Dear friends in Christ,
With the Season of Christmas behind us, we now anticipate the local
celebrations of our patron, Saint Francis de Sales. As you know, for the last three
years we have organized our Forty Hours Eucharistic Devotion to coincide with his
feast day. This year, we especially welcome the Apostolic Letter Totum Amoris Est
about this great doctor of the Church, in honor of the 400th anniversary of his death.
You can find the text of that letter here:https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_letters/documents/20221228-
totum-amoris-est.html.
For those unfamiliar, the Forty Hours Eucharistic Devotion is a period of three days
in which a we hold a kind of parish retreat, marked by all-day adoration of the Most
Blessed Sacrament. Forty Hours will begin with Mass at 10:15am on Sunday, January
22 nd . Adoration will then continue throughout that day, concluding with Benediction
at 5pm. On Monday and Tuesday – January 23 rd and 24 th – Mass will be offered at
7am as usual, with adoration continuing throughout the day, closing with Benediction
at 7pm those two days. The guest homilist for the three evening services will be
Father Addisalem Mekonnen, a native son of Saint Francis de Sales Parish. The theme
for his talks will be: Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
I would ask all parishioners to consider signing up for an adoration slot, either on the boards in
church or right here at this link: https://sfdsphilly.flocknote.com/signup/110382.
A quick update on our building project. I met with the architect and masonry firm last
week to discuss the details of the work, which will begin right around March 1 st and
take about six months to complete. We are 2/3 of the way to our $300,000
fundraising goal in support of this major effort, which will ensure the continued
the beauty of our church building for many years and will also be a great blessing to our
neighbors and community who are ready for our scaffolding to come down!
May God be Blessed!
–Father Eric Banecker