St. Mary Parish and Cemetery is so proud to announce that we will once again have our Memorial Day Mass on the grounds of St. Mary Cemetery on Memorial Day at 12 pm (noon). This outdoor Mass is such a wonderful opportunity for families to remember all their loved ones buried in our cemetery and for the parish to pray for those we have lost. We are thankful for our wonderful Parish Music Director, Felicia, who will be providing music for Mass on her keyboard.

On Thursday May 26th, flags and flowers will be placed on the Veteran’s graves at St. Mary’s and Central Cemetery by town residents and students from the Randolph schools who have volunteered to be part of our town’s remembrance of our fallen Veterans. It is a moving tribute to see these flowers and flags flying all over our cemetery.

Memorial Day has also become a day of remembrance for all our friends and family who have died. It is awe inspiring to watch families come to St. Mary’s Cemetery to plant flowers and pay respect to Veterans and to all those who are buried in this sacred ground. All through the year, many people come to the cemetery to visit their loved ones, talk a walk, ride bikes, or just enjoy the beauty of nature. It is truly a sacred place. Please know your loved ones are cherished here and come help us celebrate this sacred day.

Holy Week Schedule 2022

8/11/21

Please download the following documents concerning registration for Religious Education in the Fall of 2021.

• Religious Education Registration Form 2021
• Religious Education Newsletter 2021
• Religious Education Billing Form 2021

We are in the middle of decision making concerning Religious Education and Faith Formation for the Fall. This past year all classes were on Zoom! We did it and we are proud of the way all our catechists embraced the challenge of Zoom. Our hope is to be fully open to in-person classes in September. We are waiting for final guidelines regarding children and masks and any possible distancing protocols. As soon as our plans are final we will announce our registration process here on the website, by mail & email and in our bulletin. Stay tuned!

SATURDAY

4 pm

SUNDAY

8 am

10 am – In Person and Live-Stream
For Live-Stream go to our Facebook Page at Saint Mary Parish, Randolph
(We will not be live streaming on Sunday June 27)

WATCH OUR VIDEO
CLICK HERE https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Mh1BkmZ8KcRnsW4M_UNGiUpDZ_V_Who9/view?usp=sharing

READ FR. PHIL’S LETTER

June 17, 2021,

Recently I was sitting in a chair in the kitchen wondering what I was going to eat. I am learning how to cook for the first time in my life. Fr. Vincent Doolin was such a wonderful cook and when he died a few months ago, I knew I would have to learn how to cook. I am not starving but I have discovered anew the meaning of adventure. More importantly, I think of some of the conversations and the meals we shared and it is still difficult at times to speak about his loss.

These past months have been a time like no other time. Many of us have lost family members, friends, and associates or have seen them become very ill as a result of covid 19 or other illnesses. Many of us have experienced pain because of this and not being able to be with them or even say good- bye has caused even more angst and pain. All of us have seen restrictions in what we can do or not do including not being able to gather to celebrate Mass together. If you are like me, you wondered when this would end and what “being normal” would look like. It was prayer and other people who helped me through this period and the times I felt almost helpless wondering about the future. Nobody likes going through such times of pain.

Pain may serve a purpose. Pain shows us that something may be out of the ordinary and needs to be addressed. Pain takes us out of our comfort zones and lets us know we have issues that need our attention. These past fifteen months have been full of pain. Some of this pain has been devastating and life changing like losing friends and loved ones, loss of employment or wondering if we will see some people and friends again. Personally, some I will never see again; they have died. So many have lost loved ones.

For many of us it was painful not to be able to celebrate the Eucharist together or even be with each other. For a moment now, please picture and think about our church, the tabernacle, the altar, the crucifix, the candles, the children, the singing, the seasons of the year and the special moments of St. Mary Church in your life. I trust you are missing the church, but please know that others are missing you as well if you still, for whatever reasons, are not with us. (This is not a judgement, but to let you know you are missed.) These past fifteen months have been difficult because you were unable to receive our Lord in the Eucharist at Mass and be with others in our parish family.

