A Year of Faith Lecture Series on the Catechism of the Catholic Church is being offered beginning in October. Dates include Oct. 10, 17, 24, Nov. 7, 14,21, Dec. 12, & 19. All sessions are from 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. at Our Lady of Sorrows of Retreat Center, 420 N. Main St., St. Martinville. Sessions are free of charge and no registration is necessary. Info: 337-394-6550.
Category: Year of Faith
Last First Friday
Well, not really, but this Friday, Oct. 4, at 6:00 p.m., is our last session focusing on the teachings of the Second Vatican Council in celebration of the Year of Faith. That Council remains the greatest gift of God to the Church in the modern era. We pray that one day, it will be fully implemented, with its vision and hope made a reality in the daily life of the Church. Past sessions can be found here.
Faith of our Fathers
Session 6 – October 7, 8, & 9
Plan to attend “Faith of Our Fathers”, a series of three-night sessions featuring Priests of the Central Region as speakers each night. Our final session will be held on October 7, 8, & 9 from 6:30-8:00 p.m. at Holy Cross Catholic Church, Lafayette. Our speakers are Rev. Howard Blessing (Monday, October 7); Rev. Gilbert Dutel (Tuesday, October 8); and Rev. Steven LeBlanc (Wednesday, October 9). Each night will begin with an Opening Prayer led by Very Rev. Thomas James, SVD, VE, Episcopal Vicar for the Central Region. Please join us as “our Fathers” share their witness of faith with us – all are welcome!!! Pre-registration is not required, and there is no fee to attend. For more information on “Faith of our Fathers”, please contact Mary Bergeron (654-8682).
Reflections of Faith
In Word and Song
As part of the Diocesan celebration of the Year of Faith, the West Region recently sponsored an evening of sacred song, entitled Reflections of Faith in Word and Song. The evening featured Msgrs. Keith Derouen & Russell Harrington with Frs. Whitney Miller and Mark Melancon. You can watch a video recording of the presentation here.
Faith of our Fathers
Session 5 – July 29, 30, 31
Please join the Central Region in celebrating the “Year of Faith” with “Faith of our Fathers”, a series three-night sessions featuring Priests of the Central Region as speakers each night. Our next session will be held on July 29, 30, 31 from 6:30-8:00 p.m. at St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church, 610 Raintree Trail, Lafayette. Our speakers are Rev. Harold Trahan (Monday, July 29); Rev. Thomas Voorhies (Tuesday, July 30); and Rev. Gary Schexnayder (Wednesday, July 31). Each night will begin with an Opening Prayer led by Very Rev. Thomas James, SVD, VE, Episcopal Vicar for the Central Region. Please join us as “our Fathers” share their witness of faith with us – all are welcome!!! Pre-registration is not required, and there is no fee to attend. For more information on “Faith of our Fathers”, please contact Mary Bergeron (654-8682).
Catechism Lecture Series
In keeping with the Year of Faith, a series of lectures on the Catechism will be offered on select Thursdays during June, July & August at Our Lady of Sorrows Retreat Center. Details on dates and locations are on this flyer. Details on dates & location are on this flyer.
Men of Faith Retreat
The “Men of Faith Retreat”, a silent retreat for men in the “Year of Faith”, will be held May 31-June 2 (Friday 7:00 p.m. – Sunday 3:00 p.m.) at Our Lady of Sorrows Retreat House, 420 N. Main Street, St. Martinville. Presenter will be Father Michael Champagne. For registration information, please call Vic Guidry (337-824-3045).
Year of Faith North Region Music Festival
As a means of celebrating the Year of Faith, a music festival will be held on Sunday, May 19, from 4:00-6:00 p.m. at the Opelousas Civic Center off the Creswell Lane Extension, directly in front of the Super Wal-Mart. The aim of the festival is to portray how music helps in expressing our Faith. Choirs will be drawn from throughout the Northern Region of the Diocese and will show the different ways in which music can express Faith. The festival is free and open to the public. Please take time to come in and listen to the different groups who have prepared special music for this event. For more information, please contact Jackie Griffin (831-2621). More info on flyer.
Faith of our Fathers” – Session 4
May 6, 7, 8 – UPDATED SPEAKERS – Please join the Central Region in celebrating the “Year of Faith” with “Faith of our Fathers”, a series three-night sessions featuring Priests of the Central Region as speakers each night. Our next session will be held on May 6, 7, and 8 from 6:30-8:00 p.m. at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, 610 N. Main Street, Breaux Bridge. Our speakers are Rev. Paul LaFleur (Monday, May 6); Rev. Joseph Campion, SSJ (Tuesday, May 7) and Rev. Chester Arceneaux (Wednesday, May 8). Each night will begin with an Opening Prayer led by Very Rev. Thomas James, SVD, VE, Episcopal Vicar for the Central Region. Please join us as “our Fathers” share their witness of faith with us – all are welcome!!! Pre-registration is not required, and there is no fee to attend. For more information on “Faith of our Fathers”, please contact Mary Bergeron (654-8682).
The Cardinal’s Lenten Message
As the Church prepares to begin this Holy Week, we offer the text of the 2013 Lenten Message given by then Cardinal Jorge Mario Gergoglio, S.J., now Pope Francis. Perhaps it will assist us in re-committing ourselves to making the most of these final days of Lent, especially by preparing for and participating fully in the liturgies of the Triduum: Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday night:
To the priests, the consecrated and the laity of the Archdiocese,
Rend your hearts, not your garments;
Return now to the Lord your God,
Because He is compassionate and merciful,
Slow to anger and rich in mercy …
Little by little we get used to hearing and seeing, through the media, the black chronicle of contemporary society, presented almost with perverse enjoyment and we also get used to touching it and hearing it around us and in our own flesh. The drama is in the street, in the neighborhood, in our home, and, why not, in our heart. The suffering of the innocent and peaceful never ceases to hit us; contempt for the rights of the most fragile persons and peoples are not that foreign to us; the dominance of money with its demonic effects such as drugs, corruption, the trafficking of persons, including children, together with material and moral misery are the common currency. The destruction of fitting work, the painful emigrations and the lack of a future are also added to this symphony. Our errors and sins as Church are also not absent from this great panorama. The most personal egoisms are justified, and not because of this are they lesser, the lack of ethical values in a society that metastasizes in families, in the coexistence of neighborhoods, villages and cities, speak to us of our limitation, of our weakness and of our inability to transform this innumerable list of destructive realities.
St. Patrick Catholic Church 
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