BRING TO CHURCH YOUR CHRIST CHILD STATUES AND CANDLES TO BE BLESSED DURING OUR CANDLEMAS CELEBRATIONS ON FEBRUARY 1-2, 2025!!!

Faithful can subscribe to the notes by contacting the parish office and providing their e-mail address. Thanks for your support of our border town parishes!!!

Please remember - Fr. Pete does not send out text messages, e-mails or social media posts to solicit

funds for himself or any organizations outside of the parishes he serves. Fr. Pete's emergency phone

number is (815) 685-1359 and his e-mail addresses

are either pjankowski@yahoo.com or pjankowski@stfrancis.edu.

Please do not trust any correspondences that

utilize any other phone number or e-mail address.

In front of St. Patrick's Church, Cones will be placed in the area where cars are asked not to park, out of respect for our Neighbors.

Feel free to contact Fr. Pete at email pjankowski@yahoo.com. If you have an emergency, please contact Fr. Pete at (815) 685-1359

PRESENTATION OF THE LORD [CANDLEMAS DAY] - FEBRUARY 2

Over at St. Patrick’s, some of our community have asked why we decided to leave the Nativity Stable and Statues within the Church a month after Christmas Day took place. Because the Hispanic Community wanted to invest in the Candlemas Celebration (this group has brought in SO MANY customs, novenas and prayers into our churches these last few years!), I decided to uphold this particular custom which many churches around the world utilize… but not ours… until now.

In preparation for what will take place this weekend, I re-present what you can find in your bulletins from last Sunday…

Forty days after His birth, Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple for the rites of purification and dedication as prescribed by the Torah. According to the Book of Leviticus, when a woman bore a male child, she was considered “unclean” for seven days. On the eighth day, the boy was circumcised. The mother continued to stay at home for 33 days for her blood to be purified. After the 40 days, the mother and the father came to the temple for the rite of purification, which included the offering of a sacrifice — a lamb for a holocaust and a pigeon or turtledove for a sin offering, or for a poor couple who could not afford a lamb, two pigeons or two turtledoves So the Presentation is a proclamation of Christ — Messiah and Priest, Lord and Savior. He is the light who came into this world to dispel sin and darkness. For this reason, traditionally, candles have been blessed at Mass this day that will be used throughout the year and especially tomorrow the feast of St Blaise, hence the term “Candlemas.”

Interesting tidbits highlight this day: First, in many Eastern European countries, the feast of the Presentation officially closes the celebration of Christmas. For this reason, Blessed John Paul II began the custom of keeping the Nativity scene in St. Peter’s square until Feb. 2.  Second, Candlemas Day also was important in the lives of farmers. An old English song went as follows: “If Candlemas be fair and bright, / Come, winter, have another flight. / if Candlemas brings clouds and rain, / Go, winter, and come not again.” So if the bright sun “overshadows” the brightness of Candlemas Day, there will be more winter. However, if the light of Candlemas Day radiates through the gloom and darkness of the day, the end of winter is near. In America, Protestants decided we should replace Catholic Candlemas Day with Groundhog Day.

Families are invited to bring their statues of the Baby Jesus on Candlemas Day, which will be blessing during the Mass., We also will be blessing candles and distributing them to the faithful. We ask for a freewill donation for the candles.

Gabby had a busy weekend at the Border Town, chasing kids around at the food pantry, invading a family's baptism, getting belly rubs after the 10:30 Mass and falling asleep during my homily… like everyone else! Then, after eating her own dinner at night, she started begging for mine!!! It’s a dog‘s life…

Over the last two months, Antonio Elvir (husband to secretary EXTRAORDINARIA Ema Elvir) converted an unused shower room at the Academy Gym into a nice room for meetings. Antonio replaced the heaters in the room and our AA Group is in the process of taking care of the lighting and electrical.

The next step in the process is to name the room. Any and all suggestions are welcome.

GRACIAS ANTONIO and everyone involved with this project!!!

We will participate in our annual Baby Bottles for Life fundraiser in February. Bottles to fill with change can be picked up at next weekend’s Masses. Information will be placed in next week’s bulletin concerning this fundraiser, Thank you for supporting life at our parishes!

Earlier this month, I sent a note out to anyone who was an alumnus, parent of an alumni, family or friends of St. Patrick’s Academy and Church, asking for testimonials concerning the good work that our local Church offers the residents of Momence, IL today. So much has taken place these last few years for the sake of the Border Town Communities and the residents of East Kankakee County that I was giving them… and YOU!... an opportunity to share the manner in which St. Patrick’s Church has been helping the area over the last few years.