I hope that the inner pain during these past fifteen months have helped all of us to think about and focus on the important parts of life such as faith, family, hope, health, forgiveness, friendship, kindness and each other. Hopefully, by the grace of God, we are turning the corner on this pandemic. Each of us is called to do our part. Cardinal Sean has lifted the dispensation from participating in Sunday Mass. We have decided to take down the blue tape and completely open the Church. People are now being vaccinated, but it is going to take time to return to normalcy. We are excited for this to happen and our parish and ushers will be ready to welcome you.

Our Parish Council has assembled a Welcome Back committee. This committee is hard at work planning events to celebrate our full return to Eucharist and our parish “re-opening” in a big way. I think we can all use a celebration this year! Our first event is scheduled for Friday July 9th at 7P.M. called “Fill the Church with music”. We are excited to welcome back a group of our young people to put the song books back in the benches. And save the date for the weekend of Sept. 11 & 12 for our WELCOME BACK weekend. Please stay tuned for more details.

These past months have shown us that life is short and fragile and that we cannot take anyone or anything for granted. Your being part of our parish family means a lot to me and to others.

Sincerely,

Fr. Phil

COVID-19 VACCINATION CLINIC

SAINT MARY PARISH, RANDOLPH

The Randolph Board of Health will hold vaccination clinics in our Church Hall.

Sun. June 20 & Sun. June 27

from 9 am to 12 pm

To Register (choose one)

1. At www.townofrandolph.com.

2. WALK-INS WELCOME

The Pfizer vaccine is approved for anyone 12 years of age and up and requires two doses.

This clinic will also offer the one shot J and J vaccine for those 18 years of age and older.

Vaccine offered FREE of charge!

Neither proof of citizenship or health insurance required.

As you know, As of May 29, masks are no longer required for vaccinated people in the State of Mass. The State does advise that non-vaccinated people continue to wear masks.”

As of this weekend, all the blue tape has been removed from every other bench and the arrows have been removed. We ask that each parishioner and family choose seats according to what is safe and necessary for their situation. Those vaccinated do not need to wear masks. Many who are vaccinated are not ready to take off their masks in large gatherings and will continue to wear them. Those who are unvaccinated are advised to wear masks. Our great team of ushers will be available if you need assistance.

A few weeks ago, we also returned to our pre-Covid procedure for receiving Communion. If you are just returning, ushers will also be available at Communion time if you have any questions.

MEMORIAL DAY

Once again, we will not be scheduling our usual outdoor Memorial Day Mass at St. Mary Cemetery. This Mass has in the past been attended by almost 300 people and we do not feel that we have enough space to accommodate that many people due to Covid-19 restrictions. We are hopeful that next year our outdoor Mass will be scheduled once again. We cannot wait.

This coming week, flags and flowers will be placed on the Veteran’s graves at St. Mary’s and Central Cemetery by town residents, students from Randolph Public Schools and Sailors from the USS Constitution who have volunteered to be part of our town’s remembrance of our fallen Veterans. It is a moving tribute to see these flowers and flags flying all over our cemetery.

Memorial Day has also become a day of remembrance for all our friends and family who have died. It is awe inspiring to watch families come to St. Mary’s Cemetery to plant flowers and pay respect to Veterans and to all those who are buried in this sacred ground. All through the year, many people come to the cemetery to visit their loved ones, talk a walk, ride bikes, or just enjoy the beauty of nature. It is truly a sacred place. The following tribute hangs in our Cemetery Office as a reminder of what we do each day.

THIS IS A CEMETERY

Lives are commemorated – deaths are recorded – families are reunited – memories are made tangible – and love is undisguised. This is a cemetery.

Communities accord respect, families bestow reverence, historians seek information, and our heritage is thereby enriched.

Testimonies of devotion, pride and remembrance are carved in stone to pay warm tribute to accomplishments and to the life – not death – of a loved one. The cemetery is homeland for family memorials that are a sustaining source of comfort to the living.

A cemetery is a history of people – a perpetual record of yesterday and a sanctuary of peace and quiet today. A cemetery exists because every life is worth living and remembering – always.

This tribute was provided by the Barre Granite Association