Check out the Year of St. Joseph website, www.yearofstjoseph.org, for prayers, devotions and other ways you can deepen your relationship with Jesus Christ through His foster father. One suggestion: together as a family, slowly recite the Litany of St. Joseph, meditating for a moment on each of the saint’s titles:
Litany of St. Joseph
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Ghost, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God, have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, pray for us.
St. Joseph, pray for us.
Illustrious son of David, pray for us.
Light of patriarchs, pray for us.
Spouse of the Mother of God, pray for us.
Chaste guardian of the Virgin, pray for us.
Foster father of the Son of God, pray for us.
Watchful defender of Christ, pray for us.
Head of the Holy Family, pray for us.
Joseph most just, pray for us.
Joseph most chaste, pray for us.
Joseph most prudent, pray for us.
Joseph most valiant, pray for us.
Joseph most obedient, pray for us.
Joseph most faithful, pray for us.
Mirror of patience, pray for us.
Lover of poverty, pray for us.
Model of workmen, pray for us.
Glory of home life, pray for us.
Guardian of virgins, pray for us.
Pillar of families, pray for us.
Solace of the afflicted, pray for us.
Hope of the sick, pray for us.
Patron of the dying, pray for us.
Terror of demons, pray for us.
Protector of Holy Church, pray for us.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world,
Spare us, O Lord!
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world,
Graciously hear us, O Lord!
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world,
Have mercy on us!
V. He made him the lord of His household,
R. And prince over all His possessions.
Let us pray: O God, Who in Thine ineffable Providence didst vouchsafe to choose Blessed Joseph to be the spouse of Thy most holy Mother, grant, we beseech Thee, that he whom we venerate as our protector on earth may be our intercessor in Heaven. Who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.
Note: This litany is one of many prayers in the official Year of St. Joseph Prayer Book, being distributed in most parishes this month. Published by TAN Books, the special prayer book features an introduction by Bishop Peter Jugis. Contact your parish office for details.
CHARLOTTE — On March 19, the feast of St. Joseph, a local pro-life group was scheduled to launch an apostolate to defend the family. This event has been postponed.
The new apostolate is being called the Carolina Family Coalition, and it is being organized under the auspices of the Carolina Pro-Life Action Network (C-PLAN), a group of Catholic pro-life leaders in Charlotte, Triad and Asheville. The effort aims to defend and promote the traditional values related to life, family and culture in western North Carolina, from a Catholic perspective.
March 19 is the Solemn Feast of St. Joseph, Protector of the Church and Patron of Families.
A special kick-off event will be held March 19, starting with Mass at 6 p.m. at St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte. A fundraising event will follow from 7 to 9 p.m. featuring wine, hors d’oeuvres, refreshments and a silent auction in the cathedral’s Family Life Center.
The event will honor St. Joseph, including a reflection about the importance of defending the family and discussing how Catholics can get involved.
For more information and to register to attend the Carolina Family Coalition kick-off event, go online to www.prolifecharlotte.org/defend-the-family. Questions? Email C-PLAN at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter. Carolina Pro-Life Action Network contributed.
‘We want to be part of regaining the trust of people’
‘We want to be part of regaining the trust of people’CHARLOTTE — Parishes in Asheville and Charlotte are taking steps to promote healing and awareness in the wake of past abuse in the Church.
St. Eugene Parish in Asheville and a group of Charlotte-area parishes led by St. Gabriel Church have formed action groups to foster discussion, restore trust, and support accountability and transparency – all in an effort to help rebuild trust as a Church family.
A group of parishioners at St. Eugene Church formed a Child and Youth Protection Committee in the fall of 2018, after the release of a grand jury report recounting decades of abuse by clergy and other Church workers in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania grand jury report shocked Catholics everywhere, and a forum at the Asheville parish drew over 150 people.
“For two hours, parishioners were provided an opportunity to express their frustration, anger, surprise and ideas on how this continues to affect our Church,” said Rick Lober, committee member and himself a survivor of clergy sexual abuse.
The parish committee was formed as a way to channel people’s emotions into concrete action.
One of its early actions was to urge Bishop Peter Jugis to compile a list of clergy in the Diocese of Charlotte who had been credibly accused of child sexual abuse, as well as suggesting a hotline for reporting sexual abuse and misconduct, and expanding training in the diocese’s abuse prevention program “Protecting God’s Children” to Catholic school parents. Their input, along with ideas contributed from many others around the diocese, helped inform the diocese’s efforts that resulted in the launch last December of an accountability webpage and an independent hotline for reporting abuse.
After the accountability webpage – featuring a list of 14 clergy credibly accused of child sexual abuse since the diocese was formed in 1972 – was launched, the Asheville parish hosted a prayer vigil Jan. 30.
“We had dozens of parishioners show up and had a prayerful service asking for healing for victims and their families, for innocent clergy affected by this, for Bishop Jugis and the diocese to move forward,” Lober said. Prayers were also offered for perpetrators.
“People who attended have said they remain so grateful that we have taken affirmative steps. They said they felt better now than they did 18 months ago, since our parish has been actively engaged in this issue,” he noted.
