Dear parishioners,
On February 21st, during the 8:30am Sunday Mass, a very loud noise was heard in St. Anne Church, indicating that one of the support beams on our Church’s roof had cracked. We immediately evacuated the Church and, thankfully, no one was injured. Providentially, we were able to contact a local construction company that very quickly came over to the Church and built a wooden support column under the cracked beam to stabilize it (see picture below). We are very grateful to the construction workers as well as the several volunteers from our parish who generously helped to respond to this immediate need.
Because our beloved Church in its current state cannot be used and the needed repairs appear to be extensive, we will be celebrating Masses and the other Sacraments at St. Patrick Church in Dixon for the near future. Fr. Keith Romke, the pastor of St. Patrick Church in Dixon, has very graciously agreed to allow us to use his Church. Hence, we will have our weekend Masses at St. Patrick Church in Dixon on Saturdays at 6pm and on Sundays at 9:15am, 11:45am, and 5pm. As usual, we will be using Signup Genius (on our parish website) to sign up for our weekend Masses. Our weekday Masses will also be held at St. Patrick Church in Dixon at 7am on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. We are very blessed to have another Catholic Church here in town, where we can still gather together as a parish family to celebrate the Holy Eucharist. At the same time, we will need the assistance of all our regular lectors, ushers, and cleaners/sanitizers to fulfill their same roles while we have Masses at St. Patrick Church in Dixon.
Regarding the Sacrament of Reconciliation, I will be available for Confessions from 3:30pm to 4:30pm on Saturdays at the St. Anne Parish Office. Also, beginning in the month of March, I will be available to hear confessions on Sundays from 4pm to 4:45pm at St. Patrick Church in Dixon.
Given the Perpetual Adoration Chapel at St. Patrick’s in Dixon, we will not be having First Saturday Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament or our 2nd Tuesday Holy Hour. Also, we will not be having Stations of the Cross on Friday mornings during Lent. St. Patrick Church is offering Stations of the Cross each Friday of Lent at 5:15pm.
I greatly appreciate everyone’s prayers, patience, and understanding during this difficult time. The sacrifices we all are making will certainly help us to become more conformed to Christ crucified. And becoming more conformed to Christ crucified is the very goal of Lent!
Fr. Draper
P.S. Congratulations to all our students who made their First Reconciliation on Saturday, Feb. 20th and to all our students who will receive the Sacrament of Confirmation on Monday, March 1st. We are very proud of you!