News - July 2016 RSS Feed

Olean Times Herald article Thursday, July 28, 2016 11:00 am OLEAN — St. Mary of the Angels is encouraging its parishioners to bring their smartphones and tablets to church this weekend. Usually, churches do not encourage these devices during service, but this weekend is “download weekend,” during which St. Mary of the Angels will promote downloading its new parish app, which churchgoers can do on premise after each mass this weekend.

By TOM DINKI, Olean Times Herald OLEAN — Tourists change the places they visit, while pilgrims are changed by the places they visit, said the Rev. Gregory Dobson of St. Mary of the Angels Church. While the six St. Marys young adults making the trip to Poland later this week for World Youth Day will certainly be tourists in some respects — sightseeing, shopping and eating in cafes — they’ll have a more important undertaking as religious pilgrims.

This August 2 is the 800th anniversary of the “Pardon of Assisi,” commemorating when  St. Francis persuaded Pope Honorius III to allow pilgrims to receive a plenary indulgence at the Portiuncula--the "little portion" church called St. Mary of the Angels after which our church was named in 1858. Our parish church was granted this same privilege of the "Pardon of Assisi" at its 1919 consecration.

Six young people from St. Mary of the Angels parish along with our youth minister, Ryan Butler, travel to Krakow, Poland to join hundreds of thousands of youth around the globe and Pope Francis attending World Youth Day July 22 through August 2.

"John Gerringer has spent a great deal of time in the St. Mary of the Angels Roman Catholic Church archives. Charged with maintaining and safeguarding the church’s relics and over a century of chronicled history, the longtime parishioner encountered an artifact several years back. It was a dusty, old, blue book — not really a visual standout among numerous others like it. It’s titled, “The Bells of St. Mary’s.” Curious, the retired Besecker & Coss appliance store owner eventually cracked it open for the first time in decades last week and discovered a yearbook of sorts from the World War II era."

Western NY Catholic checked into parishes designated to host a Holy Door of Mercy during the Jubilee Year of Mercy. Halfway through the year, churches reported on the the impact of their doors in the community. [EXCERPT] "In Olean, St. Mary of the Angels decided to draw attention to their holy doors by having Brett Swiatek, from Swiatek Studios, create a custom monogram, "MD" for Mercy Door, hand painted in gold on both sides of the 100-year-old oak doors installed when the church was built. A vintage gold priest's stole is draped over the door forming an "M," naturally. At the 45th annual parish festival, Father Gregory Dobson and Father David Tourville, pastor and parochial vicar respectively, offered confessions Friday night, Saturday afternoon, Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon. Confession is one of the qualifications for the graces of the Holy Door. "We were very impressed with the quality and the number of confessions," said Father Dobson. "Many of the people were visitors (from out of town). I heard again and again, when they heard the announcement, it was like a call from heaven: this is the time, go and do it. That happened repeatedly." Father Dobson and Father Tourville heard about 25 confessions over the weekend. The numbers might not seem high, but keep in mind, people were coming to the festival to hear music and visit the beer tent. Father Dobson said they created the right atmosphere. Sacred music played through the newly renovated church. Because there were no long lines, priests had time to sit with people and talk with them. "I think the grace of God. That's what they testified," Father Dobson said. "When they heard that we were having confessions, they said something stirred in them. I think that's how the grace of God sometimes works. Something stirred in them and they felt this was the time I should do this."

Rev. Lamont Higgenbottom of Trinity United Methodist Church in Olean has been invited to share a message at the 11:00 AM Mass at St. Mary of the Angels on Sunday, July 17.