St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish

Join the WIGL Ladies of St. Max (Women Increasing God’s Love) for a house plant exchange on Earth Day, April 22nd, from 9-11 AM at the East Pembroke cottage (next to the Church, 8650 Church Street, East Pembroke).  Bring a cutting of your healthy plant to the cottage to swap. Stay awhile for coffee, cake and conversation. 

If you would like to donate flower in honor of a loved one to place around the church sites during the Easter Season, please bring them during Holy Week. Please be sure to indicate the names of those who it is in honor of as it will be printed in the parish bulletin in the weeks following Easter Sunday.

St John the Baptist Church, Sandridge Road, Alden, invites you to celebrate the Feast of Divine Mercy on Sunday, April 16th.  All are welcome.

Prior to the Feastday, please begin praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet for the 9 consecutive days beginning on Good Friday, April 7 through Saturday, April 15th. Then join us on Sunday, April 16th in celebration of this great gift of Mercy

2 PM Confessions 

2:30 Rosary with meditation

3 PM Divine Mercy program with chaplet       

Jesus spoke to St Faustina Kowalska of His desire to pour out extra-ordinary graces of mercy upon sinners each year on one special day, the Feast of Divine Mercy celebrated the Sunday after Easter. He said to Sister Faustina:

“I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and a shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment.”

Congratulations to Nicholas Compton and Andrew Compton who were presented with the Altar Server Award on March 18^th, by Bishop Fisher at St. Joseph’s Cathedral.  The Bishop’s Altar Server Award was established to honor altar servers for their dedication and service to their parish. This award is presented to Nicholas and Andrew because of their enthusiasm, faithfulness, dedication and years of service as an Altar Server.

Thank you for your service to our Parish.

There will be an opportunity to prayerfully practice the Seven Churches Devotion, this Holy Thursday, while also getting to visit the various churches within our Family of Parishes! To celebrate this wonderful devotion, we have arranged for seven churches (listed below) to have Adoration available from 8-10pm. It would take the entire two hours if visiting all seven churches in the order below with five minutes at each location, but you may visit as many or as few churches in any order as you would like as you use this evening to keep watch with the Lord. For those who would like to carpool, please contact the parish office.

St. Maximilian Kolbe: Mass at 7pm at Corfu site followed by Adoration until 10pm

St. John the Baptist: Mass at 7pm followed by Adoration until 10pm

Immaculate Heart of Mary: Mass at 7pm at Darien site followed by Adoration until 10pm

St. John Neumann: Mass at 7pm at Strykersville site followed by Adoration until 10pm

Ss. Joachim & Anne: Mass at 7pm at Varysburg site followed by Adoration until 10pm

Ss. Joachim & Anne: Adoration at Attica site, 8-10pm

St. Maximilian Kolbe: Adoration at E. Pembroke site, 8-10pm

Holy Thursday is the feast that marks the end of Lent and the beginning of the Holy Triduum, which includes Good Friday, Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday. At the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, Catholics remember the Passover meal, when Jesus instituted the sacrament of the holy Eucharist by sharing bread and wine with his disciples, saying, “Do this in memory of Me.” At the end of Mass, the Eucharist is placed on a temporary “altar of repose” away from the sanctuary. The faithful then spend time in quiet prayer and adoration. The Seven Churches devotion and Pilgrimage is a tradition that grew out of this time of prayer and adoration. We remember when Jesus asked his disciples to stay and watch with Him while they were in the garden. This tradition of mindful watching is a sort of pilgrimage to various altars of repose in different churches that correspond to each of the seven places, or “stations,” that were made by Jesus between the Last Supper to His crucifixion on the cross. You travel to seven local churches on the evening of Holy Thursday. These visits recall the final seven places Jesus went from his arrest on Holy Thursday to his death on Good Friday.

The seven stations consist of: Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22: 39-46), Jesus bound and taken before Annas (John 18: 19-22), Jesus taken before the High Priest, Caiaphas (Matthew 26: 63-65), Jesus taken before Pilate (John 18, 35-37), Jesus taken before Herod (Luke 23: 8-9; 11), Jesus taken before Pilate again (Matthew 27: 22-26) and Jesus given the crown of thorns and led to his crucifixion (Matthew 27: 27-31).

Upon entering each church, pilgrims visit the altar of repose, kneel, make the sign of the cross, read the appropriate scripture for each station and engage in private prayer and adoration. You may add other prayers as well.

The Seven Churches Visitation is a powerful way to spend time in adoration, meditating on Christ’s sacrifice of love for the salvation of souls in preparation for the joy of Easter. There is something special about visiting churches at night. It is not just because of the opportunity to visit other parishes, it’s because of intentionally seeking Christ to spend time with Him and contemplating the gift of His love.

Please join us for Live Stations of the Cross presented by our Jr/Sr High Faith Formation youth on Sunday, March 26^th at 7PM at the East Pembroke Church.

All are welcome to come and celebrate this special presentation of The Stations.

Join us Tuesday evenings, April 11^th, April 18^th and April 25^th at 6:30pm at the St. Max Social Hall for a three part showing of the movie “Risen.” Each night we will watch a part of the movie, followed by a discussion, and group prayer (bring your rosaries). We will have Eucharistic Adoration in the church at the conclusion of the retreat on April 25^th.

“Risen” is the epic Biblical story of the Resurrection, as told through the eyes of a non-believer. Clavius (Joseph Fiennes), a powerful Roman Military Tribune, and his aide Lucius (Tom Felton), are tasked with solving the mystery of what happened to Jesus in the weeks following the crucifixion, in order to disprove the rumors of a risen Messiah and prevent an uprising in Jerusalem.

Please join us this upcoming Easter Season as we reflect on how the Resurrection of Christ affects our lives. All are Welcome!

Congratulations to Rick Jensen who has been presented with the St. Joseph the Worker Award by the Most Reverend Michael W. Fisher, Bishop of Buffalo, on behalf of St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish. Rick and others from the Diocese were honored at a special Mass on Saturday, March 11^th at St. Joseph Cathedral where he received his award and pin. 

Each year parishioners are honored for their dedication and service to the Church, specifically in their parish community. Rick and his family have been members of St. Maximilian Kolbe parish for over 50 years. Rick has served on the Buildings and Grounds committee, making many repairs to our church buildings himself and making arrangements for any work that was outside his expertise.  Rick has helped run the “pit crew” for our chicken BBQ, helped run many of our church events and has always been available to help whenever he was needed, even at a moment’s notice!

On behalf of your parish family at St. Max, Rick, we thank you for your devotion and unselfish labors in all that you do!

Lent calls us to focus on acts of prayer, fasting and almsgiving along with a renewed effort to discover the Lord more deeply in the scriptures. Lent also calls us to a true inner conversion of heart as we seek to follow Christ’s will more faithfully.

Many follow the instruction of abstaining from meat on Fridays during Lent, but we are also called to practice self-discipline and fast in other ways throughout the season.  This year Saint Patrick’s Day falls on Friday, a traditional day to abstain from eating meat. Recognizing the spiritual and cultural significance of Saint Patrick’s Day, I hereby grant a commutation of the discipline of abstaining from meat on March 17, 2023.

A commutation of this discipline means that those Catholics who choose to eat meat on Friday, March 17^th are obliged to choose another day before March 24^th to abstain from eating meat.

I hope this allows for a joyful celebration of Saint Patrick and Irish heritage, by blood or association, for all who find this day meaningful.

+Most Reverend Michael W. Fisher