Did you know that we have two saint relics in our altar? The tradition goes back to the early church as some of the first Masses were celebrated on the tombs of martyrs. They offered prayers for them, but also sought their intercession. To this day, especially in Europe, many churches have saints buried beneath the altar of the main church or a side chapel. I was blessed to be able to celebrate Mass for the parish in Rome in the Basilica of St. Augustine in a chapel where St. Monica is buried. I took a copy of our school yearbook and placed it on the altar too. BUT I had wondered, the school kids asked when I shared about the trip with them, and I finally learned from the Diocesan Archives that we have relics of Saint Martyr Donatus (Bishop of Arezzo, Italy – 362 AD) and St. Innocent (I believe the first pope of his name – 400 AD). So the tradition of praying with and through (Not “to” – ultimately God answers our prayer, but saints’ prayers certainly help) the saints continues at every consecrated altar around the world!
Keep the priests of the diocese in your prayers as we will meet for this year’s convocation on Tuesday! (This year it is one day, while next year it is 4 days.) It’s an important time of prayer, fraternity, and discussion that I always look forward to!
As mentioned last week, the parish financial report will be given at the Masses next weekend.
