News - March 2025 RSS Feed

Parishioners are invited by the Cathedral Knights of Columbus Council to bring non-perishable food items for the North End Food Pantry to Stations of the Cross in the upper church each Friday at 5:30 PM. Containers for the food are at the back of the church.

Monsignor Routhier and Deacon Moore will lead Stations of the Cross Fridays at 5:30 PM upstairs in the main church, with soup and bread served in the parish hall after the devotions. Here is the schedule of groups who will read stations meditations each week: Mar 28 - Confirmation Class and Youth of the Parish April 4 - Youth Ministry April 11 - CCD Group Those assisting should arrive by 5:15 PM to be assigned a Station For more information, contact the Parish Office at 802-658-4333.

Grades 1 through 5 classes meet Sundays at 11:15 AM, usually in the Parish Hall, sometimes in the Blue Room. Classes run until 12:15 PM. Family Catechesis is the program for this year's religious education at the Cathedral. Parents attend classes with their students.

Following the closing of the La Salette Shrine in New Hampshire, Fr. Harlow, pastor of Corpus Christi Parish and past Cathedral rector, is asking Our Lady of La Salette for drug addiction healing at First Saturday Masses at his St. Johnsbury church. Fr. Harlow invites parishioners to send him names of addicts or communities afflicted by drug use, drug overdoses, and drug sales. All names will be kept secret and not mentioned at these Masses, but Father will pray for them to Our Lady. Please email names to [email protected]. Father asks that no one send money for this cause. The Enfield, NH shrine dedicated to the 1846 appearance in France of the Blessed Mother to French children, is giving its property back to the Shakers who donated it to the missionaries in 1927.

The Cathedral's Bishop DeGoesbriand Council will serve a pancake breakfast in the parish hall Sunday, April 6 from 9:00 to 11:30 AM. Come feast on all of your favorites: blueberry pancakes, bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, French toast and more. Coffee, juice, and real maple syrup included. The cost is $ 10 per person and $ 25 per family of four. Take-out containers available. Hope to see you there!

This devotion grew popular after Our Lady of Fatima spoke of it during her appearances to the shepherd children in that small Portuguese town in 1917. The Blessed Mother asked us to perform these devotions as reparation for sins against her Immaculate Heart and for the conversion of Russia: go to Confession within eight days before the First Saturday; attend Mass and receive Holy Communion; pray five decades of the Rosary; meditate on the Mysteries of the Rosary for 15 minutes. The Mother of God promised her help at the penitent’s death if these promises were kept.

First Friday devotions date from long ago, and center on the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In the seventeenth century, Our Lord asked French nun, now Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, to honor His Sacred Heart on nine consecutive first Fridays, by attending Holy Mass and receiving Holy Communion. Jesus said, “I promise you in the excessive mercy of my Heart that its all-powerful love will grant to all those who receive Holy Communion on nine first Fridays of consecutive months the grace of final repentance; they will not die under my displeasure or without receiving their sacraments, my divine Heart making itself their assured refuge at the last moment."

Today, we celebrate Rejoice Sunday, as we near the momentous feast of Easter Sunday. What a relief to hear those words, “Rejoice!”, as we journey through Lent, perhaps discouraged at our failure to keep our Lenten promises, of giving up a luxury, praying more, attending daily Mass, going to Confession more often, or we merely feel the strain of our struggle. Today, we can let down our burdens for a day, and express pure joy. Our priest wears a rose-colored vestment, or may choose to continue with penitential violet. We may decorate the church with flowers. Our first reading has the Lord give relief to His people: “Today I have removed the reproach of Egypt from you.: The Psalm invites us to “Taste and See the Goodness of the Lord,” as we praise Him. St. Paul implores us to be reconciled to God. Finally, we hear the familiar story of the prodigal son, and rejoice in God’s overflowing kindness to the repentant sinner.

