Rosary Altar Society Newsletter Issue 10 November/December, 2015 Rosary Altar Society of Our Lady of Lourdes, 390 County Road 523, P.O. Box 248, Whitehouse Station, NJ 08889 www.ollwhs.org 2015-2016 Officers President: Madeline Fisher 1st VP: Carol Caivano 2nd VP: Vacant Treasurer: Denise Petrozziello Recording Secretary: Isabel Maurice Corresponding Secretary: Darla Kaminsky A Letter from Our President: Dear Rosarians, It s hard to believe that I m wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving, a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year in this letter all my best for a wonderful Holiday Season. November will be busy month for the Rosarians. November s business meeting will begin at 8:00pm after the 7:00pm Mass for All Souls Day. This meeting will be short and confined to a readout of our finances, correspondence, and committee reports. It should take no longer than 30 minutes. No refreshments will be served. Please plan to attend, especially if you are coming to Mass to commemorate those dear ones who have passed on to be with Our Lord Jesus Christ. November 21/22 is our annual bake sale. This year Father Len has asked us to include the 5:30pm Mass; thus, we will need sufficient baked goodies to support all four Masses. Anne Parsons will be taking the lead to manage the Sunday Masses, and Dee Kessel will manage the 5:30pm Mass. They will be coordinating their efforts and reaching out to you. We ask our members to provide multiple items, more so this year with the addition of the 5:30pm Mass. I will make arrangements to pick up any items that you are not able to bring to the church; please contact me. Ruth Stieh will also be selling Advent items from our gift shop. Please contact her if you can help out. Our Bake and Gift Shop Sale and the Pierogi Sale in the spring are our two major fund raising events that support the two scholarships awarded to parish high school graduates attending college next fall. Please be generous. The same Saturday of our bake sale is the presentation of Sister Strikes Back which will be held in the church. Curtain time is 7:30pm. The Rosarians have been asked to work the concession stand during intermission. The proceeds from this sale will be added to our treasury. We will be offering packaged finger desserts (cookies, brownies, candy bars, etc.) and a small bottled beverage. that have been prepared by the youth of our parish. If you are interested in helping out, please contact me. December is a light month regarding Rosarian activities. Our regular monthly meeting is scheduled for December 7. At this meeting we will celebrate Italian Christmas. Ladies are asked to bring an Italian dish or dessert item. Members from Italian descent are asked to share stories or events from their Christmas from years gone by. On October 6, I attended a workshop hosted by Our Lady of Lourdes presented by Liturgical Publications Inc. The topic was Building a Vibrant Parish. The presentation covered topics on how to welcome and keep parishioners coming back for more. Also, covered was the meaning of Stewardship and how it encompasses accepting responsibility of your little corner of the kingdom. I thought about this and how this material relates to the Rosarians. We currently have a membership of over 90 ladies. Our average attendance at our monthly meetings is 15-20. The only information that the entire roster receives is the bi-monthly newsletter, an email or text (for those that use electronic communication), a phone call or an occasional post card. With this in mind, I m making a small change to the newsletter. I am including the minutes from September and October meetings. We all understand that not everyone can attend our business meetings each month, but each of you should be kept abreast of all discussions and decisions that this small number of ladies makes on the behalf of the entire organization. We need to include all of you whether you are present or not. As Father Len implements changes to our parish to revitalize it, I will attempt to implement these changes in a way that we can better communicate with each other so everyone feels like they belong. Have a great Thanksgiving Holiday, a Blessed Christmas, and a Happy New Year! Madeline Fisher, President 908-534-4868 (home); 908-752-1393 (cell); mnfisher201@gmail.com
