A huge thank you to everyone who supported the St. Mary School Pizza and Bulb Fundraiser. A special thank you to Patsy White and Deb Van Bogaert for their help and to Catholic Financial Life Chapter #15 for generously donating $1,000.00 in matching funds.

To create an account to place an order: https://store.ignatiusbookfairs.com/ 1. Click “Sign Up” 2. Click “Create an Account” then Choose your role 3. Fill out your information: name, email, create password 4. Add your child’s name 5. Find your school with zip code and/or State. Click “search” and select your school 6. Choose Classroom 7. Confirm 8. Click “Get Started” or click “Add another child”

St. Charles School and Youth Group are selling Christmas wreaths, garland, and porch pots again this year. We also have crosses, candy canes, and swags. If you would like to purchase something, please contact Angela Adams, 608-794-2107 prior to November 4. Delivery will be the weekend of November 22. The fundraiser supports the youth group mission trip and other activities as well as school field trips, activities, and materials. Thank you for your support!

The Ladies Night Out committee would like to thank all the gals and businesses that contributed to the success of our evening. Thank you to the ladies who attended and helped make the evening a fun time for all. - Ione, Alysa, Jen and Mary Jo.

It’s harvest time again which means St. Mary’s Harvest Fund has started. We are very gratefully to the families who have given early donations totaling $670.00 toward our goal of $50,000.00. We hope all of our parish members will be able to share their bounty and blessings to help with fall and winter expenses for the parish. We appreciate all contributions large or small and thank the many generous parishioners for their continued support.

Someone to Celebrate! Join us in honoring Sister Elizabeth Dunn, OP, (Sinsinawa Dominican & former principal at Ss. Andrew-Thomas School), who is celebrating her 60th Jubilee of Religious Life! Anyone interested in participating in a card shower for Sr. Elizabeth, please contact Angie Pierce at 608-732-6576 or aprn1994@gmail.com for more information.

2024 St. Charles Fall Festival Total Beer & Concessions: $2,535.00 Chicken Dinners: $11,315.00 Food Donations: $750.00 Games: $4,557.00 Large Raffle: $9,367.00 Farmers Market: $2,169.00 Silent Auction: $3,520.00 Small Raffle: $1,765.50 Bingo: $899.00 Total Income: $36,877.50 Expenses: $10,645.14 Profit: $26,232.36

October is traditionally devoted to the Holy Rosary! Legend has it that St. Dominic received the Rosary from Our Lady after he had been praying and doing penance for his lack of success in combatting the Albigensian heresy; in his vision, Mary gave Dominic the Rosary as a spiritual weapon and encouraged him to preach its use to others. The Mysteries of the Rosary are rooted in Scripture and offer us a summary of the Life, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. When we pray the Rosary, we join Mary in the contemplation of these Mysteries and ask her to unite and conform us to her Son as we ponder His Paschal Mystery. This month, consider adding a Rosary to your daily prayer routine! The Joyful Mysteries are typically prayed on Monday and Saturday, the Sorrowful Mysteries on Tuesday and Friday, the Luminous Mysteries on Thursday, and the Glorious Mysteries on Wednesday and Sunday, but the faithful are welcome to pray any Mysteries at any time. If you have a longer morning and evening commute, that can be a good time to get in a Rosary! And if a full Rosary each day feels like too much, try praying one Decade a day, perhaps accompanying it with a meditation on the corresponding Scripture passage to help you pray the Mystery more deeply. A guide to the Rosary can be found here: https://www.usccb.org/how-to-pray-the-rosary "May Mary help us to welcome within ourselves the grace emanating from these Mysteries, so that through us we can 'water' society, beginning with our daily relationships, and purifying them from so many negative forces, thus opening them to the newness of God. The Rosary, when it is prayed in an authentic way, not mechanical and superficial but profoundly, it brings, in fact, peace and reconciliation. It contains within itself the healing power of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, invoked with faith and love at the center of each 'Hail Mary'." -Pope Benedict XVI

On Friday, November 1, we will be having our monthly First Friday Exposition and Adoration of our Lord Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Adoration begins following the 8:15 morning Mass and continues through the day and night, concluding with Benediction at 9 AM on Saturday. Spend an hour with our Lord in quiet and prayer by signing up on the form by the Fatima Chapel. As one man told St. John Vianney, when asked about what he did during Adoration, “I look at Him [Jesus] and He looks at me.” Those in love gaze at one another, and spend time talking, listening and being together. Spend time with the One who loves you infinitely and intimately by being with Him in Adoration.

A month ago I was concerned about the status of our parish directories, as they should have arrived. I called the company and what I was told didn't seem right. So I called again the next day to clarify what was the delay. It seems that two things happened. First, when the directory was received by them after proofing, it was forgotten due to a clerical error. Second, after they realized their error, staff/worker shortages at the company prevented them from printing the directories. Due to my call, they emailed me another proof to look over. I have proofed it again and I have sent it back to the company for printing. How quickly this will happen is dependent upon their worker status. Be sure that I will be following up with them until the directories arrive. Patience is a virtue, right? Thank you for this! ~Bill

The St. Clement Adult Faith Formation continues this week on Tuesday, Oct. 1, at 9 AM. We will be viewing Part 2 of Bishop Robert Barron’s Pivotal Players episode on G. K. Chesterton. Gilbert Keith Chesterton became a Catholic late in life and is often referred to as, “The Apostle of Common Sense.” Join us as we learn more about the life and wisdom of this remarkable man. All are welcome!

St. Andrew & St. Thomas have Mass intention openings in the coming weeks and months. Have a Mass offered for your living and/or deceased loved ones, in thanksgiving or for your special intentions. Contact Katherine at katherine@saintclementparish.com or 723-4990.

The Council gave $100 to each of the Fall Festivals. It was discussed whether to merge the council or to have the paying members process the Form 100 and mark on the form if they want to transfer to Council 2820 Lancaster. The transfer process is the most efficient way to combine Council 4416 with Council 2820. The members from Council 2820 feel strongly that the transfer process is the best way to move forward. The next Council 4416 meeting will be Tuesday, September 17th at 7:30 P.M. in St. Mary’s Church basement in Bloomington.

Happy Birthday Fr. Steve! We wish Fr. Steve Brunner a very Happy & Blessed Birthday on September 10.

A Moment with the Bishop: Go Make Disciples, our diocesan-wide evangelization initiative, is who we are and what we do as baptized followers of Jesus Christ. It is our participation in the perennial mission of the Church. Into the Deep is our strategic planning effort to realign our resources so that we can better accomplish and live out this mission, both now and for generations to come. As we continue on the path of coming together into new combined parishes, it is vital that we keep our eyes and hearts on our Go Make Disciples initiative and the six fundamental objectives guiding all our efforts as missionary disciples: Grow Everyone’s Relationship with Jesus through prayer, sacrament, and study of Scripture. Reclaim Sunday as Sabbath by making the Sunday Eucharist front and center and by rediscovering holy leisure with family and friends. Evangelize by engaging others in the Faith and speaking about the reason for our hope in Jesus Christ. Focus on Youth by connecting with young people and helping them become fully committed to Christ. Call Forth New Leadership by inviting new people to step up and share their talents and gifts. Reach Out to the Community by serving the needs of all and witnessing to the Love of Christ by deed and charity. Jesus is our Master and Teacher, our Redeemer and Savior who has conquered the power of sin and death forever. Together, let us renew our commitment as both disciples and evangelizers by falling more deeply in love with Jesus and by going forth with confidence and joy to build the kingdom of God and to strengthen the Church here in our local diocese of Madison. Let's bring everyone we know home to Jesus Christ and His Church!

I wanted to thank everyone for the prayers, Masses, and for all those who have reached out through phone calls, texts or emails. Also thank you for the cards, gifts of money, and for all the hugs after Mass. I am so blessed to have this new family in Saint Joseph the Worker Pastorate to support me as I grieve the death of my daughter Cassie. The love and support of so many is helping me to get through this difficult time. A special thank you to all those who covered events that I planned on helping with the weekend of her death and while I was home handling other details. The love and concern is overwhelming since my time here has been so short. Thank You All!!! Leigh Boorn

Family Faith Formation & High School Program For the last two years our west county parishes have carried out a Family Faith Formation program, where whole families come together once a month to learn about our Catholic Faith and prepare to carry out lessons at home. This year SS Andrew-Thomas will begin as well. We will have identical programs for families from the River Ridge School District to meet on the first Wednesdays at St. Mary's School in Bloomington, and for families from St. Charles and SS Andrew-Thomas to meet at SS Andrew-Thomas School or St. Charles School on alternating second Wednesdays of the month, from 6:00 to 7:30pm. Families are welcome to enroll in either program at their preference as well as to attend sessions at either site based on their convenience. We will also begin a High School Youth program for 9th-12th grades to meet on the 4th Wednesdays at St. Clement in Lancaster from 7:00 to 8:30pm starting September 25, a requirement for 9th graders preparing for Confirmation - though for families who may have difficulties arranging transportation, 9th graders may attend their local Family Faith Formation meeting on 1st or 2nd Wednesday. Our first Family Faith Formations meetings in September will be Orientation where we describe the program in detail. Schedules can be found on our Website. For further questions please contact Fr. Mark Miller.

Nathan Taylor & Lexi Richardson will be married at St. Mary Church, Bloomington on September 14.