Raffle tickets are on sale to raise funds for Joseph's House. Tickets are $25. Please see Joseph's House Director Deacon Dennis Moore to buy tickets. The prize is an Italian dinner for six diners, with five course prepared by Cathedral pastor Monsignor Peter Routhier.

Father in heaven, may the faith you have given us in your son, Jesus Christ, our brother, and the flame of charity enkindled in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, reawaken in us the blessed hope for the coming of your Kingdom. May your grace transform us into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel. May those seeks transform from within both humanity and the whole cosmos in the sure expectation of a new heaven and a new earth, when, with the powers of Evil vanquished, your glory will shine eternally. May the grace of the Jubilee reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope, a yearning for the treasures of heaven. May that same grace spread the joy and peace of our Redeemer throughout the earth. To you our God, eternally blessed by glory and praise for ever. Amen.

Monsignor will lead pilgrims to holy sites in Rome, Venice, Florence, and Assisi. Group members will pass through the Jubilee Holy Doors at St. Peter's Basilica and at the other Holy Door locations. The tour leaves from Boston. Please contact Dorothy Barewicz at the parish office for more information: [email protected]. or 802-658-4333.

The Diocese of Burlington has created a simple “passport” for parishioners to record their pilgrimage to the diocese's four Jubilee Churches. Throughout the Jubilee Year, which runs through December 28, pilgrims who visit the Jubilee Churches may have their passports stamped at the churches with the name and place of the Jubilee Church. Passports are available in the back of the church. The passport has space for six visits, so it can be filled for the Lenten Season and culminate during Holy Week. Two weeks can be a visit to any parish or even special time spent in prayer here in our own parish while the remaining four weeks can be visits to the Jubilee Churches. This six-week project is suitable for Lent and Holy Week, but can be accomplished anytime throughout the Jubilee Year. As a reminder, a Jubilee Indulgence can be gained by making a pilgrimage to any of the 4 Jubilee Churches. Here is the link for information on the Indulgence and Jubilee Churches: https://www.vermontcatholic.org/about/jubilee-year-2025/. The four Jubilee Churches are: Cathedral of Saint Joseph (Burlington); St. John the Evangelist (St. Johnsbury); St. Michael the Archangel (Brattleboro); Christ the King (Rutland). Passports for the Cathedral of St. Joseph can be found at the back of the church. Stamps are available after each Mass and at the Parish office during weekday office hours, Monday through Thursday, .

This week, we hear the famous story from Exodus of Moses and the burning bush. God establishes his identity and authority but also tells the patriarch, “I have come down to rescue them”, His people. The Psalm confirms, “The Lord is kind and merciful.” In his letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul alludes to the early Israelites and Moses, saying of their trials in the desert, “These things happened as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil things, as they did.” In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus talks about sinners, and their need to repent, lest they perish.

Monsignor Routhier invites the parish to a potluck supper in the parish hall after the 5:30 PM Mass Wednesday, March 19, the Solemnity of St. Joseph, spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Mass at 5:30 PM in the upper church celebrates the feast day of good St. Joseph, guardian of the Word Incarnate. Please bring a dish to share. There is no 12:05 PM Mass that day.

Our first reading, from the Old Testament, sees God drawing Abram into faith, with a miracle and promises of innumerable descendants. The Psalm affirms our desire for God: “Your presence, O Lord, I seek.” In the second reading, Paul tells the Philippians to avoid men who behave badly. “Their end is destruction,” he warns. “…stand firm in the Lord.” Our Gospel from Luke relates the Transfiguration, when the three apostles struggle to hold their ground at the vision of the glorified Jesus.

