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405 S. Church St., Wentzville, MO 63385 | 636-332-9225

2025 Lent

LENT 2025

As we enter the Lenten season, it is a time for us to refocus our lives around the presence of the Lord, engaging in fasting, deepened prayer, and acts of charity. Lent provides us with an opportunity to contemplate the boundless love of God. Through Christ's sacrifice and resurrection, He not only bestowed salvation upon the world but also granted us His tangible presence in the Eucharist. As we commence this journey of Lent, let us do so with joy and optimism, expressing gratitude to God for this period of grace and the chance to nurture our spiritual growth, all the while remaining mindful of those who may benefit from our assistance.

St. Patrick invites you to walk with intention, focus, and vision during these 40 days of preparation. To help with this, we are offering many opportunities to discern together Jesus' call to follow Him. All are welcome! Bring a friend!

Days of Fasting
Ash Wednesday (March 5, 2025) and Good Friday (April 18, 2025)

On these two days, fast, as well as abstinence, is obligatory for those between the ages of 18-59. Abstinence means refraining from meat. Fast means one full meal a day, with two smaller meals and nothing between meals (liquids are permitted).

Days of Abstinence
Ash Wednesday (March 5, 2025), Good Friday (April 18, 2025), and all Fridays in Lent (March 7, 14, 21, 28, April 4, 11). Abstinence from meat for all Catholics 14 years of age and older. If there is a serious health problem, this obligation would not apply.


LENTEN MASS SCHEDULE

Ash Wednesday, March 5
6:30 AM, *8:00 AM, 9:30 AM
5:00 PM, and 7:00 PM

WEEKEND MASSES
Saturday Vigil: 5:00 PM

Sunday: 7:00, 9:00*, 11:00 AM & 5:00 PM

DAILY MASSES
6:30 AM - Monday - Friday

8:00 AM* - Monday - Saturday

Join us in-person and online - *livestream

  


PREPARING OUR HEARTS

Lenten Reconciliation (Confession)
During Lent, Fr. Dan and/or Fr. Joe will be present to hear confessions on:

  • Mondays, March 10, 17, 24, 31, April 7, 14 at 5:00 PM
  • Wednesdays, March 5, 12, 19, 26, April 2, 9, 16 at 7:00 AM
  • Thursdays, March 6, 13, 20, 27, April 3, 10 at 5:00 PM (two priests available)
  • Evening Reconciliation Service, TBD (in addition to Fr. Dan and Fr. Joe, other priests will be present to hear confessions that evening)
  • Saturdays, March 8, 15, 22, 29, April 5, 12 from 4:00-4:45 PM

Confession is an excellent way to prepare our hearts for the passion, death, and Resurrection of our Lord. All are encouraged to come and experience the healing mercy of God in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

No confessions on Holy Thursday (Apr 17) or Holy Saturday (Apr 19).

Examinations of Conscience
Click the link above to view a few examples of Examinations of Conscience provided by the USCCB that can help you prepare for the Sacrament.

Forgiven
You're invited to an at-home, self-guided program, Forgiven, as it communicates God’s invitation to each one of us to come experience his indescribable love in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Whether you haven’t been to Confession in a long while or you go regularly, you don’t want to miss this series. Go to formed.org and search for Forgiven and then CLICK HERE to download the at-home study guide.


LENTEN GROUP STUDIES

Lenten Lessons
Join us for a series of enriching Lenten Lessons presented by our seminarian, John Paul Angeli. Each Thursday, from March 6 to April 10, we will explore important themes of our faith to deepen our understanding and connection to God during this holy season. Please note that there will be no meeting on March 20, as we invite you to join us for the special Encounter with Fr. Wetta instead. The sessions will take place in the Church at 7 PM. We look forward to seeing you there as we journey together through Lent!

