Dear friends,

 + The month of May and the Holy Rosary

Christian devotion dedicates the month of May, which we have just begun, to Mary God's mother and our mother also.

In Europe, people built little shrines and in the evening they gather round them to pray together the Rosary.

The Rosary (from Latin rosarium, meaning "rose garden" or "garland of roses") is a popular and traditional Roman Catholic devotion. The term denotes both a set of prayer beads and the devotional prayer itself, which combines vocal (or silent) prayer and meditation. Each “Hail Mary that is prayed is intended to be the offering of one rose to Mary.

The prayers consist of repeated sequences of the Lord's Prayer followed by ten prayings of the Hail Mary and a single praying of "Glory Be to the Father"; each of these sequences is known as a decade.

The praying of each decade is accompanied by meditation on one of the Mysteries of the Rosary, which are events in the lives of Jesus Christ and his mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The traditional 15 Mysteries of the Rosary were finalized by the 16th century. The mysteries are grouped into three sets: the joyful mysteries, the sorrowful mysteries, and the glorious mysteries.

To encourage us to pray the Holy Rosary in groups or individually, booklets and rosaries will be made available at the entrance of the church. 

+ “May Crowning”:

We are privileged to have in our Parish the traditional “May Crowning.” It is a special way of honoring Mary which usually takes on the first Sunday of May. Mary’s statue is brought closer to the faithful to symbolize a closer bond and a more intimate friendship with her.

The statue of Mary is then placed in a place of honor and decorated with flowers. This moving tradition has been kept alive in our Parish through the dedication of “Santa Maria Incoronata Club” better known as SMI. For the occasion, both Mary and the child Jesus are crowed with gold crowns by a group of Italians whose ethnic roots are to be traced back to this church.  During the year the crowns are kept safe in a bank since they are of gold encrusted with gems made by the early Italian parishioners.

We want to keep this tradition alive, and pass it on to our children, as a precious religious and cultural heritage. I wish to invite everybody, especially representatives from other Parish groups, to join in this celebration.
Refreshments will follow in the Church basement. This event is organized by the SMI Club.

 + “May Crowning” by our school children.

It will take place at our Church on May 4th  at 1:00 PM at our church. Our school-children, the first time in years, last year asked and wanted to also have it.

Mrs. Maria Fisherorganized the first edition of it.  Mrs. Carol Patterson, Mr. Peter Campana, and Mr. Joe Delfin  are organizing it this year. Our children will march in procession from the school premises to our Church. Representatives of each Grade will offer to Mary a rose, symbolizing their love and their request for protection and blessing.

+ Thank You to Fr. Tim.

This Sunday Fr Tim will be celebration one of his last “Cantonese Mass” for our community. He will be leaving for NY on May 24th. On July 12th he will celebrating his last Mass with us to then move to his new assignment.

On behalf of our community I wish to thank him for his dedication and service. He was not only a priest, but also a good friend and we shall miss him greatly.

As he moves on we want to assure him of our prayer. Thank you, Fr. Tim! 

+ Rite of Commissioning for Ministers of Holy Communion:  

During May the 9:30 a.m. Mass the newly certified Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion will be commissioned to administer the body and blood of our Lord and so serve to build up our Church.

Let us keep them in our prayers:

+ "How to Use Your Guitar in Liturgy".

In this bulletin I share with you some few thoughts about Liturgy and the music ministry. Last Sunday we saw how the guitars brought a special zest to Mass.

Lily May and Joe are organizing a special group in our Parish. A guitar “jamming session” with Steve Marion will be held in the church basement on Fri. May 15th from 7:00P.M. till 9:00P.M.

For more information, please read the attached article.

+ Scholarship Award: 2009

Through the generosity of an anonymous donor, also this year, St. Therese parish is able to offer “College Scholarships”.

Application-forms are available at the church entrance. Application deadline: May 24th, 2009.
Please, note that applications, complete with required documents, must be post-marked or hand-delivered by this date to St. Therese Church. They should be sent to the attention of: “The Scholarship Committee”

+ Meet the Wilderness

“A Leadership and Educational Experience” It was discussed at the recent Cluster meeting of Priests and it is a wonderful opportunity to bond with people other than Chinese and a different environment. The total cost is only $500: a bargain!

It is meant for current 8th grade through high school boys and girls.  Backpacking, Hiking, Rock Climbing, Camping in the Colorado Wilderness .July 21-28, 2009.
See attachment

+ Parish Council Meeting:

It is long overdue. We had put it on hold be cause of the many meetings we had to prepare “Board of Specific Jurisdiction” at the transition as from July 1st.

We shall meet at the Church basement on May 13th at 7:00PM. It is the last PPC for this Pastoral Year and a crucial one.
For your convenience I have prepared a “Provisional Agenda” which I have attached, with prayer to go through it and suggest items for discussion.

+ International Noodles Night:

Darlene Chan has prepared the list of donors as far as we can recollect. As from the Financial Report, we were able to raise a good amount of money: the total profit is given ate the end of the bulletin.

We had a very limited time left and there was a lot of work to be done, as those involved can testify,  nevertheless it was a SUCCESS because WE WERE UNITED and we were able to team-work.

It was a wonderful and memorable experience. It made me physically feel God’s presence in our midst. I am not exaggerating: only God is able to bring and keep and keep peacefully together so many ethnic groups. It reminded me of the writing we have in Church: “Together with Christ we are one happy family, the Church!”

+ Monies

Last Sunday collection                                                                                 $1,723.00
International Noodles Night Fundraiser                                                        $5,706.00
Mandarin Mass                                                                                             $  120.00