Sunday Masses
Solemnity of Pentecost 2023
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
This weekend the Church throughout the world celebrates the Solemnity of Pentecost, and so commemorates the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles, the foundation of the Church, and the beginning of her mission to all nations and peoples.
The mystery of Pentecost exhorts us to prayer and commitment to mission. The Holy Spirit inspires faith, hope, and charity in the hearts of the faithful, and ennobles the numerous and varied ways of transmitting the Christian message according to the culture and customs of all times and places. While giving us access to communion with God in prayer, the Holy Spirit also prompts us towards service of our neighbor by encountering him, by reconciliation, by witness, by a desire for justice and peace, by renewal of outlook, by social progress, and missionary commitment.
Almost two years ago, we as an Archdiocese embarked upon a strategic pastoral planning process, All Things New. We prayed to the Holy Spirit for guidance, and we committed ourselves to you, the faithful of this Archdiocese. An extensive process of listening was undertaken in all the parishes. Thereafter, I consulted the Archdiocesan Presbyteral Council regarding every parish under consideration. I then spent time in further prayer, study, and discernment, after which I reached the following decision regarding St. Ann parish.
Your parish will subsume Our Lady of the Presentation parish, effective August 1, 2023. The reason that forms the basis of my decision will be outlined in the decree concerning your parish and will be published at allthingsnew.archstl.org by Sunday afternoon, May 28. Any member of your parish who claims to have been aggrieved by this Decree has the right to ask me to change my decision. This request must be made in writing and postmarked no later than June 12, 2023, to me at the Cardinal Rigali Center.
In order to best provide for the needs of our local Church, I have decided to appoint your pastor, the Reverend Nicklaus Winker, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes parish in Washington and St. John the Baptist parish in Gildehaus, effective August 1.
Your new pastor will be the Reverend James Gray. Please warmly welcome him, as well as the new members of your parish family.
Join me in praying for those among the faithful of the Archdiocese who will also be hearing challenging news this weekend regarding their parish.
May the Holy Spirit draw us all closer together as we rededicate ourselves to new modes of evangelization and social outreach in bearing witness to our faith in Jesus.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Most Reverend Mitchell T. Rozanski
Archbishop of St. Louis
All Things New Decision Summary:
- St. Ann will subsume Our Lady of the Presentation.
- “While Our Lady of the Presentation Church remains a sacred edifice to which the faithful have the
right of entry (canon 1214), Saint Ann Church is the Parish Church.”-Official Decree - Fr. Nick is transferred to Washington Missouri to be pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes and St. John the Baptist in Gildehaus
- Fr. James Gray will be the pastor of St. Ann.
- Official Decree for Presentation
- Official Decree for St. Ann
From the Archdiocese FAQ: What did Archbishop Rozanski decide?
After prayerful discernment, the Archbishop has decided the following:
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Moving forward, the Archdiocese of St. Louis will be reshaped from 178 individual parishes into 134 parishes. These parishes will be overseen by close to 90 diocesan pastors and 17 religious order pastors. These modifications include the merging of 35 parishes that will be subsumed into neighboring parishes and 15 parishes being merged to create 5 new parishes. There will also be a new personal parish for the Spanish speaking community in St. Charles County…
- Over the next several months our priests will be discerning with their people what the best use of our facilities should be to provide the Sacraments and necessary pastoral care to all who live in their boundaries and begin to reimagine what a vibrant, evangelizing parish ought to look like.
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Implementation of these plans will begin in summer/fall of 2023 and may continue through 2026.
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Welcome
It all started with the kindness of a woman, who like the widow in the gospel, was so incredibly generous with what God had given to her. In 1854, the widow Anne Lucas-Hunt donated the land along with a monetary donation to the Jesuit Order “to establish a church and see to the education of the children” in her beloved Normandy, Missouri. The Jesuits then tasked Fr. Peter DeSmet with the project of establishing St. Ann church. In him we know a parish founded with a missionary spirit. St. Ann was his ‘home’ when his feet were not on the road proclaiming the good news to the Native American Indians. Our first pastor, Fr. Adrian Van Hulst, would make the journey from the Jesuit provincial house at the corner of Lindell Boulevard and Grand Avenue by horse and carriage. It was said that he was so punctual that farmers could set their watches by his approach. In him, we see the virtue of a steadfast, faithful presence.
Generosity, missionary spirit and steadfast presence – these are the foundational gifts at the heart of this parish community. And these are the lived virtues that continue to guide the community we call St. Ann parish. My hope is these web pages will give you a glimpse into this vibrant, welcoming parish and the people who have been “Living Faith Since 1856…”
Mass Times
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