Lenten Encounter
Join us for Encounter at St. Patrick Church on Thursday, March 20, at 7 PM! During this special Lenten event, we will sing, share, and pray together as a community. Our guest speaker, Fr. Augustine Wetta, will inspire us with his insights, and worship leader, Ben Allen, will be with us. All ages and denominations are welcome to come and deepen their faith during this season of reflection and renewal.
Don’t miss this opportunity for prayer, praise & worship, and fellowship. A reception will follow the gathering, providing a chance to connect with others in our community. We look forward to seeing you there!

Have you ever thought about hosting a small group study? If so, we can help! We have many resources available. Contact the parish office or email cyndi@stpatsch.org.


PRAYER & REFLECTION

The Rosary
Sunday, March 2, April 6: 8:30 & 10:30 AM, Church

Tuesdays: 7:40 AM, Church
Wednesday, March 5, April 2: 3:45 PM, Chapel
Wednesday, March 12, April 9: 6 PM, Chapel
Thursdays: Spanish, 7 PM, Chapel (no rosary Holy Thursday, April 17)

Saturdays: 7:40 AM, Church (no rosary Holy Saturday, April 19)

Stations of the Cross
Fridays, March 7, 14, 21, 28, April 4, 11: 7:00 PM, Church
Good Friday, April 18: 12:00 PM, Church

The Stations of the Cross are a 14-step Catholic devotion that commemorates Jesus Christ’s last day on earth as a man. The 14 devotions, or stations, focus on specific events of His last day, beginning with His condemnation. The stations can be a mini pilgrimage as the individual moves from station to station. At each station, the individual recalls and meditates on a specific event from Christ’s last day. Specific prayers are recited, and then the individual moves to the next station until all 14 are complete. 

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
Adoration is held Monday through Friday, 7 AM until 8 PM in the chapel. Code 9876.
Holy Thursday, April 17: Adoration will take place in the social hall after the 7 PM Mass until midnight

There will be no exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in the chapel during the Easter Triduum, Thur, April 17 through Sun, April 20. Exposition will return Monday, April 21 at 7 AM in the chapel. 


HOLY WEEK & EASTER SCHEDULE

  

Palm Sunday Vigil, Sat, April 12
5:00 PM - Vigil Mass

Palm Sunday, April 13
7:00 AM, 9:00 AM, 11:00 AM, 5:00 PM Mass

Monday-Wednesday, April 14-16
6:30 AM, 8:00 AM - Daily Mass

Wednesday, April 16
7:00 AM - Reconciliation

Holy Thursday - Mass of the Lord's Supper, April 17
8:00 AM - Morning Prayer
7:00 PM - Mass followed by Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
* No 6:30 AM or 8:00 AM Mass; No reconciliation

You are invited to follow the procession to the social hall to continue Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament until midnight, just as the disciples were invited to stay up with the Lord during His agony in the garden before His betrayal by Judas. Please keep a reverent atmosphere of silence as you leave, including in the gathering space.

Good Friday - The Lord's Passion, April 18
8:00 AM - Morning Prayer
12:00 PM - Stations of the Cross
7:00 PM - Celebration of the Passion of the Lord
* No 6:30 AM or 8:00 AM Mass

Holy Saturday - Easter Vigil, April 19
8:00 AM - Morning Prayer
10:00 AM-12:00 PM - Easter Chalk Drawing & Egg Hunt
8:00 PM - Easter Vigil Mass
* No 8:00 AM Mass; No reconciliation; Must pre-register for the Egg Hunt

The Easter Vigil is the greatest liturgy of the entire year in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. The Roman Missal guides the celebration of this great night and even refers to the Easter Vigil as the “mother of all vigils” which is quoting St. Augustine from the 5th Century. So, the Easter Vigil has real history. To learn more, click here.

Easter Sunday, April 20
7:00 AM, 9:00 AM, 11:00 AM

*No 5 PM Mass

Holy Week & Easter Servers Needed. CLICK HERE to volunteer. Thank you in advance for serving at St. Patrick Parish.

