ALL SAINTS ON THE HUDSON ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

Serving the communities of

Welcome to the Parish Community of All Saints on the Hudson!

We are happy you have decided to worship with us today. If you are just visiting, we pray that God will be with you on your journey. If you are seeking a church home, we would be happy to welcome you into our parish community. If you are interested in

joining our parish, please contact the parish office.

Fr. Patrick Rice Pastor

Cell: (518) 813-5090

Fr. Ronald Matulewicz Sacramental Associate

Fr. Robert Hohenstein Sacramental Associate

Parish Office Hours Monday to Thursday

8:00am to 4:00pm

Parish Office: (518) 664-3354 Mailing Address: 52 William Street

Mechanicville, NY 12118 Website: www.allsaintsny.net

Sacraments

Anointing of the Sick Wednesdays after the 12:00pm Mass

or anytime by request.

Reconciliation (Confession) Saturday, 10-11am - St. Peter’s Saturday, 3-3:45pm - St. Paul’s

Baptism

First Sunday of the month at 12:00pm in St. Paul’s Church or by request.

Marriage

Please call the Parish Office for arrangements six months in advance.

Worship Schedule

Weekday Masses held in the Parish Center Chapel

Monday to Thursday, 7:00am

Tuesday at 9:00am

Wednesday at 12:00pm

St. Jude Novena

Tuesdays at 6:00pm

St. Peter’s Church

Weekend Masses

Saturday Vigil, 4pm at St. Paul’s

Sunday, 8:30am St. Peter’s

Sunday, 10:30am at St. Paul’s

St. Paul’s Church 121 N. Main St. Mechanicville

St. Peter’s Church 895 Hudson Ave.

Stillwater

St. Isaac Jogues 716 Route 9P Saratoga Lake

Weekly Parish Mass Schedule

Saturday, December 22 Anticipated Mass for Sunday

4:00pm St. Paul’s Alice Iacobelli and Sr. Alexis Joseph

Tom Kelly and Kim Kelly DeVito

John Connors

George Amann

Sunday, December 23 The Fourth Sunday in Advent

8:30am St. Peter’s Stanley Spulnick

10:30am St. Paul’s Fr. John Harzenski

Roger Bechard

Monday, December 24 The Vigil of the Nativity of the Lord

4:00pm St. Paul’s Rocky Camerato

Lucy Sgambati

Nancy Costanzo

Isabella Sophia Sheehan

4:00pm St. Peter’s Marion and Angelo D’Aloia

Dominick and Mary Zappone

Richard Boucher

Rosa and Charles Bickel

8:00pm St. Peter’s People of the Parish

12:00am St. Isaac’s People of the Parish

Tuesday, December 25 The Nativity of the Lord

8:30am St. Peter’s Rita Brownell

Jim Levesque

Patrick and Rose Mary Hildreth

Jack Murphy. Sr.

10:30am St. Paul’s People of the Parish

Wednesday, December 26 Feast of St. Stephen, First Martyr

7:00am Chapel People of the Parish

12:00pm Chapel People of the Parish

Thursday, December 27 Feast of St. John the Evangelist

7:00am Chapel People of the Parish

Friday, December 28 Feast of the Holy Innocents

Saturday, December 29 Anticipated Mass for Sunday

4:00pm St. Paul’s Mary Richards

Lee Hein

Joseph DeChiro

Sunday, December 30 The Feast of the Holy Family

8:30am St. Peter’s Joyce Mondoux

Patrick and Rose Mary Hildreth

10:30am St. Paul’s Michael Fedory

Sacrificial Giving

Due to the Christmas Holiday and the early submission of the bulletin, collection totals will be

published in next weekends bulletin.

Thank you for your support of our parish! A second collection is taken each week for diocesan and parish needs. Please remember our parish in your will.

The Catholic Community of All Saints on the Hudson

Our Beloved Dead Please keep in prayer those who have entered eternal life.

Thrift Shop Holiday Hours The Thrift Shop will be closed for the Holidays beginning on Saturday, December 22nd and then will reopen on Tuesday, January 8th. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and thank you for your patronage!

Women’s Lectio Divina Prayer Group The Women’s prayer group meets every Thursday at 6:30pm in the Parish Center, Room 1. For more info and to sign up, contact Chris Valosin at (518) 727-8832 or via email at: cvalosin1025@gmail.com.

