Mass Times for All Saints' Day at St. Mark

Thursday, November 1 is All Saints' Day.  St. Mark in Vienna, VA, will have Masses at the following times:

• 6:15am
• 9:15am
• 5:30pm
• 7:30pm

And from the St. Mark bulletin, a note:

This Thursday, we rejoice in all those who have attained the reward of their faith in the happiness of heaven, as we celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints. As well as the known and canonized Saints, all who now enjoy the presence of God are of the Communion of Saints, to which we aspire. And as a Holy Day of Obligation, falling upon a week-day, this Solemnity reminds us to be conscious of the saints’ prayers for us at all times

YouthMassBand at this weekend's 11:45AM Mass

The following is a public service announcement:

This Sunday, August 19, the 11:45AM Mass will feature the YouthMassBand.  This group provides the music for the 6:00PM youth and family Mass, typically held on the first Sunday of the month from October to May.  Their style is praise & worship/contemporary.

See you at Mass!

Solemnity: Assumption of Mary

This is a little late, but here is the schedule for the remaining Masses at St. Mark in Vienna, VA for the Assumption of Mary:

• 5:30PM
• 7:30PM

Hope to see you there!

4 Ways to Grow in Faith this Summer

Summer and faith go hand in hand

Tomorrow we turn the calendar to June.  Children all across Fairfax County will wave goodbye to their school buildings for the summer and engulf themselves into summer activities: camps, sleep overs, and (hopefully) reading a book or ten.

The summer is also a great opportunity to continue their faith formation in the home.  Here are three ways your child (and your family) can grow in your faith this summer.

Weekday Mass
Try attending a weekday Mass once or twice a week with the family.  At St. Mark, the weekday Mass is in the chapel, providing an intimate worship setting you and your family might not be familiar with.  Make sure to place an unconsecrated host from the glass bowl to the gold ciborium for every person receiving communion.  Before going to Mass, check out the readings with your family beforehand using the United States Conference of Catholic Bishop's website dedicated to Mass readings.  Use the calendar on the right hand side to find the day.

Mass is celebrated at 9:15AM Monday through Friday, at 7:30PM on Monday and 6:15AM on Friday.

Vacation Bible School

This year, give VBS a try.  It's a week full of faith, fun, and community.  Each day focuses in on a different Bible story about Jesus, with each activity reinforcing the story.  Whether it's children interacting with the story during the story time or singing songs with similar themes beforehand, they will learn about God while having fun.

This year's VBS is from July 9-13 and features Sky VBS, which focuses on trusting God in all situations.  Watch a trailer about this year's VBS to learn more information.  Or visit Our Sunday Visitor's website dedicated to the Catholic version of Sky, which we'll be using.

We also need teenage and adult volunteers to help run VBS, so the whole family can attend or help!

Read the Bible
Public schools often have "summer reading lists," with dozens of books teachers recommend (or require) their students to read during the summer.  Why not add the Bible to the list?  Read a Bible story out of a children's Bible before going to bed at night with little kids.  Or if you have older kids, pick and read a Gospel together (maybe Mark's Gospel, since he is our patron saint!).  Any Gospel is a good place to start, as are the Old Testament stories of Abraham (Genesis 11-25), Joseph (Genesis 37-50), and Moses (Exodus 1-15).  Some of the Old Testament stories can be complicated!  Talk to Isaac if you have any questions.

Watch a Movie
A few times this past year, the blog has highlighted teachable faith moments within two popular Disney movies, The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast.  This summer will also feature Friday Family Movie Nights at St. Mark with kid-friendly movies focused on positive values.  Check the bulletin and information desk for more details.

What do you recommend?  How does your family grow in faith during the summer?

Image Credit: Bonnie Woodson on Flickr

Holy Week Services at St. Mark Catholic Church in Vienna, VA

Below is the Mass and service schedule for St. Mark Catholic Church in Vienna, VA for Holy Week 2012 (Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday).

Palm (Passion) Sunday, April 1

• Mass Times: 8:00AM; 10:00AM; 12:00 noon
  The outdoor procession will take place at the noon Mass only, and will begin with the blessing of the palms in the Activities Center.
• Parish Penance Service: 7:00PM

Holy Thursday, April 5

• Mass of the Lord's Supper: 7:30PM
• Adoration: post-Mass until midnight

Good Friday, April 6

• Stations of the Cross: 12 noon
• Celebration of the Lord's Passion: 3:00PM
• Living Stations of the Cross: 7:30PM

Holy Saturday, April 7

• Blessing of the Food: 12 noon
• Easter Vigil: 8:30PM

Easter Sunday, April 8

• Mass Times: 8:00AM; 10:00AM; 12:00 noon 

Note: Mass times on Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday are a bit different for the early and late Mass: 8AM instead of 8:15AM and 12 noon instead of 11:45AM.

Ash Wednesday Mass Schedule, St. Mark Catholic Church, Vienna, VA

Turn away from sin and follow the Gospel

Below is the Ash Wednesday (Wednesday, February 22) Mass Schedule for St. Mark Catholic Church in Vienna, VA.  There is no separate time for distribution of ashes during a non-Mass.

Ash Wednesday, February 22

• 6:15AM
• 9:15AM
• 5:30PM
• 7:30PM

If you have any questions, please call the St. Mark parish office at (703) 281-9100.

Car Conversation: On Your Way to Mass

Kids in the car!