Please arrive 15 minutes prior to the start of Mass. Servers, if you have questions or would like to schedule directly with Fr. Skillman, contact him at frdetwiler@stpatsch.org or 636-332-9225 ext. 223.

Lectors, Ushers, and Greeters: You may sign up for your roles through our online Ministry Scheduler. If you have questions or would like to schedule directly with Marie, contact her at mariehuellewig@hotmail.com or 636-262-2319.


 

DEEPEN YOUR FAITH 

The Magnificat Lenten Companion
Offers a convenient format with daily reflections from notable Catholic writers, faith-filled essays, prayers, and meditations for the Way of the Cross. By engaging with these spiritual insights, you will journey with Jesus through his Passion, culminating in the joy of Easter Sunday, while deepening your spiritual life with renewed conviction and purpose. Pick up in the church gathering space or parish office.

Lent Collection of Resources
To help you and your families celebrate Lent well this year, Catholic Formation has put together an amazing list of over 50 Lenten resources and even categorized them for an easy search. Visit https://formationreimagined.org/lenten-resources/.

Lent Calendar
40 Ways to Enter into Lent Calendar. Visit firstwitnesses.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Lenten-calendar

Lenten Letter Writing Challenge
Each day of Lent, you will write a heartfelt letter to someone new, offering encouragement, gratitude, and prayer! Visit pietapaperie.co

Online Lent Reflections
FORMED - Receive a daily reminder to dive into the depths of God’s Word. You may also opt-in to receive children’s reflections to include the whole family. Sign up at formed.org
AUGUSTINE INSTITUTE - "How to Lent" aims to equip Catholics with the tools to understand and practice the pillars of lent. Sign up at daily.formed.org/lent
HALLOW - Let Hallow guide you through the most meaningful Lent you’ve ever experienced with Pray40. Visit hallow.com and download the Lent Pray40 Guide
HOLY HEROES - Fun, faithful, and free activities for ages 5-12 for every day in Lent. Sign up at holyheroes.com/pages/lenten-adventure
DYNAMIC CATHOLIC - A free daily video program, sent straight to your email, that will help you prepare for Easter like never before! Sign up at dynamiccatholic.com/lent
WORD ON FIRE - Spend your time with Christ in the Gospel this Lent alongside Bishop Barron and the Word on Fire community at wordonfire.org/calendar/lent/
REAL LIFE CATHOLIC - A 7-week video series will accompany you on your Lenten journey. Sign up at reallifecatholic.com
I AM HERE - Join us for a daily trivia game to dive deeper into the Mass — turning learning into an adventure! Visit iamhere.org/lent
OSV - Reflect, pray, and live this Lenten season with My Daily Visitor at mydailyvisitor.com
A HEART JOURNEY - Daily meditation with Clarence Heller that is loving, fresh, provocative and relevant. Visit www.clarenceheller.com
USCCB - Daily Lent Calendar. Visit usccb.org/resources/2025-daily-lent-calendar-english-spanish


GET INVOLVED

Family Activity for Lent: Rice Bowl
Take a box provided in the gathering area of the church and give your loose change to Catholic Relief Services to help others around the world. This change also assists with local hunger and poverty. Inside are activities to complete as a family this Lent. Turn in your Rice Bowl the week of Holy Week. Visit their website for more information.

40 Cans for Lent Food Drive 
March 5-April 18, 2025
Please donate one can of food for each day of Lent as a reminder of the penance we should be doing as we prepare for the Lord’s passion. We are accepting your generous donation of canned meat, soup, vegetables, and fruit, as well as other non-perishable food items such as cereal, pasta, peanut butter, jelly, rice, & beans. Your donations will benefit the St. Vincent de Paul food pantry. Thank you so much for your generosity! You can drop your donation in the gathering area of the church or the parish office. Monetary donations are also accepted. Envelopes are available at the 40 Cans for Lent display in the church gathering space or you may give online here.