Bishop McDermott is inviting all of us to join together in greater prayer and sacrifice so that we can grow in holiness. One of the ways this can be done is through observing traditional Ember Days during the liturgical year. A short history & description follows for those who are unfamiliar with the practice. Ember Days The observance of Ember Days is a very ancient tradition in our Church with evidence of their existence in the third century, perhaps even earlier. By the late fifth century, Pope Gelasius writes of four periods of fasting in the spring, fall, summer, and winter. The practice of observing special days of fasting around the changing of the seasons seem to have begun in Rome, but the practice eventually spread by the fifth century. The Roman pagans at the time of the nascent Church would often dedicate time at the changing of the seasons to implore the gods of agriculture for a successful planting season, as well as for a bountiful harvest and rich vintage. The Catholic Church saw the laudable practice of imploring divine assistance with agricultural work, and sought to incorporate such prayer in its liturgical practices, helping to ease the conversion of the pagans to Christianity by incorporating and adapting elements with which they would already be familiar. By the mid eleventh century, Pope Gregory VII arranged and prescribed the Ember Days as they were celebrated for centuries following, designating 4 different sets of days (Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays) around the changing of seasons as days of prayer and fasting. Those days are as follows: Winter: Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after the Memorial of St. Lucy (December 13) Spring: Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after Ash Wednesday Summer: Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after Pentecost Sunday Fall: Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (September 14) Today, the Ember Days are considered days of prayer and fasting in the Church to remind us both of God's abundant blessings of nature (prayer) and our need of moderation in the use of God's creation (fasting). During these periods, let us especially remember that much of our diocese is rural and many of our parishioners and their families are involved in various forms of agriculture. May these Ember Days allow us as a local Church to give thanks to God for creation and for those who work on the land, and ask God to bless their work which sustain us in so many ways. Ember Days in 2025 (*if the feast day marking the start of Ember Days takes place on a Wednesday, Friday, or Saturday [e.g. Ash Wednesday], that set of Ember Days begin the following Wednesday). Spring: March 12, 14, 15 Summer: June 11, 13, 14 Fall: September 17, 19, 20 Winter: December 17, 19, 20 Prayers of Thanksgiving: We give thanks for the fruits of the earth and those who work on the lands. Fasting. Fasting on the Ember Days reminds us to use God's in moderation. Prayingfor Priests: Ember Days were traditionally days of ordination to the diaconate and priesthood, with the lay faithful using Ember Days to pray for their priests and asking God to send good priests. Even though ordinations do not typically happen on Ember Days anymore, these days are still a great opportunity to pray for our priests and for vocations.

Daylight Savings Time begins Saturday night, March 8. Please set your clocks AHEAD one hour that night or the next day, Sunday, March 9. Moving your clocks will help you arrive at Sunday Mass on time.

Candidates and catechumens will take part in the Rite of Election and the Call to Continuing Conversion as they prepare for formal initiation into the Catholic Church this Easter season. The ceremony is at 3:00 PM in the upstairs Cathedral church. Bishop John McDermott will declare the OCIA students "elect" from testimony offered by the students' sponsors and teachers.

The Word of the Lord today begins with the Book of Deuteronomy, as Moses recounts the suffering history of his people, ending with the joy of their entering the Promised Land. We hear the same reassurance in our Psalm, “No evil shall befall you”. Paul, in his Letter to the Romans, repeats this refrain: “for if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Our Gospel from Luke tells the familiar story of Christ’s forty days in the desert and his victory over Satan’s temptations.

Today we begin our penitential journey to the Church’s greatest Solemnity, Easter Sunday. The word Lent derives from a German word for spring. This day, we fast and abstain from meat following Church guidelines. Our priest wears purple vestments, we no longer pray the Gloria or sing the Alleluia, and church decorations are spare. All music must be instrument accompanied singing. Honoring saint feast days, except for Solemnities (St. Joseph, the Annunciation) is optional. Some writers describe this paring down and reducing as reflections of the penitent’s losing, casting off the encumbrances that bar our salvation. "Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation!" said St. Paul. Ashes, a sign of humility, penance, and mortality, will be distributed at the Cathedral of St. Joseph at Masses at 12:05 and 5:30 p.m., although today is not a Holy Day of Obligation. Stations of the Cross will be held in the upstairs main church every Friday in Lent at 5:30 p.m.