Dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus our Lord,

I hope you are all doing fine with the grace of the Lord and having a blessed season of Lent.

The month of March leads us through the Lenten Season that prepares us for Holy Week and the celebration of Easter. Many events fall in this month beginning with the principal feast day of the Maronite calendar, the feast day of Saint John Maron on March 2. He is the first patriarch elect in the history of the Maronite Church at the end of the 7th Century AD.

A very special event of Holy Family Church is its famous Lenten Dinners the first six Fridays of Lent. They were described by the papers as being the second best Lenten Dinners in the Twin Cities. Our amazing and very successful team announced to us that they will be holding these dinners the way they were done before Covid. They will be served the same time every Friday from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM with takeouts available. On behalf of all of you, I thank the wonderful team of organizers and volunteers and thank you all for your support and participation. The Lenten dinner team is going to contribute a percentage of the fundraising to assist the poor and the needy.

In accordance with the spirit of giving and sharing with the poor and needy, during Lent, the MYO of our Church are organizing a food drive for the needy families and individuals in the area.

Maronites around the World chant a famous Lent Mazmooro during Lent weekdays Mass in Syriac Aramaic, and it says: "Lent opens the gates of Heaven, and Fasters enter in, and inherit the Kingdom�. And the phonetics are: “Bsawmo metfat.heen tar’eh dfardaisso, w‘oleen sayomeh w yorteen malkooto".

The season of Lent began on Ash Monday, February 20, according to the Maronite Calendar with liturgies at 9 AM and 6 PM. The faithful are asked to take this opportunity of the Season of Lent to focus on their spiritual life, attending Sunday masses and enriching their faith and their souls by committing themselves to their daily prayers and giving up of things they are attached to, fasting and sharing of food with the needy. This season is a perfect occasion for all of us to examine our consciences and receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation-Confession which is mandatory for all Catholics, Maronite and Roman, at least once a year. May we all pray that our families and parishioners will be blessed in this season of Lent. To help in this endeavor, Holy Family is celebrating Stations of the Cross every Friday at 4 PM.

Sunday, March 19, is the Feast Day of Saint Joseph, the chosen father and Guardian of the Holy Family. He is also the patron of family values, charitable institutions caring for orphans, children, elderly and sick, and the patron of good and righteous death. On Saturday, March 25, we will celebrate the feast of the Annunciation by the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary.

Please remind your relatives and friends that they can access the church bulletin and announcements which are updated daily, on both the church website: holyfamilymaronitechurch.org and Facebook. We continue to thank all who made this possible, and thank you for your generosity and support.

Physical attendance to Church is steadily increasing. I encourage you to ensure that your children do not become accustomed to staying away from Church and its many activities Altar servers are serving on a regular basis. The unstoppable MYO youth group continues to meet on a weekly basis. The MYA (Maronite Young Adults) group, ages 18 to 35, is growing stronger and in-person Faith Formation classes are held every week. We thank the teachers and parents for their dedication and commitment. Our choir never stopped serving liturgies, summer or winter, with passion and dedication. Our technology system kept improving in quality and efficiency. Our lay deacons never interrupted their participation in weekend and weekday Liturgies. Our events crews and chairs kept the church activities going and our Church office never took a break. With your support and solidarity all this was made possible.

Yours,

Abouna Emmanuel Nakhle-Ghorr +

Copyright (c) 2023 Holy Family Maronite Church, St Paul. (v2303.03)