St Stephen Catholic School will be hosting their annual school fundraiser during the Mardi Gras parades.  Please patronize the school by purchasing food and drinks through the windows of the school facing Napoleon Avenue.  They will also offer bathroom passes for those wishing to avoid the Port-o-Lets.  They clean the bathrooms continuously throughout each day.  Please support our school that serves some of the neediest members of our community! … [Read more...]

With professional instruction, Natural Family Planning has proven itself to be safe, effective, and a moral way for couples to plan their families. It is a method which respects the meaning of human sexuality as God created it and thus marital love is enhanced and strengthened. This class series the Office of Marriage and Family Life is offering in the SymptoProTM Method of Natural Family Planning will be conducted by Kelly Donahue of the Archdiocese of New Orleans. This series will be virtual by using Zoom. The dates of the class series are March 4, March 18, April 1 and May 6, 2022. The Zoom class hours are 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. The cost is $105.00 and includes all classes and materials. Preregistration is required. You can register online here nolacatholicfla.regfox.com … [Read more...]

From the Christmas Martyrology (traditional version read at Midnight Mass) The twenty-fifth day of December. In the five thousand one hundred and ninety-ninth year of the creation of the world from the time when God in the beginning created the heavens & earth; the two thousand nine hundred and fifty-seventh year after the flood; the two thousand and fifteenth year from the birth of Abraham; the one thousand five hundred and tenth year from Moses and the going forth of the people of Israel from Egypt; the one thousand and thirty-second year from David's being anointed king; in the sixty-fifth week according to the prophecy of Daniel; in the one hundred and ninety-fourth Olympiad; he seven hundred & fifty-second year from the foundation of the city of Rome; the forty … [Read more...]

The Church has been singing the "O" Antiphons since at least the eighth century. They are the antiphons that accompany the Magnificat canticle of Evening Prayer in the Divine Office from December 17-23, a time called the “Golden Nights.” They are part of a magnificent theology that uses ancient biblical imagery drawn from the messianic hopes of the Old Testament to proclaim the coming Christ as the fulfillment not only of Old Testament hopes, but present ones as well. Their repeated use of the imperative "Come!" embodies the longing of all for the Divine Messiah. The seven "O Antiphons" (also called the "Greater Antiphons" or "Major Antiphons") are prayers that come from Vespers of the Liturgy of the Hours during the Octave before Christmas Eve, a time which is called the “Golden … [Read more...]

Casey Candebat will be performing is a Christmas Concert at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church on Friday, December 17th a 7 PM, all are invited.  Admission is free, and refreshments will be served following the concert.  Donations with be accepted with a portion supporting the OLGC restoration fund. … [Read more...]

On Saturday, December 9, 1531, a neophyte Catholic named Juan Diego was hurrying down Tepeyac hill in Guadalupe Hidalgo to hear Mass in Mexico City, and the Blessed Virgin appeared and sent him to Bishop Zumárraga to have a church built where she stood. She was at the same place that evening and Sunday evening awaiting the bishop's answer. The bishop asked Juan Diego to ask a sign of the lady who said she was the mother of the true God. Juan Diego agreed readily, and the bishop left the sign to the apparition. However, Juan was occupied all Monday with an uncle who seemed dying of fever, so at daybreak on Tuesday, December 12, the grieved nephew was running to the St. James's convent for a priest. As he went along, the Blessed Virgin came to meet him and said: “What road is this thou … [Read more...]

During November, we come to the end of the Church year, and we are asked to consider the end times – our own as well as the world's. The culmination of the liturgical year is the Feast of Christ the King which asserts the supreme authority of Christ over human beings and their institutions. Beyond it we see Advent dawning with its preparation for the birth of Christ and its foreshadowing of the Lord’s coming in glory. The main feasts are the Solemnity of All Saints, (November 1), All Souls, (November 2), St. Charles Borromeo, (November 4), the Lateran Basilica, (November 9), St. Leo the Great, (November 10), St. Martin of Tours, (November 11), St. Josaphat, (November 12), St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, (November 13), St. Albert the Great, (November 15), Sts. Margaret of Scotland and Gertrude … [Read more...]

Friday, October 22, 2015 the Church throughout the world will celebrate the Feast Day of Pope St. John Paul II. Pope St. John Paul II, also known as Saint John Paul the Great, was Pope from October 16, 1978 until his death on April 2, 2005.  He was the second longest-serving pope in modern history after Pope Pius IX, who served for nearly 32 years from 1846 to 1878. Born in Poland, John Paul II is credited as helping to end Communist rule in his native Poland and eventually all of Europe.  John Paul II significantly improved the Catholic Church's relations with Judaism, Islam, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Anglican Communion. One of the most traveled world leaders in history, John Paul II visited 129 countries during his pontificate. As part of his special emphasis on the … [Read more...]

The Eucharistic Prayer  The Eucharistic Prayer is the “center and high point of the entire celebration,” through which “the whole congregation of the faithful joins with Christ in confessing the great deeds of God and in the offering of Sacrifice” (General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 78). This central prayer of the Mass is why we often refer to the entire celebration as Eucharist, which is not a thing, but rather an action – Eucharist (a Greek term) literally means “to give thanks.” Although this prayer is spoken mostly by the priest, the gathered faithful are in no way spectators. We are all doing something even if we are not speaking – our active participation is paramount here, for we are offering our very selves in thanksgiving for all God has done to save us and we join … [Read more...]

Born in 1581 into a farming family in Pouy, France, Vincent's initial desire to be a priest was mainly for social advancement and monetary gain. Through a process of careful planning and being in the right place at the right time, Vincent was ordained a priest at the ripe age of nineteen by an elderly bishop who could barely see or hear. Beginning his ordained life with less than pure motives, Vincent's change of heart began in the middle of one of his visits to the poor tenants of a wealthy estate holder. When Vincent was called to hear the confession of a dying man, the spiritual naiveté of the penitent shocked Vincent. The poor man knew next to nothing about his religion.  Not long after, Vincent preached a sermon on general confession from the pulpit in the village chapel of … [Read more...]