103 Walker Street, Manchester, NH 03102

Monday—Friday - 12 PM

DAILY LITURGY SCHEDULE

WEEKEND LITURGY SCHEDULE

Saturday (Vigil) - 4 PM

Sunday - 10:30 AM

WWW.ST-RAPHAEL-PARISH.ORG

Saint Raphael Parish

Welcome to the Benedictine Catholic Community of

PARISH OFFICE 603.623.2604

PASTORAL TEAM & SUPPORT STAFF

Rev. Jerome Joseph Day, O.S.B., Ph.D., Pastor

Kerri Stanley, Parish Secretary, Director of Liturgy Nina Lukens, Catechetical Coordinator

Therese Dame, Religious Education Consultant

Dorene Turner, Director of Food Pantry & Hope Chest

Ray Clement, Director of Facilities Don Provencher, Facilities Assistant

Lyle Hamel, Director of Choir & Principal Organist

Scott Bergendahl, Jonathan Cote, Gerry LeBlond, Organists

Tom Larson et al., Catholic Basics Choir;

Amber Byron, Judy Costigan, Erin McCahon, Caresse Mailloux, Melanie

Noonan, Cantors

@SaintRaphaelParish

saint_raphael_parish_nh @SaintRaphaelManch

Founded in 1888, Saint Raphael is a Roman Catho-lic parish, confided to the care of the Benedictine monks of Saint Anselm Abbey, in the Diocese of Manchester. The first Benedictine foundation in New England, the parish is a tithing community, endeavoring to return to the Lord in time, treasure and talent some of the blessings He bestows upon us. The parish strives to return 10 percent, the bibli-

cal standard, of gifts it receives to outside charities.

March 29, 2020

MODIFIED LITURGY SCHEDULE

Saint Raphael Parish

Manchester NH

Fifth Sunday of Lent

The sanctuary candle burns this week

for Eva Whitmore by Lisa Ruppel.

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS

Saint Benedict Academy (Pre-K—6): Brandy Houle, principal 603.669.3932 85 Third St., Manchester, NH 03102

Saint Joseph Regional Catholic School (7—8): Dawn Florino, principal 603.624.4811 148 Belmont St., Manchester, NH 03103

Holy Family Academy (7-12): Mark Gillis, head of school 603.644.7247 281 Cartier St., Manchester, NH 03102

Trinity High School (9-12): Steven F. Gadecki, principal 603.668.2910 581 Bridge St., Manchester, NH 03104

Monday: Dn 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62 or 41c-62; Ps 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6; Jn 8:1-11 Tuesday: Nm 21:4-9; Ps 102:2-3, 16-18, 19-21; Jn 8:21-30 Wednesday: Dn 3:14-20, 91-92, 95; Dn 3:52, 53, 54, 55, 56; Jn 8:31-42 Thursday: Gn 17:3-9; Ps 105:4-5, 6-7, 8-9: Jn 8:51-59 Friday: Jer 20:10-13; Ps 18:2-3a, 3bc-4, 5-6, 7; Jn 10:31-42 Saturday: Ez 37:21-28; Jer 31:10, 11-12abcd, 13; Jn 11:45-56 Sunday: Mt 21:1-11 (procession); Is 50:4-7; Ps 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24; Phil 2:6-11; Mt 26:14 — 27:66 or Mt 27:11-54

On Monday, Mar. 23, the food pantry served 23 families and gave out 40 bags of groceries. The need for our Lenten Food Collection for the Food Pantry is

ongoing. Items requested for this week are as follows: Bar of soap, Tuna Helper, laundry detergent, canned fruit, jar of marshmallow fluff, baked beans/ If you shop Hannaford-to-Go, we can really put the bags to good use as well as any paper and/or plastic shop-ping bags! If you would like to drop off on the rectory side porch, your donation would be greatly appreciated!

of March 29, 2020

eGiving ... Did you know you can use your credit card or electronic check to support the mission of Saint Raphael Parish? This is espe-

cially helpful during this period when Masses have been suspended. Go to our website (www.st-raphael-parish.org) and click on the Giving button. In a few minutes, you can be sure that your gift will work every day of the year to help your parish.

Weekend of March 22, 2020 Regular Offertory $2,468.00 Online Offertory Prev Week 995.52 Total Offertory $3,463.52

Stewardship make up $ 255.00

Food Pantry $ 5,070.00

Last Year Weekend of March 24, 2019 Total Offertory $ $5,470.30

Year A

Masses will be celebrated each day, despite the fact that they are closed to the general public. Saint Raphael Parish will live stream daily Masses Mon-day through Friday at noon from our Facebook

page and YouTube channel: Saint Raphael Parish Manchester NH. Saturday Mass will be at 4 PM and Sunday Mass will be at 10:30 AM. You can

also take advantage of other programming op-tions, such as Boston Catholic TV, which can be accessed in NH on cable channel 268, and EWTN. Links to our live streaming can be found on the

banner of our website home page.