Parish Office Closed

The Parish Office will be closed on Monday, December 24 and Tuesday, December 25 in observance of the Christmas Holiday. The office will reopen on Wednesday, December 26th with regular hours. The Parish office will also be closed on Monday, December 31 and Tuesday, January 1 in observance of the New Year’s Holiday. The office will reopen on Wednesday, January 2nd with regular hours. The 7:00am Mass will not be held on these days either. Please refer to the Weekly Mass Schedule for all Mass times.

UPDATED CHRISTMAS SCHEDULE Join us as we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! Below you will find the Christmas Mass Schedule, including the Holy Day Mass on January 1st.

Christmas Eve, December 24

4:00pm Mass, St. Peter’s, Stillwater

4:00pm Mass, St. Paul’s, Mechanicville [with Children’s Choir Carols beginning at 3:40pm

and the Adult Choir during the Liturgy]

**8:00pm Mass, St. Peter’s, Stillwater** Midnight Mass, St. Isaac Jogues, Saratoga Lake

[with Caroling beginning at 11:30pm]

Christmas Day, December 25

8:30am Mass, St. Peter’s, Stillwater

10:30am Mass, St. Paul’s, Mechanicville

Feast of the Holy Family, December 29/30

4:00pm Mass, St. Paul’s, Mechanicville

8:30am Mass, St. Peter’s, Stillwater

10:30am Mass, St. Paul’s, Mechanicville

Vigil of Mary, Holy Mother of God, December 31 [Holy Day of Obligation]

4:00pm Mass, St. Paul’s, Mechanicville

Mary, Holy Mother of God, January 1 [Holy Day of Obligation]

10:00am Mass, St. Peter’s, Stillwater

Knights of Columbus The Knights of Columbus of Mechanicville-Stillwater meet the first Monday of each month at 7:00pm in the Parish Center. All are welcome to join! If you have any questions or would like information regarding it, please contact Phil Lucarelli at (518) 365-8622.

Rosary Devotion This coming Friday, December 28th, a rosary devotion to Our Lady Queen of Peace will be recited in the Scer-bo Center beginning at 3:00pm. Come and join us for this intimate gathering as we look to our Blessed Moth-er for her intercession as we close out another year and begin a new one!

Food Pantry Needs The Mechanicville and Stillwater Food Pantries are in need of various items, which can be dropped off at both St. Paul’s and St. Peter’s Churches. The Mechanicville Food Pantry is looking for Peanut Butter, as well as tu-na fish, canned soups, and kid snacks. The Stillwater Food Pantry is in need of canned chicken, all-fruit pre-serves, beef stew, crackers, peanut butter, mayonnaise, ketchup, and mustard. Both Pantries can benefit from items other than just food, too! Consider donating shampoo, conditioner, bath soap, deodorant, laundry detergent, toothbrushes, toothpaste, or other personal care items. Thank you for your continual support!

Parish Calendar for 2019 We are close to the beginning of a New Year! If you have not yet picked up your copy of the Parish Calendar, please do so this week-end. They can be found at the en-trances of both St. Paul’s and St. Peter’s Churches.

Sunday, December 23, 2018

From the Parish Nurse Anne Amann, RN, BSN

Grieving at Christmastime written by: Dwight Daniels, ABBEY PRESS Publications

Christmas comes every year, whether we're ready or not. Joyous through the season may be, it also brings its own challenges and stresses. And when one is deal-ing with the loss of a loved one, the holidays can be especially difficult to deal with, and impossible to cele-brate. It's important for those grieving to acknowledge, respect, and respond to their sadness, even amidst the festivities-and to remember that they can still observe Christmas in ways that recognize and commemorate both the season and their grief.

Counseling Available Saratoga Hospital Medical Group, Stephen Sgambati, Jr, MD, Carl Sgambati, MD, Lauris Peterson, MD and Carrie McNeil, MD at 202 So.Central Ave., Mechanicville are offering grief counseling to their patients with Sister Katherine on Wednesdays and Fri-days. Call 518-580-2099 for an appointment.

