News - October 2024 RSS Feed

“The beauty of holiness shines out through the saints and illumines history.” -Dorothy Day, Duty of Delight In the Roman Missal, the book used to celebrate the Holy Mass contains various prayers, prefaces, and blessings for Mass.

October is a month for many things such as baseball playoffs, homecomings, fall foliage, and the diocesan Harvest Ball. October is also the month of the Rosary. In October we recognize World Mission Sunday, and we celebrate Respect Life Month.

The Diocese of Portland will hold the Maine Catholic Education Summit, hosted by Bishop James Ruggieri & Maine Catholic Schools Superintendent Shelly Wheeler, on Wednesday, November 6 at 6 p.m. The event will take place at the St. John’s Community Center, 43 Pleasant Street in Brunswick.

A part of my new experience as a bishop was attending a new bishops’ orientation in Rome for a week in September. The Dicastery for Bishops organizes the orientation. There were almost 300 new bishops in attendance. We heard from different cardinals, bishops, priests, and laity who work in the Roman Curia, the various offices that help the pope govern the Church. One of the highlights of the experience was an audience with Pope Francis.

On Monday, October 7, 2023, Hamas militants stormed the border area between Gaza and Israel and other Israeli towns in a surprise attack that resulted in the death of 1,200 Israelis and the taking of 250 hostages. In the fighting between Israel and Hamas that has ensued since the October 7 attacks, over 40,000 Palestinians have died.

As they did in countries around the world, Franciscans in Maine gathered on the evening of October 3 to celebrate the transitus of St. Francis of Assisi, his passage from earthly life into everlasting life.