receive it. Our team of teens and adults transported and served the meal that evening. The Calcutta Project is an outreach effort of IGNITE Youth Ministry. It was named for Mother Teresa of Calcutta who inspires us to serve. We will be on mission at the shelter again throughout the year. For details, click the title.

On Sundays when Religious Education is in session, Parking Ambassadors (wearing yellow vests) will be available to direct traffic in North Parking Lot.  Parents of Grades 1-3 are asked to park and walk your child to St. Francis Garden Door.  Parents of Grades 4-6 will be directed to drop-off at North School Entrance then circle back out exiting onto Hopmeadow Street at the light.  To ease backups, we encourage right hand turns exiting onto Hopmeadow Street.  Click the title for more information.

Volunteers needed to share the Rosary the third Thursday of each month, 11:00 AM at McLean Health Center. Please contact Justine Coleman 860-658-0044 or Kathy Cookson 860-658-3700.

A number of families have responded positively to the request to accelerate pledge payments to Campus Connection and we greatly appreciated this. If you are able to help by making pledge payments ahead of schedule, we strongly encourage you to do so since it reduces project financing costs. For example, if all pledges were to be paid in full by the end of 2018, we would save more than $60,000 in interest expense!

Each year many new families move to Simsbury. Let's do our best to make them feel welcome and at home here at St. Mary's. If you are one of those new families, please register with the parish and introduce yourself to Father Matera.

We will kick off the next phase of our Campus Connection project this weekend with a ground breaking ceremony after the 5 pm Mass. Join us in what is currently the parking lot between the church and school (though it will be transformed in the coming months!) for a brief blessing and some ice cream!

Registration is required to to be placed in a class (grades 1-6) or a small group (grades 7-8 and high school). We want to take this opportunity to welcome families who are new to our parish and to our program! To find our registration button and to access more information about our programs, please click the title.

Another exciting year for Granny’s Attic! Thanks to all the parishioners and members of the community who donated to Granny’s Attic we not only reached our goal we surpassed it! The donations received brought in $29,526.36 Again, this year we received many valuable treasures that were placed in a special area. A huge THANK YOU to RICK and CAROLE WAGNER for the use of Wagner Showroom. It was so nice to have a secure, dry location again for Granny’s Attic. Special thanks goes to all the new volunteers who worked this year and all the dedicated volunteers who return year after year for this special fundraiser. Without all the donations and hours given as volunteers to Granny’s Attic we would not have been so successful. Thanks again for all your support! Ann O’Donnell, Stephanie McIntyre and Jane Stevenson

There will be a blessing of our graduating seniors during the celebration of Mass at 11:00 AM on Sunday, June 10. Please join us as we surround our graduates in prayer before they begin the next chapter of their lives. Graduates, we look forward to seeing all of you to congratulate you in person!

Pope Francis has written an exhortation entitled "Rejoice And Be Glad" that deals with the call to holiness. On Thursday, May 31 (7 pm), I will be giving a presentation that summarizes the main themes of this exhortation which summons all of us to holiness. Please join me in the lower church. - Fr. Matera