The first of the testimonials arrived in my e-mail this week from Ted Peterson (two-time champion of the NFL Pittsburgh Steelers and Community Liaison of Van Drunen Farms). The Van Drunen Family have been responsible in helping St. Patrick’s in so many ways, from paying for the installation and materials of our academy gym windows, purchasing tables and chairs in the gym, and, most recently, donating $5,000 towards the upgrades on the second floor of our gymnasium (converting the old shower room into another meeting room on campus).

As I preached during last weekend’s Masses (you can read the homily if you CLICK HERE!), four other sources have written me personal checks for over $80,000 last year that I deposited in the checking accounts at both parishes. This $80,000 has been used, in part, to lower our debt (which went from $330,000+ four years ago to less than $34,000 currently), the purchase of tables and chairs for our parish hall, paying for Silvia Tejada’s salary (Silvia has brought in scores of Hispanics to our parishes because of her tireless work in our community), purchasing air conditioners for St. Anne’s, payment for the newly installed ovens at both parishes and so much more! I promised our communities last weekend that whenever I received significant donations from others (not the small “take yourself out for dinner donations” but the BIG ONES!), I would turn around and deposit those donations into our parish accounts – YOU ARE ALL WORTH IT AND YOU NEED TO KNOW YOU ARE LOVED!!!

Here is your homework assignment... I am looking for as many people from our academy (and extended family) as possible to write a one paragraph article about why St. Patrick's Church is important to our community today. I would like to include these paragraphs and pictures in our next alumni newsletter in March.

We have done so much to help out the people of our area, but we do not want to stop. Over the last couple years, the parish has helped significantly towards supporting our local alcoholics anonymous group, our food pantry, our police department, the Gladiolus festival people, Kankakee Community College and their ESL program, as well as all kinds of other Activities for the benefit of this community.

Our debt has been reduced in the last three years from $330,000 to less than $35,000 now. We have done a lot to make this community grow and I need your help to keep the good news moving forward.



If anyone could help me with this, please send your email response and picture to pjankowski@yahoo.com. I would like these responses returned by the end of January.

God knows what all of you have done for our parishes – we need to make sure the residents of our area and our donors of the community also know what we are doing!!! God bless all of you for contributing your time, talents and financial resources to get our parishes in the black and helping our communities grow. – Fr. Pete

BELOW ARE THE TWO HOMILIES (IN ENGLISH & SPANISH WHICH I PREACHED ON SUNDAY ABOUT THE WRITING OF THESE TESTIMONIALS! 

Referencing the king of welcome and hospitality offered at the Border Town Parish, Fr. Pete reads three "testimonials" from Kristen Stockle (Good Shepherd Manor), Ted Petersen (Van Drunen Farms) and alumnus Rita Brezenger-Orth, who all offered wonderful reflections of what St. Patrick's means to them today.

WE ENCOURAGE OUR PARISHIONERS AND FRIENDS OF THE PARISH TO WRITE A ONE PARAGRAPH TESTIMONIALS (WITH A PICTURE), REFLECTING ON WHAT ST. PATRICK'S IN MOMENCE means for the community they serve today. Fr. Pete will include many of these reflections in the upcoming March Parish Newsletter.

Haciendo referencia a la gran bienvenida y hospitalidad que se ofrece en la parroquia de los pueblos fronterizos, el padre Pete lee tres "testimonios" de Kristen Stockle (Good Shepherd Manor), Ted Petersen (Van Drunen Farms) y la exalumna Rita Brezenger-Orth, quienes ofrecieron maravillosas reflexiones sobre lo que significa San Patricio para ellos hoy.

ANIMAMOS A NUESTROS FELIGRESES Y AMIGOS DE LA PARROQUIA A ESCRIBIR UN TESTIMONIO DE UN PÁRRAFO (CON UNA FOTO), REFLEXIÓN SOBRE LO QUE ST. PATRICK'S IN MOMENCE significa para la comunidad a la que sirven hoy. El padre Pete incluirá muchas de estas reflexiones en el próximo boletín parroquial de marzo.