40 Cans for Lent Food Drive-Thru Food Drive 
TBD | 10 AM-1 PM | St. Patrick School Parking Lot
Stop, Pop, & Go! The Knights are hosting a drive-thru food drive on Sat, TBD from 10 AM to 1 PM at St. Patrick Church. Have your trunk or back doors unlocked/open (similar to Shredding event) and the Knights will remove your donations from your vehicle. Any non-perishable items that aren’t severely damaged, expired, or used can be donated. Produce can be donated, but not refrigerated or frozen foods. Non-food items can also be donated, including money or checks (made payable to St. Vincent de Paul). All donations will go to SVDP. Envelopes are available at the 40 Cans for Lent display in the church gathering space or you may give online here.

Blood Drive
Tue, April 1 | 3:00-7:00 PM | St. Patrick Social Hall

Appointments are requested. You can schedule the same day if appointments are available.

To schedule an appointment, call the Blood Center at 866-448-3253 or schedule online. Use sponsor code 10741. If you can't attend our drive, find a location near you.
www.stpatrickwentzville.org/donateblood.
All presenting donors will receive a gift! Limit 1 per donor If 20 or more units are collected, St. Patrick School will receive a $250 Grant with an additional $1 for every unit of blood donated! 

Spring Church Cleaning
Wed, April 16 | After 8 AM Mass

EVERYONE IS INVITED TO HELP! “Many hands make light the task.”
Your cleaning talents are needed and appreciated. Bring a friend to help! No need to call, just come. For questions, call Frann Kintz, 636-332-2747.


EVENTS

Knights of Columbus Fish Frys
Every Friday: March 7, 14, 21, 28, April 4, 11
4:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Fried catfish, fried cod, fried and baked whitefish, spaghetti, green beans, coleslaw, homemade chips, hush puppies, potato salad, bread, and ice cream. Soda, tea, water, or coffee. Beer and wine available for purchase.
Adults (12+): $17.00
Seniors (60+): $16.00
Children (5-11): $6.00
Carry Outs (3 pc fish): $15.00
www.stpatrickwentzville.org/fish

Corned Beef & Cabbage Dinner
March 16 | Dine In | Parish Social Hall | 12-5 PM

March 16 | Carry Out | School Cafeteria | 12-6 PM
*No 5 PM Mass, Sunday, March 17
Meal includes corned beef, ham, parsley potatoes, carrots, cabbage, corn, applesauce, cornbread, horseradish, and homemade dessert. This authentic, kettle-cooked meat dinner is $17 for adults (13+) and $5 for children (4-12). Carry-out dinners are available in the St. Patrick school cafeteria from 12 - 6 PM for $15.
www.stpatrickwentzville.org/cornedbeef

Volunteers for the Corned Beef & Cabbage Dinner
March 15 | Set Up and Prep | 7 AM-2 PM
March 16 | Dinner | 12-6 PM

It takes over 600 volunteers to have a successful dinner! Saturday, March 16 is a big prep day with meals being served on Sunday, March 17 from two locations.

For volunteer opportunities and dessert donations, visit our website, www.stpatrickwentzville.org/cornedbeef

Corned Beef & Cabbage Quilt & Afghan Raffle
We would like to have ticket sales open following all Masses beginning on TBD, 2025. However, we require volunteers to operate the ticket table. If you're available to assist, please consider signing up online at bit.ly/cbcQUILT. Tickets may also be purchased in the parish office (cash or check only).

$1 per ticket • $5 for 6 tickets
Winners to be drawn at the CBC Dinner on March 16. First prize is a queen-size quilt, second prize is an afghan. Tickets may also be purchased in the parish office.
 


Easter Chalk Drawing & Egg Hunt
Sat, April 19 | 10:00 AM | Church

This is an annual event sponsored by the Home and School Association. Families join together on Holy Saturday to decorate all the sidewalks leading into St. Patrick Church. It is a wonderful way for our parishioners to be greeted on Easter morning with drawings from our children. So bring your chalk, and your creativity, and join us! You do not have to sign up to draw on the sidewalks. In case of rain, we will not draw and the Egg Hunt will be held in the school gym.

