Dear members and friends of the Sodality of Charity,
The exiting news of the month is the announcement of the date of the upcoming priestly ordination. On January 6, the feast of Epiphany, Bishop Dolan ordained as deacons our four seminarians, Thomas Ojeka, John Okerulu, Thomas Simpson, and Anthony Brueggemann. They will be ordained priests on Wednesday, May 4, 2022. It’s the first Wednesday of the month, a day which is a special one for our Sodality, since St. Joseph is such a special patron for us. And on first Wednesdays the faithful who perform some devout exercise in honor of St. Joseph can gain an indulgence of 5 years or a plenary indulgence under usual conditions.
May 4 is in this year also the Solemnity of St. Joseph, as well as the feast day of St. Monica, the mother of the great priest and bishop St. Augustine. Rev. Mrs. Ojeka and Okerulu are from Nigeria, and after finishing their studies, they will return to their home country, and help Fr. Nkamuke. He has served this huge country in Africa by himself several years now, and is in great need of help. Rev. Mr. Simpson is from Ohio and Rev. Mr. Brueggemann from Kentucky. Both of them have attended St. Gertrude the Great church for their whole lives and are also related to many of our Sodalists.
So make room in your calendar for May 4, to attend this great and happy occasion of the ordination to the holy priesthood. Pray also that our Fr. Nkamuke could come to this happy event. We need to pray hard for this intention; intercontinental travelling is very challenging and hard on these days.
On January 22 we had our Holy Hour in reparation for the sins of abortion. After that some of our members prepared Rosaries for our upcoming Seminarian Sunday, which will take place on Lætare Sunday, March 27. So that is another date you should all look forward to. This event will be organized to raise money for our Seminarians, to provide them with the necessities for their priesthood, like chalice, Mass vestments, etc. If you are able, donate goods and services or raffle items, work for the event, help out where and how you can, but please support this important event.
The First Wednesday of February falls this year on February 2, Candlemas. At St. Gertrude’s we have our traditional evening Mass with blessing of candles and procession, starting at 5:30 PM. These festivities are followed by our Winter Soup Supper. Hope to see you all there. Our next Sodality monthly meeting will be on Saturday, February 26. It is the feast day of St. Margaret of Cortona, and also the Mardi Gras weekend.
Yours in Christ and Mary,
Fr. Lehtoranta