Finally, LAST YEAR FOUR SPECIFIC DONORS/ORGANIZATIONS WHO ARE NOT EVEN ASSOCIATED WITH OUR PARISHES DONATED OVER $90,000 TO OUR PARISHES! The Online Masses, special events and such have made a wonderful impact on our communities. As a result, St. Patrick’s has been able to shave almost $300,000 off the parish debt and St. Anne was blessed last year for monies used to upgrade the air conditioning in church. All of our hard work is paying off! Thanks to everyone who has supported our cause.

Finally, we are firming up our big parish socials in the upcoming months – mark these dates on your calendars!

• February 8 – Our Annual Parish Appreciation Dinner at St. Patrick’s, starting with a 4:00 p.m. Polka Mass with Ray Koncar and Ray’s music following (dinner served by St. Patrick’s Funeral Committee)
• March 8 – St. Patrick’s Annual Irish Mass & Dinner (Brian McKee on the Bagpipes at the 4:00 p.m. Mass, the “Galway Guys” from 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. and the Knights of Columbus serving their annual Corned Beef & Cabbage Dinner (with Maria Jankowski and her Irish Lamb Stew)

Lots of good going on this month and following. God bless all of you!!!

• For those who are wishing a 2024 Contribution Statement, please contact the parish office
• Please consider donation socks and slippers to Harbor House in January. More information can be found in the bulletin.
• We are taking reservations for our Polka Mass & Appreciation Dinner on Saturday, February 8. The event is free to the parishes and is our way of giving back to all those who give to those in need.
• We will participate in our annual Baby Bottles for Life fundraiser in February. Bottles to fill with change can be picked up at next weekend’s Masses. Information will be placed in next week’s bulletin concerning this fundraiser, Thank you for supporting life at our parishes!
• St. Patrick’s Church & Alumni Testimonials. We are looking for as many people from our Academy (and extended family) as possible to write a one paragraph article about why St. Patrick's Church is important to our community today. We would like to include these paragraphs and pictures in our next alumni newsletter in March.

Click Here

to Access

the St. Anne Novena Page!!!

ONLINE VIDEOS THIS WEEK

MASS FOR THE PRESENTATION OF THE LORD (CANDLEMAS)

Celebrated at ST. ANNE'S CHURCH - St. Anne, IL



For the good number of the faithful, the Christmas Season extends to this day, "Candlemas," where Jesus is presented in the temple so that his light and his purpose become known. Both Simeon and Anna, both elderly faithful members of the faith, recognize the role of this child and what this baby will have to do for our salvation, which passes us not just through the Christmas Season but through Holy Week, Easter and beyond.

In his homily, Fr. Pete speaks about two occasions where the nativity decorations were kept in two churches long after Christmas Day - for the funeral of Maria Jankowski's mother (Anna Supinski), whose funeral took place on January 16, 2018 (which Fr. Pete attended, flying to Borek, Poland as a representative of the family in the US) and for the First Communion of Michelle LaFranzo at St. Joseph's Church in Rockdale on February 7, 2020.

At this Mass, Fr. Pete blesses candles which he will distribute to the faithful during the in-church services.

For Catholic Daily Reflections (based on the scripture readings of the day),

CLICK HERE!!!

CLICK HERE to Access the Readings for This Sunday's Mass

(from the USCCB's website)

WE HAVE FINALLY MADE IT UNDER THE $40,000 MARK! LET'S KEEP GOING!!!

St. Patrick’s Church Debt finally is now just above $80,000 but we still have a bit to go. We talked about how that debt grew to over $330,000 and how our business managers have been able to reduce it by a factor of $250,000 in two years. Before we can get to the other side of our ledger at Pat’s (and think about parking lots, classrooms for our kids, etc.), this debt needs to be eradicated. Thanks for those who have helped us reduce our debt and please consider doing what you can to lowering it even further!

1973 St. Patrick's Church Photo Directory

1981 St. Patrick's Church Photo Directory

1986 St. Patrick's Church Photo Directory

1993 St. Patrick's Church Photo Directory

2004 St. Patrick's Church Photo Directory

2006 St. Patrick's Academy 100th Anniversary Book

2010 St. Patrick's Church Photo Directory

2016 St. Patrick's Church Photo Directory

2023 St. Patrick's Church Photo Directory

1960s St. Anne’s Church Photo Directory

1970s St. Anne’s Church Photo Directory

1989 St. Anne’s Church Photo Directory

1998-2004 St. Anne’s Photo Directory

2023 St. Anne's Church Photo Directory

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION

How to scan a QR code with the Camera app



1. Open the Camera app from the Home Screen, Control Center, or Lock Screen.
2. Select the rear facing camera. Hold your device so that the QR code appears in the viewfinder in the Camera app. ... 
3. Tap the notification to open the link associated with the QR code.