Saturday March 28

Charles & Simone Richard by a friend

❖Our Parish Family

Sunday March 29 Fifth Sunday of Lent

10:30 AM Edward Bolton by Diane Bolton

Amy Allard by Gerry & Sylvia Grady

Monday March 30

12:00 PM William Gough Powers by P. Jerome

Tuesday March 31

12:00 PM Jack & Joyce Claire Brooks by P. Jerome

Wednesday April 1

12:00 PM Joseph Thornton (10th Anniv) by his family

Thursday April 2

12:00 PM Kathleen McGuire Valentine by Marc & Mary McGuire Lussier

Friday April 3

12:00 PM Joseph Handy & Deceased of the Handy and Brunelle

families by Gregory Handy

Saturday April 4 Saint Isidore

4:00 PM Tommy Barnett by Jack & Colleen Byrne

❖Our Parish Family

Sunday April 5 Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord

10:30 AM Amy Allard by Tony & Dorene Turner

March 29, 2020

Paul Barnes, Sue Beauchemin, T. Michael Collins, Jimmy Couture, Lil-

lie Duquette, Eric Featherman, Kim Mailloux, Mikki Margaritis, Chris-

tine McMillan, Max Mendez, Timothy Perkins, Marcia Santos, Marie

Sullivan and Germaine Yergeau.

If you or a loved one would like your name on the prayer list, please call

Kerri Stanley at 623.2604, or email admin@st-raphael-parish.org. Please

call each month to have the name put back on the list. Thank you!

“Did I not assure you that if you believed

you would see the glory of God?” Do you

believe Christ may be calling you to see

the glory of the Blessed Trinity through a

vocation to the priesthood or consecrated

life? Call Father Matthew Mason 663-

0132, or write: mmason@rcbm.org.

card. Purple pamphlets with names and

Reading I: Ezekiel 37: 12-14 The prophet’s mission clearly is to his people in exile. He preaches on the hope-filled word of God to uplift them with the prom-ise of new life, only because they have been spiritually dead. This will happen through God’s own Spirit. Reading II: Romans 8: 8-11 The Holy Spirit is the true power-giving life for the Christian here on earth. Later this same Spirit will enable him or her to rise up from death. The Gospel: John 11: 1-45, or 11: 3-7, 17, 20-27, 3-45 Jesus works His greatest of the seven “signs” by His giving of the gift of life. Having received this awesome power from His Father, calls forth Lazarus. The evangelist provides us with all the surrounding circumstances we need to bolster our belief in the miracle.

Lenten Prayer: Help me be patient on

my Lenten journey and open to the grace

that will help me recognize opportunities to

reach out to others, especially during this

critical period in which we are living.

Nursing Home and Homebound greetings Remember

our SRP parishioners and friends in nursing homes or homebound. Send an Easter greeting card. Call the office to have the list emailed to you, or go to our website to

download the pamphlet.

Fri, Apr 3

at 1 PM

Stations of the Cross will be live

streamed on Friday, April 3 at 1 PM.

The church will be locked. Please join

us by participating virtually via our

Facebook page and on YouTube. A

worship aid accompaniment will be

available for you to download on our

website so you can follow along.

Palm Sunday is April 5. Fr. Jerome will

bless the palms at the 4 PM Vigil and

10:30 AM Sunday Masses. We are invit-

ing parishioners to come to the church

to pick up blessed palms from 12—1 PM

on Sunday, April 11 via drive up method. Drive your vehicle

up to the main entrance of the church on Fourth Street where

palms will be distributed. Please enter via the FERRY STREET

side, driving towards Walker Street. We will have an offertory

box available for you to drop in your offertory envelopes as well.

We appreciate your understanding as we navigate through these

difficult times and improvise as best we can to keep our commu-

nity together.

Virtual Mass Schedule—Paschal Triduum 2020 Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper: Thur, April 9, at 7pm

Good Friday: Fri., April 10 Stations of the Cross at 12pm; Communion & Veneration of the Cross at 7pm

Easter Vigil: Sat., April 11, at 7:30pm; Sunday Masses: Sun., April 12, at 10 am.

The liturgical celebrations of Holy Week are deeply moving, so much so that they can transform the heart. Please join

us for some or all of these vital moments in the life of our parish and the Church, and consider inviting family and

friends to join you. Masses will be live streamed via our Facebook page and YouTube channel. The church will not be

open to the general public.

From the Pastor: Fr. Jerome Joseph Day, O.S.B.

Finding joy in the midst of Covid-19 not only possible, but necessary

As New Hampshire, New England and

much of America goes into a new and

deeper level of restrictions and precau-

tions in the face of a rapidly expanding

coronavirus pandemic, people are attempt-

ing to balance their anxieties, stresses and

challenges with a return to family activi-

ties, joyful moments and spiritual discov-

ery.

The other day, a new show debuted on

New Hampshire Public Radio called

“New Hampshire Calling,” and I thought

the topic for call-in discussion was telling,

“Where do you find joy in the face of the

pandemic?” Unfortunately, I didn’t have

the opportunity to hear too much of the

broadcast, but some callers had anecdotes

that were alternately amusing, poignant

and thought-provoking.

