Sat  4 PM Confessions: - Fr. Gepiga
        5 PM - Fr.  Gepiga

Sun 7:30 AM - Fr. MacDonald
        9:30 AM - Fr. Gepiga
        11:30 AM - Fr. Mazza

Sat  4 PM Confessions: - Fr. Stump
        5 PM: - Fr. Stump

Sun 7:30 AM - Fr. Mazza
        9:30 AM - Fr. MacDonald
        11:30 AM - Fr. Gepiga

While we must pray for the repose of the Holy Souls in Purgatory as often as possible, the Catholic Church devotes the month of November to specially pray for all the dead.
 
Theologians have long taught that the Church – the Mystical Body of Christ – has three states: MILITANT, SUFFERING and TRIUMPHANT. We, the members of the Church who exist on earth, are called the Church Militant, because we struggle against sin and temptations from the world, the flesh and the devil. 
 
The Holy Souls in Purgatory are called the Church Suffering.  The reason is that some souls are not prepared at the time of death to behold the Face of God, because we must be purified in order to be able to stand in the Presence of the All-Holy, All-Pure, Almighty God of Infinite Light, Love, Majesty and Glory.
 
The Church Triumphant is the Church in Heaven.
 
The unity and cooperation of the members of the Church on earth, in Purgatory and in Heaven is called the Communion of Saints.
 
“To assist the Souls in Purgatory, is to perform the most excellent of the works of mercy.”  – Saint Francis de Sales
 
 

I believe in God the Father almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth (out of nothing); and in Jesus Christ His only Son, Our Lord, who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit (making Him True God) and was born of the Virgin Mary (making Him truly human).  He (Jesus) suffered under Pontius Pilate (to establish the exact point in History when Jesus was on earth), was Crucified (accepting the most painful form of death ever known to humans), died (because He took the punishment for our sins upon Himself.  The wages of sin is death.) and was buried.  He (Jesus) descended into Hell (“to Proclaim Liberty to Captives” and freed the souls of the Just – who were trapped there after the Fall of Man, awaiting release – thereby fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah in Luke 4:16 - 19).  On the third day, He rose again from the dead (destroying death and restoring Life to all).  He ascended into Heaven (our true Home, to open its gates and prepare a place for us there) and sits at the right hand of God the Father almighty (i.e. in the position of ultimate majesty and power).  From there He shall come (in glory, as King) to judge the living and the dead.
 
I believe in the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of Truth and Love); the Holy Catholic Church (formed by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and sanctified by Him); the Communion of Saints (all sanctified by the Holy Spirit); the forgiveness of Sins (by the power of the Holy Spirit, in the sacrament of Confession); the resurrection of the body (by the power of the Holy Spirit who changes our bodies into a glorified body that can never die); and the Life everlasting (eternal life – through, with and in the Holy Trinity).  Amen. (So be it.)
 

Dear Parishioners and Friends,
At about 8 o’clock on the Thursday evening of the 21^st of August, 1879, the  Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Joseph and St. John the Evangelist appeared at the South gable of the Church at Knock, County Mayo, Ireland.  Beside them and a little to the right was an altar with a cross and the figure of a lamb, around which angels hovered.  There were fifteen official witnesses to the apparition – young and old – who watched it for two hours in pouring rain and recited the Rosary.  Two Commissions of Enquiry accepted their testimony as trust-worthy and satisfactory in 1879 and 1936.
Today, Knock ranks among the world’s major Marian Shrines, having enjoyed the full approval of the Church, for many years.  It has received privileges from five Popes.  St. John Paul II visited on 30^th September 1979.  Pope Francis visited on August 26, 2018.  Please pray to Our Lady of Knock for our families, our Church, our Holy Father, our priests, deacons, and religious.   Please join in our Second Annual Novena to Our Lady of Knock.
On bended knee let us beg Our Lady of Knock, through her powerful intercession, to come to our assistance and answer our prayers.
For more information on Our Lady of Knock, please consult the few reflections that I put together, that are found at the church entrance.  The full schedule is on the reverse of this letter. 

Yours in the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
 Fr. Mark G. Mazza, Pastor
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Why Our Lady of Knock
That is a very good question. Many are quite familiar with Our Lady of Lourdes and Our Lady of Fatima, but not so much Our Lady of Knock. Yet she was seen by at least fifteen people on the evening of August 21st, 1879 at the gable of the parish church in Knock, Ireland. Read more...

Second Annual Novena to Our Lady of Knock (pdf) - Wed August 14th until Thursday, August 22nd, 2019 - see also News and/or Events calendar and Mass Times during the Novena.

Our Lady of Knock Novena Prayer (pdf)

Unveiling of the Apparition Mosaic, Knock Shrine (Video)

We gathered and watched Jennifer Fuwiler's Faith and Reason Series here at IHM.  Here are the links to the two talks in case you are interested:

• Jennifer Fulwiler's talk at the Stuebenville Conference about her journey from atheist to Catholic: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BU5EAFbVXzk
• Jennifer Fulwiler's second appearance on the Journey Homehttps://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yORuV2U55tw