Congratulations to Leonard & Bernie Ratuszny from St. Anne's their 50th Anniversary of Marriage!

For weddings and such, Fr. Pete offers a special blessing on the first Sunday weekend of each month and is willing to purchase an Apostolic Blessing for anyone who asks (and if he can afford it... since he pays out of pocket!!!).

If you are interested in receiving an Apostolic Blessing, you can do so by clicking the link below or by calling the parish offices.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER YOUR OWN APOSTOLIC BLESSING!!!

Fr. Pete offers the Anointing of the Sick at both parishes at the First Friday Masses every month (St. Patrick’s at 9:15 a.m. and St. Anne’s at 5:00 p.m. (English) and 7:00 p.m. (Spanish).

To View St. Patrick's Bulletin for

January 26, 2025

CLICK HERE!

To View St. Anne's Bulletin for

January 26, 2025

CLICK HERE!

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR BELOVED DECEASED: Victor Vela (Funeral at Cotter'son Thursday - January 30, 2024 at 11:00 a.m.)

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR SICK: June Burns, Guadalupe Mike Cronk, Maria De Leon, Cindy DeYoung, Debbie Georgiani, Joanne Hermann, Don Hout, Gustavo Lopez, Jesus Ariel Lopez, Evelyn Provost, Art Schmidt, Cynthia Vickery and all those on our sick list.

At St. Anne's... Eva Bell, Paula Bertrand, Lola Billings, Duane Blanchette, Cheryl Boswell, June Burns, Patrick Burns, Cindy Capriotti, Ashley & Jesse Childress, Abraham Daily, Tom Dandurand, Aria Dionne, Carol Futcher, Raelynn Garrett, Tommy Klonowski, Val Lagacy, Bentley Lottinville, Linda Miramontes, Josh Odelson, Ruth Sparenberg, John Wojnowski and Cynthia Vickery.

At St. Patrick's... P. Anderson, N. Atkinson, R. Bailey, D. Barth, Beedle Family, D. Brown, W. Bukowski, M. Cárdenas, P. Caro, B & E. Coffman, S. Conner, M & D Cousin, M. Cruz, A. Delaney, D. Demack, M. Dionne, J. Dobbins, E. Duke, D. Dunlap, G. Field, C. Fritz, A. Fuhrmann, R. Gall, Tony & Adrianne Gallinaro, J. Grill, R. Harper, K. Hensa, J. Hibbs, D. Hiller, C. Jones, L. Kane, R. Kazee, A. Kijewski, Joe Kraus, L. Lee, L. Leranth, E. Lopez, B. Love, J. Marcotte, W. Marten, J. McCracken, L. McNulty, L. Mercado, R & V Morse, C. Ortman, M. Peterson, C. Piec, M. Pontow, J. Prather, C. Provost, E. Provost, R. Rehmer, P. Reising, D. Roberts, B. Ryan, M. Saldaña A. Schaff, J. Schopf. D. Schmied, K. Simpson, B. Siwicki, B. Spagnola, M. Tolbert, M. Tolmer, H. Tousignant, M. Velazquez, C. Vickery, M. Williams, Gary Witherell, M. Witherspoon, S. Young, J. L. Zagal, A. Zimmerman, M & L Zink and G. Zokal.

CLICK HERE TO READ

FR. PETE'S HOMILIES

CLICK HERE for the Parish

Registration Forms in English

(CLICK HERE for Spanish)

CLICK HERE for the Religious Education Registration Forms FOR BOTH PARISHES (CLICK HERE for Spanish)

Click Here to Register for the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (CLICK HERE for Spanish)

Click Here for the Time

& Talent Form in English

(CLICK HERE for Spanish)

Click Here for the Link to All the Parish Forms

Help support our parishes buy purchasing copies of Fr. Pete’s Homiletic Books! You can purchase them at the parishes or online at Amazon.com!

Cycle A Homilies - Cycle B Homilies

Cycle C Homilies

Call the Offices at (815) 472-2864 or (815) 427-8265 for more information...

Greeting Cards of These Images are Now Available for Purchase in the Parish Office.

$25 for Books of Twenty...