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On Tuesday, August 21 and Tuesday, August 28, teens in IGNITE Youth Ministry will gather for Eucharistic Adoration in the church. All young people entering seventh grade through all years of college are invited and encouraged to join us! There will be music from Steubenville and time for quiet prayer. Take advantage of this awesome opportunity to reconnect with the Lord and to let Him lead this school year.

A very special extracurricular experience is planned for Friday, August 17th for students enrolled in our Religious Education program! Students who will enter grades 4-7 this fall are invited on a Pilgrimage/Retreat to Lourdes Shrine in Litchfield. Our Director of Religious Education, Lori Oleasz, will lead the children and chaperones on this day trip. Click the title to read 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.

On Wednesday, September 5, at 7:00 PM, there will be a “Listening Session” in the Lower Church. The purpose of this “Listening Session” is to help the Archdiocese prepare for its upcoming Synod. You will have an opportunity to address three questions: What is the Archdiocese doing well? What is the Archdiocese not doing so well? What is the Archdiocese not doing that it should be doing? Please join us for this important session so that our parish can help to prepare for the upcoming Synod.

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 $80,000 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.

From July 13-15, teens in our IGNITE program will be at UMass-Lowell to attend their sixth-annual conference with over 3,000 teens from across the northeast. This is an exciting time of year as our teens will once again experience the vibrancy of the Universal Church. For more information about this Catholic Youth Conference, click the title.

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). All families are asked to register by Friday, June 15 so we have ample time to order supplies and create rosters. 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

Teens in IGNITE will serve at the shelter again on Friday, May 25. Our teens will gather in the Parish Center kitchen to cook for 75 men who live at Immaculate Conception Shelter (ImmaCare). After preparing the meal, we will pray for those who will receive it. Our team of teens and adults will transport and serve the meal that evening. The Calcutta Project is an outreach effort of our ministry. It was named for Mother Teresa of Calcutta who inspires us to serve. We will be on mission at the shelter again in the spring. For details, click the title.

Can you bring s’more ingredients to the Living Rosary? Can you make an appetizer for our Team Trivia Night? Or do you just want to be put on a list to bake/cook for other future SMWG events. Please contact Lynn Bruno 860-658-4840 to help.

The Women's Guild will be praying a Novena to the Holy Spirit from May 11th - 19th. We will spend nine days praying for each gift of the Holy Spirit. Look for pamphlets in the church for more information or lick the title for the pamphlet.

Thank-you to the many families who put together Easter baskets and dinners for those in need. Based on parishioner donations, the Women's Guild put together 40 Easter Baskets for South Park Inn, the Simsbury ABC house and CCMC. In addition, 60 Easter Dinners were provided for our parish, the VNA and the Granby Food Bank. Thank you all for incredible generosity!  

Congratulations to all our students who received the gift of the Holy Spirit through the Sacrament of Confirmation on April 21st. The Mass was celebrated at the Cathedral of Saint Joseph in Hartford. Archbishop Leonard Blair and Bishop Peter Rosazza were the celebrants. Congratulations to all who received this Sacrament!

Deacon Art is one of three Connecticut residents who was honored by the Peace Center of Connecticut for his ability to inspire peace in our state and throughout the country. Deacon Art received the 2018 Peace Hero Award on April 19th at the Pond House Cafe, Elizabeth Park, West Hartford. Congratulations to Deacon Art on receiving this award!

We are pleased to announce the opening of our St. Mary's Church Traveling Library. A selection of seasonal faith-based books, CDs and DVD's will be available at our Library table in the Parish Center as part of our Coffee and Fellowship Cafe after the 8:00 and 9:30 AM Masses on select Sundays. Please come by for some nourishment for the mind, body and soul!

IGNITE will be selling baked goods after all Masses on April 21-22 and April 28-29. This fundraiser will help to cover costs for our annual trip to the Steubenville East Catholic Youth Conference. Over the past five years, our parishioners have been very supportive. We are grateful for your generosity! To learn more about this Catholic youth conference, click the title.