BAPTISM                                                                          

The Sacrament of Baptism is celebrated by appointment.  All baptisms are to be scheduled with the parish priest. Please bring the Birth Certificate of the child to be baptized.

CONFIRMATION

The Sacrament of Confirmation is celebrated once a year with the Grade 6 class of St. Patrick’s School.  For more information please contact the parish priest. Baptismal certificate of the candidate is required.

MARRIAGE

Marriage is to be scheduled at least six months before the date of the celebration. The couple is required to following documents to the Parish Office:

•           Marriage License

•           Baptismal Certificates

•           Confirmation Certificates

The couple has to undergo the Pre-Cana seminar.

The couple will be interviewed by the Parish Priest as required by Canon Law.

RECONCILIATION

The parish priest  is available for confession. Confession is available 30 minutes before the start of the mass or by  appointment. Please  call the rectory at 597-2197.

ANOINTING OF THE SICK

The sacrament of anointing is the proper sacrament for those Christians whose health is seriously impaired by sickness or old age. You can call the priest anytime for the anointing.

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One of the central teachings of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council is the important role that ordinary baptized persons - the Laity - have in the Church. They are full-pledged Members of the People of God, full-time constituents of the Church. And they have a proper role to play both within the Church and in the mission of the Church to the world (Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity, 18 November 1965).

Lay Ministries are services - functions or tasks - undertaken by the Lay Faithful and exercised for the good of the many, whereby they share in the Church's institutional responsibility of manifesting the presence of Christ's saving action among the people through their formal Installation into the Ministries concerned by the competent Church Authority as a guarantee of ecclesial communion.

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The lector has a ministry of the word. He announces the word and accepts it personally and submits himself to it. The lector is in the service of the faith so that all may be able to live a truly Christian life, shaped by the word of God, and to reach eternal salvation.

Functions of the Lector

The Sacramentary (1970) mentions the following tasks of the reader during the Eucharistic celebration:

• He participates in the entrance procession and if there is no deacon, he may carry the Lectionary.

• As a liturgical minister, his place is in the sanctuary;

• He reads the readings, except the gospel, from the lectern;

• If there is no cantor, the reader may also recite or sing the responsorial psalm;

• If there is no deacon, the reader may read the intercessions;

• If there is no entrance song or communion song, and if the antiphon is not ready by the people, it is the task of the reader to read the antiphon at the proper time.

The Apostolic Letter "Ministeria Quaedam" (1972) lists some duties additional to those mentioned in the Sacramentary. These are:

• The Lector shall direct the singing and the participation of the faithful;

• He shall instruct the faithful for the worthy reception of the sacraments;

• He shall take care of the preparation of readers who exercise such a ministry by a temporary assignment.

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The term "acolyte" derives from the Greek word akoloutheo, which means to follow, to imitate, to accompany. The noun akolouthos  which means the servant, the companion. An Acolyte is therefore, one who accompanies the priest or the deacon in order to help them during the Eucharistic celebration. As such we can rightly call him also "SPECIAL MINISTER OF THE EUCHARIST", or in the diocese of Thunder Bay, they are more commonly called “Eucharistic Ministers" (EM). The word “communion helper" is not a good name to designate this ministry. It limits it too much to the function of assisting only in the distribution of communion. An acolyte has many more duties than to facilitate the distribution of the Eucharistic gifts.

Functions of the Acolyte or the Special Minister of the Eucharist

The functions can be gathered from three documents: the Sacramentary, "Minsteria Quaedam" and the Rite of Institution.

The Sacramentary (1970)

It mentions the following tasks of the acolyte:

·        He carries the procession cross in the entrance procession of the Eucharist (143).

·        He helps and assists in bringing and handling the liturgical books (144).

·         He prepares the altar and the vessels before the preparation of the gifts; he also helps in receiving the gifts at the offertory procession and in incensing (145).

·           He helps in the distribution of communion (146).  He purifies the vessels after communion (147).

Ministeria Quaedam (1972)

This apostolic letter lists some duties of the acolyte which are not mentioned in the Sacramentary. These are:

·        He may expose the Blessed Sacrament for adoration and replace it, but he may not give the blessing.

·         He may instruct other ministers who by temporary assignments are helpers in the Eucharist.

The Rite of Institution

The Instruction mentions that the acolyte may bring communion to the sick. This includes also the solemn rite of bringing the viaticum, the solemn last communion for those in danger of death. "If no priest is available, viaticum may be brought to the sick by a deacon or by another of the faithful either a man or a woman, who has been appointed by the bishop to distribute the Eucharist to the faithful".

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