15th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Masses: Saturday, July 10, 4 p.m., and Sunday, July 11, 9 a.m.
We are exploring the idea of using worship aids at weekend Masses in place of the Breaking Bread books. Starting this weekend, we will be providing worship aids at Masses as an additional resource for you to try out. (Our current Breaking Bread books are good until Advent.) Among the reasons we are considering this:
- Relatively few of our Breaking Bread books are being used. Just as you do in your own households, we are always discerning how we can use our funds wisely. The annual cost to produce weekly worship aids is less than 10 percent of the cost of the books. Worship aids provided at Saturday's Mass would be reused on Sunday and then recycled.
- You might find using the worship aid is easier than flipping through a book.
- Worship aids allow for more flexibility to use music that may not be in our hymnals.
If we do ultimately decide to go with worship aids, we will provide laminated cards in the pews (as we did when the liturgy was revised in 2011) with all of the Mass prayers and the creed.
In a couple of weeks, we will ask for input from those attending our weekend Masses. Thank you for keeping an open mind!
PSR Registration
South City Deanery Parish School of Religion provides formal Catholic religious education (Grade 1 through Confirmation Prep) for the children in parishes of the South City Deanery who do not receive this education in a Catholic school. Sessions are on Monday evenings, September through May, from 6:20 p.m. to 7:40 p.m., at St. John the Baptist Parish (4170 Delor St.).
Registration for the 2021-22 South City Deanery PSR year will be held on:
- Sunday, Aug. 15, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., St. John the Baptist Parish cafeteria
- Monday, Aug. 23, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., St. John the Baptist Parish Center
For more information about the program, contact Deacon George Watson at stl.scdpsr@gmail.com.
Recent Deaths
- Grace Phillips (memorial Mass is July 14, 10 a.m., at St. Stephen)
- Julie Tecu
- Marilyn Heidbrier, the mother of Paul Heidbrier
- The son of Helen Willman
The rescheduled memorial Mass for Suzie Beck (who died Oct. 31, 2020) will be on Saturday, Aug. 14, at 10 a.m., at St. Anthony of Padua (3140 Meramec).
May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace.
Mass Intentions
To request a Mass at St. Stephen be offered for the soul of a loved one or for a special intention, please call Mary Paule at 314-481-1133, ext 315, or email mary.paule@saintstephenstl.org. If you would like a particular date, we encourage you to call a bit in advance to ensure the date is available.
Week Ending July 4, 2021
Tim O'Connell and Chad Wilcox will be joining our crew of cantors this month. We thank all of our cantors and musicians for leading our worship community in prayerful song each weekend -- Anne & David Borgmeyer, Mandy & Will Borgmeyer, S. Gail Buckman, Steve Butz, Denise Dowd, Sarah & Pam Gunter, Cathy Kveton, Katie Kummer, Dolly Nichols, Carol Sestric, Betsy & Gary Stoff, and Stephanie Wobbe.
(We are still hoping for a couple more ushers at 4 p.m. Mass on Saturdays ... Don't be shy! Contact Mary Regan.)
Our maintenance staff is hard at work this summer making repairs, painting, and buffing floors to a magnificent shine. Is this beautiful or what?
Our Choral Club students in Grade 4-8 will have the honor of singing the National Anthem on the field at the Aug. 25 Cardinals game (12:15 p.m. start)!
The singers will be sitting together in a reserved block of box seats in right field. There are limited additional tickets available on a first-come first-served basis; the families of singers will have priority until July 15. After that time, anyone may purchase tickets for as long as they are available. Cost is $20 per ticket. Tickets will need to be paid for in advance by sending cash or check to the parish office before July 25. The tickets will be available for pickup at a later date.
Contact Anne Borgmeyer at borgmeyer@saintstephenstl.org with any questions.
Angelus
Have you ever wondered why the church bells ring at noon and 6 p.m.? (Actually, they should also ring at 6 a.m., but we don't want to upset the neighbors.) There are various traditions about how the Angelus began.
In the 11th Century, Franciscan monks had the custom of saying three Hail Marys along with the bell that was rung at their Evening Prayer. This practice was encouraged among the lay people, especially by St. Bonaventure.
Another tradition says that in the time when England was occupied by the Normans, the Normans rang a curfew bell at the end of each day as a way to control the people. This was to remind the people to put out all fires, get out of the streets, and go to their homes. While this was not rung for prayer, the bell got associated with the evening prayer time, which included saying the Hail Mary. The practice of ringing the bell continued even after the end of the invasion.
By the 14th century, it became customary to ring church bells to remind people to pray in honor of Mary and to remember the mystery of the Incarnation. This tradition of the Angelus (Latin angelus, meaning "angel" -- the first word of the Angelus prayer) imitates the ancient monastic call to prayer by ringing the church bells. The prayer is comprised of invocations to Mary and is interspersed with a series of Hail Marys and a concluding prayer.
The Angelus
The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary
And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.
Hail Mary …
Behold the handmaid of the Lord
Be it done to me according to your Word.
Hail Mary …
And the Word was made flesh
And dwelt among us.
Hail Mary …
Pray for us, O holy Mother of God,
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray. Pour forth, we beseech you, O Lord, your grace into our hearts: that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ your Son was made known by the message of an Angel, may by his Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of his Resurrection. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
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