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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.

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

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!