Rosarian Gift Shop 2015-16 Gift Shop Ruth Stieh 908-391-8555 or 908-534-4039 or rastieh@gmail.com Names in RED or ITALIZED are Monthly Shop Keepers We need everyone's help in order to make this successful. Shop Keepers, please call your helpers to schedule for your month. The shifts will be 9:15-10:45am or 10:45-12:15pm. The gift shop funds our Annual Scholarships. Thank you! November December DENISE PETROZZIELLO (908) 526-6407 CHRISTINE FREITAG (908) 236-7967 Mary Roberts (908) 236-0205 Hilde Valentino (908) 236-2864 Dorothy Kinney (908) 534-2029 Mary Ellen Halligan (908) 782-6194 Jeanne DeBray (908) 534-4737 Mary Connolly (908) 534-5659 Barbara Kearns (908) 534-4070 Bev Lynch (908) 534-6398 Kathleen Galligan (908) 534-8257 Patty White (908) 397-6224 Pat Goyer (908) 439-3975 Gale Pluhar (908) 534-2890 January February CAROL CAVIANO (908) 534-9377 LORRAINE KRIZENAWSKI (908) 534-4634 Sachiko Bodenberger (908) 534-4231 Mellie Baran (908) 534-4469 March April BARBARA CURRAN (908) 236-8653 RUTH STIEH (908) 534-4039 Cathy Hyde (908) 255-4333 Pat Hackman (908) 534-4344 Mary Thalacker (908) 236-8349 Janina Pajunas (908) 534-2415 Madeline Fisher (908) 534-4868 Peggy DeRossett (908) 806-4920 May June ANNE KISTRUP (908) 534-7980 MARGE LEAHY (908) 534-4778 Dottie Dargis (908) 788-2972 Christine Potenza (908) 236-6902 MaryJean DiRoberto (908) 534-4847 Dell Alexa (908) 534-9131 Claire Bodek (908) 534-4673 Rosemarie Pacella (908) 343-8818 Debra Antonacci (908) 832-0950 Nancy Lyness (908) 534-9150 Laurie Keeling (908) 236-9648 Stephanie Stevens (908) 534-4395 July CLOSED Thank You August CLOSED A special thank you to Dee Kessel for cleaning the statues in our Prayer Garden. She saw a parish need and took care of it. I am proud that she is a Rosarian and shares her time and talent with our parish. Blessing to you, Dee. Page 2
Holy Day Birthdays Remember in your Prayers December 8 we celebrate the Feast of The Immaculate Conception O Immaculate Heart of Mary. refuge of sinners, I beg of you by the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and by the graces God has granted to you since your Immaculate Conception, the grace of never going astray again Mother, keep me, a sinner, constantly bathed in the light of your Immaculate Heart. Amen. November Birthdays Barbara Curren ~ 7 Cathy Hyde ~ 7 Isabel Maurice ~ 9 Amalia Altonji ~ 9 Ann Guanino ~ 10 Mina Zozzaro ~ 11 Dottie Dargis ~ 12 Jane Smolyn ~ 12 Liz Systo ~ 14 Marie Generson ~ 15 Elizabeth Zimmitti ~ 16 Nancy Lyness ~ 24 December Birthdays Anna Dobozynski ~ 12 Pat Goyer ~ 12 Denise Petrozziello ~ 12 Mary Jean DiRoberto ~ 16 Silvana Puleo ~ 18 Stephanie Stevens ~ 18 Helen Omilian ~ 22 Connie Dembeski ~ 25 Jeannie debray ~ 25 Never be afraid of loving the Blessed Virgin too much. You can never love her more than Jesus did. Saint Maximilian Kolbe. 2nd Vice President Still Needed We still need a 2nd Vice President. If you are interested, please contact me and we can talk about the duties and responsibilities of this position. Mary, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Pray for Us. Sunshine and Get Well Prayers: Debbie McKenna Barbara Kearns Helen Omilian Cecelia DeStefano Loretta Spahr Emma McGrath Carol Masek Ann Guarino Anna Hoffman Lorraine and George Krizenawski Rest in Peace: Elizabeth Poltricitsky Norbert Pajunas, (Janina's husband) Beverley Stoveken Prayer for All Souls Lord Jesus Christ Be Thou beside me to defend me Be Thou before me to lead me Be Thou behind me to guard me Be Thou above me to bless me That with Thee and in Thee I may live and have my being, for ever and ever. Amen (Adapted from the blessings of a sick person) Thank You Many thanks to Marge Leahy and Carol Caivano for taking the time to share the history of the Rosary and instructing our 2nd graders how to use it. Many blessings to both of you. O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, grant unto the souls of Thy departed servants full remission of all their sins, that through the help of our pious supplications they may obtain that pardon, which they have always desired. Thou Who lives and reigns world without end. Amen. Annual Inductions and Communion Breakfast Nancy Leung, Dina Caivano and Angie Daniels were inducted by Father Len into the Rosarian Society at the 8:00AM Mass on October 4. Congratulations and Welcome!!! Our officers, Madeline Fisher, Carol Caivano, Denise Petrozziello, and Isabel Maurice were installed at this same Mass. Please keep us in your prayers. Our Communion Breakfast was wonderful! The food was great; I personally liked the lox and capers, and I have to say the valet parking was a hit. Mike Lavallato s talk on family and his personal experiences leading up to entering the diaconate program was