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Dear Parishioners, Advent starts this weekend. Advent Season is a very special time of year. The first day of Advent is the first day of a new Liturgical (or church) calendar and begins a four-week period of preparation in anticipation of the nativity of Jesus at Christmas. Click for more...

Dear Parishioners,    This Wednesday I am having a significant birthday, I will be turning 60. As Cathy Priddy put it, “The Sixties are the youth of old age.” Moving into another decade of life on earth always gives pause for reflection. To think about the gift of life itself, where it came from and where it is going. (Click to read more)

Dear Parishioners, November is upon us and we have two beautiful celebrations that make us think about death and the afterlife: Nov. 1, the Feast of All Saints, and Nov. 2, All Souls Day. All Saints is about Heaven and All Souls is about Purgatory. We are all called to be Saints. Canonized or not, everyone in heaven is a saint. All Saints is about honoring all the saints in heaven and building our belief and desire for heaven. We all have a bit of window to heaven in our souls and this needs to expand. Heaven is the grace or life of God living within us. Our desire for heaven to be with God and all the saints should grow with each passing day and year. Heaven is our true home, we are only passing through this life on earth to eternal life.

Dear Parishioners, I was really delighted with the Rosary procession that happened last Sunday. It was the beginning of a lovely tradition to honor Our Lady of the Rosary who is that patron of St Mary’s. Many of those who participated mentioned that it brought back good memories of processions and May crownings they remember as children. I would like to thank everyone who participated and those who helped with the procession and meal that followed. Click here for more.

Dear Parishioners, Just a reminder that we will be having the Rosary Procession and luncheon after the 10 am mass at St. Mary’s. This will be a way to honor our Lady of the Rosary and pray a rosary together. Please join us. Processions and praying the Rosary together as a community have a way of strengthening faith. Click here to read more!

Dear Parishioners, We are so blessed here in Chewelah that our parish is named in honor of Our Lady under the title of St. Mary of the Rosary. It is a long tradition that a parish or town celebrate its patron’s feast day. In Europe and elsewhere the parish or town would have a procession and celebration on its patron’s feast day. Our parish feast day is Oct. 7, which is the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. This feast is on Friday. I will not be available to celebrate mass that day so we are going to have a rosary prayed at 9 a.m. in the place of mass. We will celebrate our parish feast on Sunday, Oct. 9.

Dear Parishioners, It is that time of year for the Spokane Diocese's Annual Catholic Appeal (ACA) and this weekend is "Commitment Sunday" to kick off ACA 2022. Please donate to help our parishes reach their goals.

Click here to read this week's Pastor Letter by Fr. Vincent Gilmore, Weekend of Sept. 11, 2022.

Belief in the Assumption of Mary dates back to ancient times. Although Protestants argue it isn’t in scripture, the assumption of Elijah is in 2 Kings 2. That’s not to mention Enoch being taken into heaven seemingly without dying in Genesis 5:24. There are no relics from her physical body (bone fragments). There are pieces of her veil around however. Our Lady is often portrayed in statues standing on the crescent moon with her foot on the head of the serpent. This comes from Genesis 3:15 which is called the protoevangelium and speaks of the seed of the woman striking at the head of the serpent. It also comes from Revelation 12 where Our Lady, standing on the moon with a crown of 12 stars, battles the dragon. She is one of our chief intercessors with Our Lord and it is said she will help bring about the defeat of the devil. One reason for this is her humility. Humility is the counter virtue to pride, the first deadly sin. It was the devil’s sin. If God were to crush the head of satan, he could claim it took God to defeat him, after all he was the most powerful angel. If however, a mere human defeats him, he is nothing. Our Lady is held up as an example for us to follow and an intercessor with Our Lord.

Do we take our relationship with Our Lord seriously? It’s a question we all need to ask, after all he is Our King, Our Savior and Our Lord. The price of admission into heaven is we obey all of His commands not just what we want to. The fact that Christianity says we need a Savior means it isn’t an equal relationship as the last Judgment Gospel indicates. God does the judging and we are judged. Ask God for the grace to love him and give yourself to him so he can prepare you for the day when you meet him.

All Hallowed’s Day: Yes, I know, it’s the old name for All Saints day. When we are reminded, we are not alone. God watches over us as do our brothers and sisters the saints. Click to continue...