“Beloved, now is the acceptable time spoken of by the Spirit, the day of salvation, peace and reconciliation: the great season of Advent. This is the time eagerly awaited by the patriarchs and prophets, the time that holy Simeon rejoiced to see.” - St. Charles Borromeo During the four weeks of Advent, we prepare for the celebration of Christ’s birth through prayer and reflection. We contemplate the First Coming of Jesus as Savior, and anticipate His promised Second Coming. And amid the flurry of Christmas preparations, we look for practi...

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Peace:  freedom from disturbance; tranquility. (Oxford Dictionary) According to this definition all of us that live and breathe do not have a chance at attaining peace!  Every waking moment of every day we are inundated by some “disturbance” that requires our physical and emotional attention.  The advances in technology have widened our circle of friends, enhanced our knowledge base and complicated our lives beyond anyone’s imagination.  So how and where are we supposed to find peace this Advent season? The peace that calms our...

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advent

"I wish to encourage the beautiful family tradition of preparing the nativity scene in the days before Christmas, but also, the custom of setting it up in the workplace, in schools, hospitals, prisons and town squares."  Pope Francis Holiday Greetings from the Communications Office, On the First Sunday of Advent Pope Francis issued an apostolic letter, Admirabile signum, on the meaning and importance of nativity scenes, calling for this “wonderful sign” to be more widely displayed in family homes and public places throughout the world. I...

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advent

    When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, "Woman, here is your son." Then he said to the disciple, "Here is your mother." And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.                                                  &...

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HOPE Hope is defined as a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen: a feeling of trust.   Life in today’s world has more than its share of uncertainty.  Will we go to war? Will I lose my job? Will I remain healthy?  Will I have enough money when I retire? Are our children safe in school?   As Christians we cannot be certain of anything in our material world.  However, we can be certain of God’s promises: God loves us unconditionally, gives us life through the death of Jesus, will welcome us in...

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On November 15, 2019, Dr. Christopher Lipinski was invested into the Order of Malta. The investiture took place at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City during the Solemn Mass of Investiture celebrated by Cardinal Seán Patrick O’Malley, OFM Cap, Archbishop of Boston. Dr. Lipinski was invested with 70 Knights and Dames into the Sovereign Order of Malta, American Association. Founded in 1099, the Order of Malta is more than 900 years old and runs hospitals, medical centers, nursing homes and hospice care. From its origin and throughout history, it has emphas...

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A Great Way to Kick Off the Advent Season Come join us, Thursday, December 5th- 6:30-8:00 pm- St Pius X Church Hall, Middletown!  Families, children, parishioners and priests are all invited to come and ask Bishop Cote, and a panel of knowledgeable guests, questions about our Catholic faith traditions.  The evening will highlight the season of Advent. Questions can be submitted through your local parish Faith Formation program or to the Office of Faith Events when you RSVP.  All questions need to be submitted in advance. Come for a night of fun, fe...

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advent

"The pleas of gravely ill persons who sometimes ask for death are not to be understood as implying a true desire for euthanasia; in fact it is almost always a case of an anguished plea for help and love. What a sick person needs, besides medical care, is love, the human and supernatural warmth with which the sick person can and ought to be surrounded by those close to him or her, parents and children, doctors and nurses."[283]     The sick person who feels surrounded by a loving human and Christian presence does not give way to depression and ang...

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The Cathedral of St. Patrick will host the Annual Candlelight Concert.  November 17th 7:30PM Enjoy the beauty of the Cathedral and the sound of the Norwich Diocesan Choir in a program of music that we hope will be an instrument of peace.  The evening will conclude with Compline (night prayer) sung in candlelight. A few music selections on the program include Psalm 150 by César Franck and Ave Verum by Camille Saint-Saëns. This Event is Free

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  Dear Faithful Readers . . .  Once a year we appeal to your generosity to help defray the production costs of our print, online, and email newsletter editions of the Four County Catholic.  Thank you in advance for responding to our annual appeal. We are grateful for your generous support, prayers, and encouragement. Your help makes it possible for us to continue bringing the good news from around the diocese to you. In the past year, we have expanded our online presence on the NorwichDiocese.org website with the addition of Photo and Video G...

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