Father Pat Cahill, pastor, and committee members met with Bishop Jugis March 4.
“We truly appreciated Bishop Jugis and Father Patrick Winslow (vicar general and chancellor) spending over an hour to discuss our recommendations on further addressing the issue of sexual abuse,” Lober said, calling the dialogue between the chancery and the parish “one of the critical elements” of a larger effort among the faithful to help the Church family heal.
“We want people at our parishes to feel good about the Church and what the Church does,” Lober said. “We want to bring back people who have left. We want to be part of regaining the trust of people.”
Added Father Cahill, “I continue to be inspired that we continue to be committed to being a part of the solution at St. Eugene Parish. It is not easy to be Catholic sometimes because of human error. The call to persevere in faith, truth and mercy is our invitation to building Jesus’ kingdom.”
Thanks to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection Office, the Asheville parish also got connected with “WATCh” (“We Are The Church”), a group of parishes that have initiated “grassroots” approaches to raising awareness and encouraging the faithful to get involved in productive efforts.
St. Gabriel Parish is one of the parishes with a WATCh committee. It includes parishioners from other parishes in the Charlotte area, including Our Lady of Consolation Church in Charlotte, Queen of the Apostles Church in Belmont, St. Luke Church in Mint Hill, and St. Matthew Church in south Charlotte.
“We would like to be a part of rebuilding,” said Sean DesNoyer, WATCh leader at the parish. “We have to start at our grassroots effort and do something.”
WATCh was formed to address the crisis of trust in the Church from four angles: prayer, healing, education and dialogue. The committee’s mission is “to provide a path for the laity of St. Gabriel to proactively address the brokenness and the challenges in the Catholic Church today by advocating for accountability, transparency and reform.”
The parish’s initial efforts to engage people began with prayer and listening sessions with former pastor Father Frank O’Rourke.
“We realized a need to help people through the healing process,” DesNoyer said. “Father Frank sent a summary to Bishop Jugis with comments from the people. It was quite telling. A lot of people needed to share.”
Although most of the abuse in the Church occurred long ago, before the U.S. bishops enacted reforms in the landmark 2002 “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People,” DesNoyer noted, “You get a sense the Church is losing people over this issue. It is truly bothering people. The sin of it all is bothering people. The way it’s been handled is upsetting people.
“That’s why we came together and formed a group with a mission to try to move this forward. We don’t want to just sit and talk about this.”
DesNoyer, members of the WATCh committee and their new pastor, Father Richard Sutter, also recently met with Father Winslow to provide feedback and discuss how the local Church is moving forward.
“It was good dialogue,” DesNoyer said, showing “how the Church can be helped by another view of the laity.”
“The Church is a family of faith,” Father Winslow noted. “All have been hurt by these sins and mistakes of the past. All of us want to make sure they remain in the past, never to occur again. To this end local and diocesan efforts will continue to work together. As a family, we will heal and continue the work of Christ.”
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter
For more information
At www.charlottediocese.org: Read more about the Diocese of Charlotte’s “Safe Environment” awareness initiatives, find resources for parents and training information for volunteers
CONCORD — St. James Parish recently received an unexpected windfall from a former parishioner.
The money came in the form of an estate gift from Carol Ann Darland, who designated the Concord parish as the beneficiary in her will. As part of the settlement of her estate late last year following her death, the parish received a check totaling more than $169,000.
It was “a gift from heaven,” said Dan Ward, the parish’s business manager, who opened the letter from the estate executor last September and found the enclosed check for $169,205.25. “Needless to say, we were touched and amazed!”
Darland had been gone from St. James Parish for almost 15 years, having moved to Columbus, Ohio, where she quietly passed away. The church northeast of Charlotte has experienced rapid growth in recent years, and no one currently there recalls her presence – but now everyone certainly knows her name.
A Carol Darland Endowment has been set up using about half of the estate gift, and the other half is being set aside for much-needed repairs and capital expenses – things like a new roof, parking lot repairs and other items that are tough to find the money for, even in a growing parish like St. James.
Redemptorist Father Jerome Chavarria, pastor, says Darland’s gift is like an outstretched hand from outside of time – a former parishioner reaching out to help current parishioners she never met.
“Her gift is enduring support that makes all the difference in the world to help the parish here and now,” said Father Chavarria, who has served at St. James for the past five years.
He wonders what loving presence or act of kindness Darland may have experienced that prompted her to remember the Concord parish in her will so many years after leaving. But, he added, “I’m not surprised that this community had an impact on her life. The people here are very warm and welcoming of each other. The community has grown, but it has inherited the warmth and hospitality of those early days when the community was smaller.”
Gifts such as Darland’s show just how meaningful having a church home can be to someone, said Jim Kelley, diocesan development director.
“A number of parishioners become actively involved in parish ministry. Others, while less involved, still attend Mass regularly and provide financial support to their parish. Carol decided to remember her church in Concord in her estate plans even though she moved to Ohio almost 15 years ago. She obviously had a special love for St. James Church,” he said.
— Patricia L. Guilfoyle, editor