inspiring. Our parish is fortunate to have Mike and his wife Allison as parishioners. Thank you Ann Bittone, Denise Petrozziello, and Ruth Stieh, and their helpers for all their hard work to make these events a success. Rosarian By-Laws Our By-Laws have been updated to reflect recent changes in responsibilities for board members due to the elimination of the Assistant Spiritual position. In addition, grammar, punctuation, and spelling changes have been made; it has been reorganized for easy reading and dates and monitory amounts have been updated to reflect our current practices. NO PROCEDURAL CHANGES HAVE BEEN MADE. Changes to this document were distributed and discussed in the October business meeting. Copies are available in the gift shop; please stop by to review. Electronic copies have been sent out for those who use email. In December, the general membership will vote aye/nay to accept this document. You may send me an email if you have comments or suggestions. I encourage you to cast your vote via email, a message addressed to me and placed in the collection basket, the gift shop, or our designated Rosarian box in the office lobby. Page 3
Rosarian Calendar Day/Date Activity/Event Location/Time 2015 Sunday, November 1 RAS Mass and Rosary Church: 8AM Monday, November 2 Tuesday, November 10 Saturday, November 21 All Souls Day Mass General Meeting Pray the Rosary Bake Sale after 5:30pm Mass Intermission Concession Stand "Sister Strikes Back" Membership Reminder Membership fees were due in September. For those 17 members who have not paid their dues, please complete the enclosed form and send to: Denise Petrozziello, 211 County Line Road, Branchburg, NJ 08876. An Election Prayer to Mary O Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Mercy, at this most critical time, we entrust the United States of America to your loving care. Most Holy Mother, we beg you to reclaim this land for the glory of your Son. Overwhelmed with the burden of the sins of our nation, we cry to you from the depths of our hearts and seek refuge in your motherly protection. Look down with mercy upon us and touch the hearts of our people. Open our minds to the great worth of human life and to the responsibilities that accompany human freedom. Free us from the falsehoods that lead to the evil of abortion and threaten the sanctity of family life. Grant our country the wisdom to proclaim that God's law is the foundation on which this nation was founded, and that He alone is the True Source of our cherished rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. O Merciful Mother, give us the courage to reject the culture of death and the strength to build a new Culture of Life. GOD BLESS AMERICA December Christmas Novena Church: 7PM Community Hall: 8PM (After Mass) Sacred Heart Chapel: 1PM Community Hall: 1:30-2:30PM Community Hall- Cocktails 6:30PM Church - Play 7:30 PM Sunday, November 22 Bake Sale after all Sunday Masses Outside Walkway Sunday, December 6 RAS Mass and Rosary Church: 8AM Monday, December 7 Pray the Rosary RAS Business Meeting Sacred Heart Chapel: 7PM Italian Christmas Tradition Community Hall: 7:30-9:00PM Sacred Heart Chapel: Cancelled Community Hall: 1:30-2:30PM Cancelled Tuesday, December 8 Pray the Rosary (Cancelled) Thursday, December 24 Christmas Eve Mass Times: 4:30PM, 7:00PM, 10:30PM Friday, December 25 Christmas Day Mass Times: 9:30AM, 11:00AM Taken from Carmelite Devotions Hail and blessed be the hour and the moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight in Bethlehem, in piercing cold. In that hour, vouchsafe O my God to hear my prayers and grant my desires, through the merits of our Savior Jesus Christ and His Blessed Mother. Amen. Page 4
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Father Len shared this magazine story with me. I though you would like it as well. Page 7
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OUR LADY OF LOURDES ROSARY ALTAR SOCIETY Membership for September 2015 - August 2016 Dues: $10 per year Name: Birthday (month/day only) Address: City: State: Zip: Phone: Home Cell: E-mail address (Please print clearly) Newsletter: e-mail postal mail Call chain notices: e-mail phone cell text Lifetime members, (80 years and older) do not need to pay dues. Everyone including LTM must fill out the membership form to keep records up to date. Checks payable to Rosary Altar Society Please mail checks to: Denise Petrozziello, 211 County Line Road, Branchburg, NJ 08876 or leave in Rosary Mailbox in the office for Rosary Altar Society Page 9