“Beloved, now is the acceptable time spoken of by the Spirit, the day of salvation, peace and reconciliation: the great season of Advent. This is the time eagerly awaited by the patriarchs and prophets, the time that holy Simeon rejoiced to see.” - St. Charles Borromeo During the four weeks of Advent, we prepare for the celebration of Christ’s birth through prayer and reflection. We contemplate the First Coming of Jesus as Savior, and anticipate His promised Second Coming. And amid the flurry of Christmas preparations, we look for practi...

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Peace:  freedom from disturbance; tranquility. (Oxford Dictionary) According to this definition all of us that live and breathe do not have a chance at attaining peace!  Every waking moment of every day we are inundated by some “disturbance” that requires our physical and emotional attention.  The advances in technology have widened our circle of friends, enhanced our knowledge base and complicated our lives beyond anyone’s imagination.  So how and where are we supposed to find peace this Advent season? The peace that calms our...

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advent

"I wish to encourage the beautiful family tradition of preparing the nativity scene in the days before Christmas, but also, the custom of setting it up in the workplace, in schools, hospitals, prisons and town squares."  Pope Francis Holiday Greetings from the Communications Office, On the First Sunday of Advent Pope Francis issued an apostolic letter, Admirabile signum, on the meaning and importance of nativity scenes, calling for this “wonderful sign” to be more widely displayed in family homes and public places throughout the world. I...

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advent

By Shari L. Marderness St. Bernard School senior Lauren O’Donnell was recognized as the 2020 St. Edmund’s Honor Scholarship Recipient on October 25th during the 16th Annual St. Edmund’s Medal of Honor Dinner at the Mystic Marriott Hotel. The scholarship was established in memory of the members of the Society of St. Edmund who served as faculty and staff members of St. Bernard School. Instituted in 2007, the endowed Saint Edmund’s Honor Scholarship is given annually to a first semester senior of St. Bernard School who has shown, through acade...

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Norwich, Catholic, Youth

FCC News Desk The weekend of October 19th saw a flurry of activity at St. Vincent de Paul Place. Crews from the Lowe’s in Lisbon and Waterford worked all weekend alongside community service workers, volunteers and staff painting the second-floor hallway and dining room. The effort started about two months ago, with a tour of the facility, and culminated with a weekend of transformation and two truckloads of donations. The donations included shelving, cleaning supplies, a power washer, table saw, floor mats for the kitchen, a freezer and lots of pa...

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Norwich, Catholic, St. Vincent de Paul Place

On December 12, 2019, faithful from across our Diocese will gather at the Cathedral of Saint Patrick to celebrate The Annual Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Join us at 6:30pm to pray the Rosary and attend Confession. The bilingual  Eucharistic Celebration will begin at 7pm. The Most Reverend Michael R. Cote, D.D., Bishop of Norwich is the Principal Celebrant. Following the Liturgical celebration, please join us for a fiesta of delightful music, delicious food & warm fellowship, as together we honor Our Lady and ask her intercession for peace in...

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    When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, "Woman, here is your son." Then he said to the disciple, "Here is your mother." And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.                                                  &...

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HOPE Hope is defined as a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen: a feeling of trust.   Life in today’s world has more than its share of uncertainty.  Will we go to war? Will I lose my job? Will I remain healthy?  Will I have enough money when I retire? Are our children safe in school?   As Christians we cannot be certain of anything in our material world.  However, we can be certain of God’s promises: God loves us unconditionally, gives us life through the death of Jesus, will welcome us in...

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By Ryan Blessing The voices of the Norwich Diocesan Choir echoed through the Cathedral of St. Patrick and candlelight washed over the faces of those present during the annual concert and Compline on Sunday, November 17th. The concert and Compline were organized under the supervision of new music director Michael Lianos, who conducted the choir in the cathedral loft. Michael McCarthy was the organist for the concert. “Where charity and love are, God is there,” is the translation of the Latin verse, “Ubi Caritas et amor, Deus ibi est,” the first ...

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Norwich, Catholic

The latest issue of the Four County Catholic is available now, and is filled cover to cover with news from within the Diocese of Norwich. Inside is a look at three very special Masses: The Anniversary Mass, the Mass for Firefighters and EMS personnel and the Red, White and Blue Mass for our military members and veterans. The annual Seton Scholarship Dinner is also featured, along with photos from the dinner and the above Masses. There also are columns by Bishop Cote, the Office of Faith Events, the schools, and news from the ministries within the D...

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Catholic, schools