Good morning, afternoon, evening to all (depending on when you read this.)  I hope you and yours are well and staying safe in these unsettled times. This update will have some precise news in it so please read it and digest it.  We don’t want anyone to be caught unaware.

This weekend July 11-12

On July 11, 1820, Pope Pius VII canonically established the Diocese of Richmond, becoming the sixth oldest Diocese in the United States. To celebrate our 200th anniversary, all of the faithful are invited to join Bishop Knestout via live stream for the Bicentennial Mass to celebrate this milestone. In this Mass, three of our seminarians will be ordained: Tom Lawrence to the Transitional Diaconate and Deacons Anthony Ferguson and Julio Reyes to the Priesthood. The Mass will begin at 10:30 am tomorrow. Details regarding the live stream are available at www.richmonddiocese.org Please continue to pray for the clergy and people of the diocese. Saint John Vianney (patron of priests) and Saint Vincent de Paul (patron of our Diocese), pray for us!

For this reason , there will be no live stream Mass from our parish on Saturday morning . For those who want to participate in a daily Mass (in honor of Saint Benedict), you can visit or watch Mass from EWTN or from the Daily TV mass from Loretto Chapel in Toronto, Canada.
In all Masses in our parish this weekend, and in all parishes of our diocese, we will celebrate our Diocese’s 200 years.  We give thanks to God for the perseverance of all those who came before us to establish our faith and the glorious life of this Church we celebrate today. You can view the Bicentennial Prayer in English or Spanish on our bicentennial website .
(For those who use missals, the Magnificat, or “the WORD Among Us”, the readings will be the ones from the 15 th Sunday in Ordinary Time but the Propers of the Mass will be specifically chosen for the weekend.)  

Next Saturday Evening, July 18,
At our 5:30 pm Mass, we plan to fully initiate those who were not able to be baptized, confirmed and receive first Communion at the Easter Vigil, to receive their family members into full Communion and confirm them, and to baptize their younger children.  We have a large number of men, women, and young people and children to celebrate Mass that evening.  This will be a longer, more involved Mass than is usual on Saturday evening as there are many to be initiated.
For those with time constraints or who usually “do dinner” afterward, you may want to choose another time for an in person Mass next weekend or else tune in Sunday morning at 8:30am for our parish’s live stream Mass.

Miscellaneous  
We received a few updates from our diocese in Phase 3.  Again, these procedures are in effect as long as there is not an increase in the numbers of COVID specific patients in our hospitals. Help keep each other safe by social distancing, wearing of masks, and staying home if you are not feeling well or have been in contact with someone who is COVID positive. Thanks for your vigilance.

For the foreseeable future, we ask that you continue to register for weekend liturgies here at Saint Bede. The link to register is below. Those who take part in daily mass will no longer need to register.  For the time being, Wednesday will remain the Mass for Seniors (65+). 

We also ask that you come on time. Because you will still need to be escorted to your seat and with a church in the round, seating after Mass begins is a huge distraction.

The clergy and staff of Saint Bede feel blessed that we are able to welcome you and our visiting worshipers for weekday and Sunday Masses as well as provide opportunities for private prayer and devotions  We’re glad to see so many of you after so many months. We’ve missed you! In an effort to regain more normalcy and a return to our parish’s regular schedule, the church will now close at 5:00 pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. We will continue Wednesday evening confessions at 6:00 pm and the church will be secured at the end of the reconciliation hour. 

Lastly, our sound system in the nave is under repair. We appreciate your continued patience as we work to remedy the situation.

We’ll that’s it for this week. The chat from the home of unwed fathers and God willing a father to be will return next Friday, July 11. Keep one another in prayer. And please stay safe and keep others safe!

To register for this weekend's Mass, click here.


   If you have questions, please email me directly:  msgrjlehman@bedeva.org.

June 6, 2020 update

June 13, 2020 update

June 20, 2020 update