I hope “New Hampshire Calling” has a

chance to develop an audience. Its prem-

ise, on-air discussion of topics of the day,

issues that are generating discussion

throughout the state, seems a good one.

People need both to speak and listen in

ways that help us learn and grow. The

“silo” approach to public affairs has

served us poorly. By limiting the news,

perspectives and opinions that confirm our

own stance, we deny ourselves the intel-

lectual challenge and social environment

the broaden our minds and deepen our

hearts. Sometimes, the silo approach can

even worsen our biases and prejudices.

The radio program sparked my own

ruminations throughout the day about

some of the things that brought me joy this

past week, and, so, in the interest of

spreading something other than Covid-19,

I’d like to share the following topics:

These past days constituted the week of

the Fourth Sunday in Lent, often called

Laetare Sunday because it means in Latin

a Sunday of “Rejoicing,” so near is the

Church’s annual celebration of the Paschal

Mystery, the events of the suffering, death

and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Lae-

tare Sunday invites the priest celebrating

Mass to wear pink, or rose, vestments.

How can one not smile over this custom?

To the credit of more and more priests, we

gulp and wear a stole and chasuble that

make some of us look rather like the In-

fant of Prague! I remember in the 1970s

having a couple of pink shirts and a pink

tie that I wore to a wedding, but as they

say, “that was then, this is now.” Because,

sadly, the doors of our churches have been

closed, most people only had a chance to

see us if Mass was filmed and available on

a viewing platform. Here, we use Face-

book and YouTube … which, of course,

makes me realize that I am now preserved

in the world of digital ether, nearly for-

ever, smiling and in the pink!

Reports from Italy, battered by the

world’s highest number of deaths from

Covid-19, show us the strength of the Ital-

ian people in the face of disease and loss.

People, confined in most of the country,

have been throwing open the windows of

their homes and singing to each other!

And given Italy’s long history of musical

accomplishment, I bet it sounds pretty

good. As Italian opera shows, even in face

of murder, mayhem and malice, the voice

can give expression to the heart. Ameri-

can musical responses have been a little

less extravagant, but it has been wonderful

to see virtual concerts by symphonies and

bands, flautists show up outside someone’s

window and families and friends, standing

appropriately distant from each other, sere-

nade a grandparent on her birthday. Amid

the fears and suffering, there is space for

joy in this.

Still another news item from Italy that

brought both a tear and a smile to my face

was the account of Father Giuseppe

Berardelli, 72, a priest in the village of

Casnigo, whose people purchased a venti-

lator for him in the event that he contracted

the virus. He did, and villagers were happy

they had provided for him. They knew him

well enough to realize, however, that if

someone else needed the equipment, he

would make it available. Alas, he contract-

ed the virus, was hospitalized with need

for a ventilator, but a pre-existing condi-

tion prevented its use for him. Someone

else would have the life-saving machine.

The priest died, someone else would sur-

vive.

The beloved priest is from the Bergamo

region, the home diocese of another Italian

priest who served as pope from 1958 to

1963 and is loved around the world. I have

no doubt that Saint John XXIII was

among the first to greet Don Giuseppe

after he crossed through the Pearly Gates.

More than 60 priests in Italy have

been claimed by the coronavirus, many of

them having contracted the disease as they

ministered to parishioners. While there is

no joy over their loss, there is much re-

joicing over their sacrificial love for the

people committed to their care. By the

way, one of the most moving ways priests

in many parts of Europe are responding to

the pandemic is by carrying a mon-

strance with the Blessed Sacrament in

procession through the streets of their

neighborhoods, even up to mountains

overlooking their communities, and bless-

ing them with the Eucharistic Christ. Film

of people on the streets, in doorways and

shop windows, all keeping appropriate

physical distance but kneeling in adoration

and blessing themselves strengthens faith,

encourages witness and allays fears.

What else has brought me joy this week?

Well, the fact that I am still able to cele-

brate Mass, even though the congregation

is tiny. The can-do spirit of our SRP

Food Pantry and Hope Chest volun-

teers, who have devised new protocols to

keep patrons and themselves safe even as

they serve the suffering, poor and hungry

among us. Another cause for joy is the

many people who have expressed genuine

desire for the return of open churches and

the opportunity for Mass. That people

want the Eucharist and recognize its inesti-

mable value is a cause for joy. I smiled too

when I learned that volunteers and workers

at the National Cathedral in Washing-

ton, D.C., went rummaging around in the

crypt of the great church – and found some

5,000 face masks in storage. For what, no

one seemed quite sure, but they were still

usable and were turned over to public

health authorities. And for the Celtic part

of my soul, I happened to hear The Piano

Guys do a version of Rachel Platten’s

“The Fight Song” with piano, cello and

Scottish bagpipes and drums. That tune

was a number in The New Saint Raphael

Follies a couple of years ago by Best Foot

Forward. You can check it out on our

YouTube channel. Who wouldn’t find joy

in that! © Rev. Jerome Joseph Day, O.S.B.

Eucharistic procession at Purdue University in Indi-

ana.The Exponent, Purdue University, W. Heagerty