Continue to pray for your fellow St. James parishioners each day during this Lenten Season! I ask each of you to pray an Our Father, Hail Mary, and a Glory be for your fellow parishioners. Offer those prayers for them that they might have the fortitude and grace to persevere in their Lenten exercises of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.
We are in this together as one parish family of faith. We can assist each other with our prayers.
Novena to St. Joseph
On Thursday, March 11th, we will begin a Novena to St. Joseph ending on his feast day, March 19th. Each day after the morning Mass, we will pray a Novena prayer. You don’t have to be in the church to participate in the Novena, simply pray it sometime during the day that is best for you! For nine days (hence the name – novena) we will pray the Novena prayer asking for the intercession of St. Joseph.
As we begin this Novena, have a particular intention in mind for which you would like St. Joseph to pray. St. Joseph is the Patron of a happy death. Perhaps you know someone who is dying and needs peace as they approach their final days. St. Joseph is the Patron of husbands and fathers. Perhaps you know someone who needs a little extra guidance and assistance to grow into that role in the family. St. Joseph is the Patron of the universal Church. Perhaps you would like to offer this prayer for our Holy Father. St. Joseph is the Patron of workers. Perhaps you know someone who needs employment at this time. St. Joseph is the Patron of the Carmelite Order. Perhaps you could offer the Novena for our Carmelite Sisters on Coffee Bluff here in Savannah.
We have available St. Joseph prayer cards with the Novena prayer on the back. Please pick one or more up from the table in the Narthex and join us as we invoke the assistance of St. Joseph, husband of Mary and father of Jesus.
Food Pantry
Saturday, March 20th, the day after the Solemnity of St. Joseph, will be the first day that our St. James Food Pantry will be open! Every third Saturday of the month, we will distribute food to those in need. One of the Corporal Works of Mercy is to give food to the hungry. In opening this Food Pantry, St. James will be fulfilling another Gospel mandate. What a beautiful thing it is to provide food for those who are hungry! Thank you to all who have volunteered for this ministry! My gratitude to the many who have worked to bring this to a reality! This ministry is needed here on the south side of Savannah and I am proud that St. James stepped in to fill this need! We are able to do this because of the great generosity of our parishioners, of you, who drop off food and give your tithe to the church! Thank you!
May the Lord bless you and your families abundantly this Lent!
~ Fr. Daniel Firmin