Church of the Blessed Sacrament

PASTOR
Rev. William Luciano

PAROCHIAL VICARS
Rev. Biju Peter, C.M.I
Rev. George Obeng-Yeboah-Asuamah

DEACONS

Deacon Francis B. Orlando
Deacon Angel Camacho

PARISH OFFICE MANAGER
Mrs. Luz Maldonado

DIRECTOR OF
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
Deacon Francis B. Orlando

DIRECTOR OF
MUSIC & ORGANIST
Mr. Jonathan Mercado

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION OFFICE MANAGER
Mrs. Gladis Kann

HOLY SEPULCHRE CEMETERY
OFFICE MANAGER
Mrs. Noreen Orlando

THE CHURCH OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT
15 Shea Place
New Rochelle, N.Y. 10801
 

Tel: (914) 632 - 3700
Fax: (914) 632 - 0732
E-mail: 15shea@optonline.net
Website:: blessedsacramentnr.com

The Catholic Church dedicates the entire month of November to the Holy Souls in Purgatory. During this entire month we pray for the souls of the faithful departed, especially those whom we have known and loved. November 2nd is All Souls Day, also known as the Day of the Dead.

Thanksgiving is just around the corner. As we do every year, we will be collecting food for those who are not able to adequately provide for themselves. We will be accepting only non-perishable food items until Sunday, November 18th. The donated food can be left, in the back of the Church, on Sundays or dropped off, at the Rectory Office, during the week. Every year we run into a problem and we need your help. It is not only a problem here, at Blessed Sacrament, but happens to all organizations and churches that collect food. Unfortunately, people bring in expired food. These individuals might be thinking that they themselves that don't want to eat expired food, or they feel that it is a sin to throw away food. If it is not good enough for you, then it is not good for those who need our help and depend upon us. Every year we throw out a lot of expired items. Please make sure the items you are donating are not expired. 
Let this Thanksgiving time be a time of joy and blessing for those who need our help.

The souls in purgatory died in the mercy of God, this is why they are called holy; however, because they still had attachment to sin at the time of their death, they must undergo a spiritual purification of their souls before they are able to fully love God with their whole heart, mind, and soul for all eternity. The holy souls are “saved souls” – they will enjoy the reward of heaven – but during their lives they were not the perfect souls that Christ commanded them to be (Mathew 5:48), and for which he provided every grace and means for them to become (2 Peter 1:3). We are meant to die after living as saints. Those who die in the love God but fall short of holiness due to habitual sinful clingings must be pure before being admitted to the beatific vision, that is, the vision of God that the saints in heaven enjoy for all eternity.

Those in purgatory cannot pray for themselves, this is why they are also called “poor” souls. They can no longer merit anything for themselves (their opportunity for increasing in merit was during their earthly lives) and they must rely entirely on others to pray and make sacrifices on their behalf. As they are nevertheless part of the Communion of Saints, they depend upon us to help ease their suffering and quickly advance them through their purification so that they can join the saints in heaven.

Prayers for the faithful departed pleases God, who makes use of our prayers to help purify these souls that He loves. It is an act of charity that we can give for those we have known and loved, for our ancestors who gave us life, for those who were our benefactors, for those whose memory is lost, and for those who have no one else to pray for them. Here are some ideas for praying for these suffering (and often neglected) souls, especially during the month of November dedicated to their memory:

WAYS TO PRAY
FOR THE HOLY SOULS IN PURGATORY

1. Pray the Novena to the Holy Souls.
2. Offer up your Holy Communions for the souls inpurgatory.
3. Have Masses said for your departed loved ones, especially on the anniversary of his or her death.
4. Pray The Way Of The Cross for Souls in Purgatory.
5. Pray the special Holy Souls Rosary. After the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Holy Rosary is the most powerful prayer.
6. Obtain indulgences: Indulgences reduce or cancel the temporal punishment that we incur through sin.* There are many ways to obtain indulgences through pious actions, and we can apply their merits to the dead. You can find a partial list of indulgences here. If you visit a church or oratory on All Souls Day and there recite the Lord’s Prayer and the Apostle’s Creed, you can earn a plenary (full) indulgence applicable only to the souls in purgatory (under the usual conditions).*

Fr. William Luciano
Pastor

We are using an important communication tool in order to connect with our Parishioners. In signing up you will receive reminders of Masses, special events or important communications from the Parish. Over these past several weeks we have wished our parishioners a Happy Saint Patrick’s Day and a Happy Saint Joseph’s Day and even a Happy Easter. We have reminded everyone of the times for our Masses and services during this past Holy Week and even we reminded everyone to put their clock ahead one hour when we had to spring ahead. Some people have said to us that they don't mind getting communications from Blessed Sacrament but they don't want anything coming from anyone else. When you sign up you can exclude any other group from sending you a message by delisting them so that you will only get messages from us. Sometimes we need reminders of what is taking place and the time it is taking place.

In order to enroll in our Flocknote program, text bsparishnr to 84576 or visit our Parish at www.flocknote.com/BSNewRochelle