It can be a struggle to get in the car, but once you're there you have a great opportunity to engage your children in preparing for Mass.  Here are a few ideas:

• If possible, you can have someone in your car read through the Gospel.  Talk about the Gospel for the few minutes you have.  Your kids will be more focused during the Gospel after having talked it through.
• Only one driving?  When we're at Mass, we have a chance to bring in all that happened during the week and pray through the events and circumstances of our lives.  Have everyone answer and share one of each the following:
• What are you thankful for this week?
• What do you need need forgiveness for this week?
• What sacrifices have you made this week?
• What do you need to pray for for this upcoming week?
• Need some quiet time?  Ask everyone to spend a few moments conversing with God (AKA praying).  Sometimes when we're running close to the start of Mass, this quiet time is important to help us transition  into Mass.

What sorts of conversations do you have in the car with your children before Mass?  Is it pure chaos?  Leave a comment below and share.

Image Credit: Thomas Widmann on flickr

Website Wednesday: Pray.nd.edu

This is how it looks

Continuing our series of looking at websites on Wednesday, we turn our gaze to a website focused on praying through the daily mass readings: Pray.nd.edu.  Run by the University of Notre Dame, my alma mater, "Pray" includes different content every day, centered around the Gospel for that particular day.  Each day, you find the text for the Gospel, a brief reflection written by someone connected to the University, and a prayer.

One of the strengths of this website is the sheer number of contributors.  Tapping into the vast resource of Notre Dame students, alums, and friends, Pray has featured past Notre Dame football stars, current students, priests and religious, and of course alumni.  Hearing from many different individuals keeps the site fresh.  There are "as many ways [to God] as there are people," as Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) once said.  The different perspectives allow us to see God with new eyes.

Let's take a look at a few of the other parts of the site.

Seasonal Sections
During Advent and Lent, "Pray" features videos for each week of the season.  Each video includes a well thought out, well delivered ~5 minute reflection on a particular aspect that shines forth in that week's mass readings.  I particularly enjoyed the one for the 2nd week of Advent:


Free Online Prayer Cards
Ever hit a patch where you don't know how you want to pray, don't feel like you have time to pray, and need to pray something short and meaningful?  So do I.  The prayer card section on the Pray website is an incredible resource for people in that spot.  Each prayer card is a PDF that can be printed out, cut, and folded up to fit in your wallet.  Here's an example of one of the prayers, a prayer for healing (PDF):

Prayer for Healing

Dear Jesus, we turn to you in this 

time of illness. Ease our worry 

and sorrow with your gentle love. 

Gift us with the strength to accept 

this burden. Lord, we place our 

worries in your hands. We place 

our sick under your care and ask 

that you restore your loved one 

to health again. Above all, grant 

us the grace to acknowledge your 

will and know that whatever you 

do, you do for the love of us.

Adapted from Missionary 

Oblates of Mary Immaculate 

Faith Videos for You

Looking at the world through a faith perspective requires some support and some challenge.  Tender, Strong, and True is a video series that tries to do just that.  With a wide range of relevant topics (starting and maintaining prayer, living faith at work, not being stressed), this video series is a real gem for anyone looking for help and guidance.

A great resource for Catholics on the go (they'll send you daily emails) or Catholics not on the go (watching videos), Pray.nd.edu can help you grow closer to God day by day.

If you have a website you recommend, leave a comment or send Isaac an email:

Christmas Mass Schedule

As you may have noticed, things have slowed down a bit in the blog. We will pick it back up a few days after Christmas. Until then, here's the Christmas Mass schedule for St. Mark in Vienna,VA.

Saturday, December 24*:
• 8PM
• 10PM
Sunday, December 25:
• 9AM
• 11AM

* there is Mass at 3:45PM and 6PM, but you need a ticket to enter, by order of the fire marshall.

Merry Christmas!

Solemnity of Immaculate Conception - Mass Schedule

Tomorrow, December 8 is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.  Come and celebrate at St. Mark in Vienna.  Here is our mass schedule:

• Wednesday, December 7:  Vigil Mass at 7:30pm
• Thursday, December 8: 6:15am, 9:15am, 5:30pm and 7:30 pm

Link: Taking Young Children to Mass

Children and mass

"How do we bring our young children to mass?"  This question is on the minds and lips of many first time and veteran parents who risk stares if their young children make even a peep at mass.

Much ink has been spilled by way of pamphlets and brochures to help parents raise their kids in the faith.  A new article on ForYourMarriage.org distills many suggestions and presents them through the eyes of a couple with two young children.  Among the suggestions I found most interesting:

We physically hold our children in our arms during Mass. In fact, we adopted the position that our children’s feet do not touch the ground during Mass until they are three years old. This helps in many ways. The children get a get a better view; as they grow and mature we can talk them through the stories and the actions; and we have a bit more control over their behavior. If an infant or toddler gets squirmy, often switching who is holding them is enough to calm them down. Otherwise we might play a quiet game of “point to the…candles, priest, altar, cross, etc.”

Read the rest of the article for more tips on bringing children to mass or leave a comment to share your own.

Image Credit: Mandy_Jansen

3 iPhone Apps for Catholics

Archbishop Carlson (of St. Louis) with his iPhone

This is a first in a 3 part series on iPhone apps for Catholics


Millions of apps tap in to the versatility of the iPhone. You can listen to the radio, read the news, play games, learn Spanish, and yes, even shoot, edit, and publish your own home videos. What about living out our Catholic faith? Yes, there’s an app for that too.

Here are three Catholic apps that can help you grow closer to God: