Halloween in our school

The celebration of Halloween was held yesterday in our school as schoolchildren dressed up in various costumes. They paraded in the hallways, visiting each other, ending with the second annual Trunk-or-Treat celebration in the church parking lot. Enjoy these pictures of children in their respective classes and collecting candy from the parents.

Christmas banners

Christmas banner, all hand stitched - please click to enlarge

One of our parishioners Suzanne Faulkner shared this information about beautiful hand-made Nativities banners made by a Catholic family from Pakistan. The story is very touching and the quality of the banner is quite beautiful, like everything that is hand-made.
The father of this family had lost his job in a small town. They had 7 daughters and moved to a larger city. He was unable to find a job, and they were desperate to the point of trying to decide which daughter to put out as a prostitute. A Dutch priest had come to town to teach different art forms. One of the daughters took a fabric art class and now makes these banners, which also includes the Good Shepherd, the Risen Christ and the Holy Spirit. From the sales of these banners, mostly in Canada and the USA, they have been able to build a small house. On Saturdays, they hold catechism classes for children, and Bible study for adults.
Suzanne’s contact in Canada is an 84-year old missionary who had gone to Pakistan over the past 20 years. At this time, she has 13 Nativity banners available and it takes 5 to 10 days to ship them here. They are $50 each and includes postage, and all the money goes to this family in Pakistan. The entire banner is made by hand – notice the very fine stitches. There is also a tunnel in the back to run a rod for hanging. Please contact Suzanne (301-565-6052) if you would like one of the Nativity banners.

Bingo Night

A delightful evening was enjoyed by everyone to support our Catholic School Annual Giving Appeal, as Bingo Night brought together a sizable crowd of parents, children and friends. As Jason Fleck rolled up the numbers, the prizes were given out frequently, mostly to the children who enjoyed a fun evening, complete with pizza ans salad, and great fellowship by everyone present.

A selection of the prizes given out

Will Cohen, with his prize, a ghost pinada

 

Jeffrey Reeves with his prize

Blessing of Animals

The feast of our patron Saint Francis of Assisi provided us the opportunity to gather together all kinds of animals for a special blessing ceremony. On October 5th all the school children gathered along with their parents and other parishioners behind the school. After Father Julian played "Prayer of St Francis" on the flute, the crowd sang two verses, and the prayer of blessing took place. Then Father Julian blessed each individual animal, which included a ferret, a few hamsters, a lizard, a few kittens and cats and plenty of dogs, who were extremely respectful when the prayer was being recited. Not one ruff ruff or hoof hoof was heard.

 

Food Fest photos

 

The  welcome table

Yes, it was another huge success with hundreds of people sampling the food from 5 PM till 8 PM. These photos show some of the booths serving food from different countries, and a section of the crowd attending.

The Uganda-Kenya table

The Malta table serving kawlata and hobz biz-zejt

International Food Fest 2015

The International Food Fest will be held on Saturday October 3rd from 5 PM onwards. As this poster shows, there will be food from all parts of the world, and the most in demand will be those from Malta, India and Africa, representing the priests and sisters of our parish. Enjoy and bring a friend along.

Click to enlarge