There is also an egg hunt for children, divided up by grade levels between preschool and eighth. PARTICIPANTS MUST PRE-REGISTER by TBD.

To sign your children up for the egg hunt, visit bit.ly/EEHstpat.

For questions or to volunteer, contact Home & School at homeandschool@stpatsch.org.

RAIN OR SHINE! The rain location is St. Patrick Parish Center Gym.

Chalk Drawing Guidelines

Note: We DO NOT need plastic Easter eggs for our annual egg hunt at St. Patrick Parish this year. Thank you. 

Easter Flower Altar Dedications
Each year, St. Patrick church decorators bless us with glorious, beautiful flower arrangements of colorful spring flowers with pungent floral scent throughout the worship space as we praise God that Jesus is Risen.

If you wish to dedicate flowers for Easter (in honor of, in memory of, or in thanksgiving of), please fill out an Easter flower envelope, put the money in the envelope, and place it in the offering plate now through Palm Sunday. Please write legibly so we can list the names in the bulletin. You may also give online here.


DID YOU KNOW?

Blessed Palms

After Palm Sunday Mass you will likely come home with some palm branches and may ask yourself, “what do I do with these?”  Or, as we approach Palm Sunday, you have dried-out palms from last year tucked behind a crucifix or other religious picture that you are not sure what to do with.

Whatever you do, don’t throw them away!

According to the Code of Canon Law, blessed items are to be treated with respect and reverence and not discarded in the trash. At Mass these palm branches were blessed by a priest and became a “sacramental,” which is an object that is meant to draw us closer to God. These sacred signs bear a resemblance to the sacraments (cf. #1171). Throwing them in the trash overlooks their sacred purpose and treats them like any other object we no longer need.

So, if you can’t throw them away, what should you do with them?

Decorate

Many of the faithful have used palm branches to decorate their homes. You could tuck them behind a religious picture or crucifix or get a little more creative or crafty and make a palm rose or cross. Search the Internet for ideas and instructions or search the related links below.

When we use the palms as decoration in the house, it serves as a constant reminder of Palm Sunday and is a beautiful way to stay connected to Holy Week throughout the year.

Burn, Bury, or Bin

We live in a society where most things are disposable. However, sacramentals, such as palm branches, should be treated with special reverence. Therefore, the normal “rule of thumb” is that anything that has been blessed should be burned (and then the ashes buried) or simply buried.

This type of disposal honors their sacred purpose and returns them to the earth in a dignified way. Anyone can do this, but if you don’t have the ability to burn or bury them, simply drop off your palm branches in the bin in the gathering area at church or at the parish office.

Related Links
Disposal of Religious Items | Catholic Herald
Blessed Palms in the Home | catholicculture.org
10 Things to do with Palms from Palm Sunday | catholicicing.com

Feast Days during Lent

What is the hierarchy when a feast day occurs on a Friday during Lent?

The laws of the Catholic Church provide for the occurrence of Feast Days during Fridays in Lent. Canon 1251 from the 1983 Code of Canon Law addresses this situation:

Canon 1251: Abstinence from meat, or from some other food as determined by the Episcopal Conference, is to be observed on all Fridays, unless a solemnity should fall on a Friday. Abstinence and fasting are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

When a solemnity falls on a Friday in Lent, the celebration of the Solemnity takes precedence over the requirement of fasting from meat or some other food. Because this is a Solemnity, when this feast falls during the Lenten season, our Lenten penance obligations are lifted. It is right to celebrate with a special food or dinner.

In other words, celebration of the solemnity overrides the Lenten requirement.

The Feast of the Annunciation celebrates God’s entrance into the human world through Jesus and Mary’s willingness to accept God’s command. The story of the Annunciation has also produced three important liturgical texts: the Ave Maria, the Angelus, and the Magnificat.