All Diocesan Articles

 

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Heavenly Father, Through all generations, You have chosen men to serve You by sharing in the Holy Priesthood of Christ, Your Son. We beg You to call men from our diocese to serve as priests at the altar, and to send Your Holy Spirit to help them discern Your call. Give them understanding to know Your will and courage to follow it. Pour out, too, Your grace upon women from our parishes to serve You in religious life, formed after the model of our Blessed Mother. We ask this through our eternal High Priest and King, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. &nbs...

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The Jubilee Year is a sacred time of renewal, grace, and joy proclaimed by the Church every 25 years. For 2025, Pope Francis has announced the Jubilee Year under the theme “Spes Non Confundit” (Hope Does Not Disappoint), taken from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans (Rom 5:5). In his papal bull of proclamation, the Holy Father invites all Catholics to embrace this year as a time of profound encounter with God’s mercy and hope, symbolized by the opening of Holy Doors in cathedrals and churches around the world. The Jubilee Year offers an invitation to...

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Bishop Emeritus Michael R. Cote has led a life defined by unwavering faith, dedication, and service to the Catholic Church. Born in Sanford, Maine, on June 19, 1949, he was raised in a family deeply rooted in Catholic values. His parents, Paul and Margaret Alma (Trottier) Cote, greatly influenced his early formation, but as Bishop Cote recalls, it was Sister Celeste, his second-grade teacher, who said, “‘Michael, you will play the role of a priest in the school play’” that planted a seed that would later take root. During his college years he began t...

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The Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God On January 1, Catholics honor Mary’s unique role in salvation history with the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, a Holy Day of Obligation. This feast underscores Mary’s title as Theotokos, or “God-bearer,” a doctrine officially declared at the Council of Ephesus in 431. At the close of the council, the faithful filled the streets, joyfully proclaiming, “Praised be the Theotokos!” Mary’s title as “Mother of God” is rooted in the Incarnation, where, as St. Paul teaches: “...

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