Blessed is the Child You Will Bear On this the last Sunday before Christmas, our Gospel reading prepares us to witness Christ's birth by showing us how Jesus was recognized as Israel's long-awaited Messiah even before his birth. The Gospel turns our at-tention from the ministry of John the Baptist to the events that preceded John the Baptist's birth. The story of John the Baptist and his parents, Elizabeth and Zech-

ariah, are reported only in Luke's Gospel. Luke pairs the birth of John the Baptist and Jesus, establishing John's early connection to the Mes-siah. The Gospel recalls Mary's actions after the announcement of Jesus' birth by the angel Gabri-el. Mary goes to visit Elizabeth, her cousin,

who is also with child. Elizabeth greets Mary with full recognition of the roles that they and their unborn chil-dren will play in God's plan for salvation. If we were to continue to read the verses that follow in Luke's Gospel, we would hear Mary respond to Elizabeth's greeting with her song of praise: the Magnificat. The Holy Spirit helps reveal Jesus' identity as God to those who believe. Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit and sings Mary's praise because she bears the Lord. We sing these words of praise to Mary in the Hail Mary. Even John the Bap-tist, the unborn child in Elizabeth's womb, is said to rec-ognize the presence of the Lord and leaps for joy. It is appropriate in this season of Advent that we consider the role of Mary in God's plan of salvation. Elizabeth describes Mary as the first disciple, as the one who be-lieved that God's word to her would be fulfilled. Mary's faith enabled her to recognize the work of God in her people's history and in her own life. Her openness to God allowed God to work through her so that salvation might come to everyone. Because of this, Mary is a model and symbol of the Church. May we be like Mary, open and cooperative in God's plan for salvation.

Choir Notes A special thank you to both the Adult Choir and Chil-dren’s Choir for all of their hard work in preparing for Christmas Masses, as well as singing during the Advent

Season! We are continually appre-ciative of the giving of your time and sharing your musical gifts! Much thanks to all of our cantors and our instrumentalists, as well as to Kathy Funaro and Rachael O’Neill for their assistance in ac-companying our choirs! Best

wishes for a restful New Year! We also look forward to next year as we continue to use our voices to Sing a New Song to the Lord! Any parent who may be inter-ested in having their child join the Children’s Choir, or an adult who may like to sing with the Adult Choir, please see Tony after Mass.

Faith Formation and Youth Ministry News

Christmas Pageant and Party Our annual Christmas Pageant was a great success! The children were adorable and de-lightful in the rendition. There was an excit-ing visit from Saint Nicholas aptly played by David Clements. A heartfelt thank you to all who made the Pageant and Christmas Party a great success: to our Pageant directors: Dana Pitaniello, Amy Accerra, Krista Phelps, Beth Wendel, Cheryl O’Toole, and Veronica Neddo for directing the practices and final presentation. To our kitchen crew: Amy Pickett, Marie and Nick Rinaldi, Dave and Debbie Clements, Michalena Sorell, Joe De-vito, Trevor DeMarco, Sharon Clements, plus the youth helpers for providing food, and fun crafts for the children. To our parishion-ers: Thanks for the yummy array of desserts that you made and contributed and for be-ing present for the dinner and the entertain-ment!

WANTED: Confirmation Prayer Partners The Confirmation Candidates will be seeking people to become their Prayer Partners in

the New Year. For more information, please contact Vick-ie Giulianelli at vjg1@nycap.rr.com or text/call to 518-

857-8743. Prayer Partners will be chosen randomly on January 13. Candidates and Prayer Partners will have a chance to meet to talk and share their faith journey with one another, too.

Christmas Caroling On Sunday, December 9th the youth from the parish sang Christ-mas Carols. Pictured below are: Catherine Higgins, (top left), Jose-phine Luciano (bottom left), Joanna Valenti (top right), and Rose and Sy Frydell (bottom right). If you are interested in having the kids come and sing for you next year, please let us know!

Faith Formation Christmas Break There will be no classes during Christmas break beginning Wednesday, December 19th until Saturday, January 5th. Classes will resume the week of Sunday, January 6th, Monday, January 7th and Wednesday, January 8th.

The Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God

Holy Day of Obligation

December 31 Vigil Mass at St. Paul’s Church, 4:00pm

January 1 Holy Day Mass at St. Peter’s Church, 10:00am