Shrine Church of St. Bernadette

Upcoming Events

• Monsignor Romano will be transferred as of June 30, 2008, to Our Lady of Guadalupe church as its pastor. The pastor of St. Bernadette will be Monsignor Thomas Caserta.
• Annual Catholic Appeal - If you have received the appeal letter in the mail, please return it to the Diocese, making sure that you list St. Bernadette as the parish. If you will be making a pledge, please do so as soon as possible since the appeal not only helps the Bishop, but also helps our parish. Please be as generous as your means will allow.
• Special Novenas We will be reciting the Novena Prayers to our Lady of Lourdes and to St. Bernadette after every Sunday and weekday mass, until the end of the Anniversary of Our Lady’s Apparitions to St. Bernadette at Lourdes, which is December 8th, The Feast of the Immaculate Conception. You will find the prayers in the pew holders in front of you. Please return them to the proper place for all to use..
• Easter Duty After they have been initiated into the Most Holy Eucharist, all the faithful are bound by the obligation of receiving Holy Communion at least once a year. This precept must be fulfilled during the Easter season, unless for a good reason it is fulfilled at another time during the year. By special indult, in the United States, the time period for fulfilling this precept has been extended to include the period between the First Sunday of Lent (February 10, 2008) to Trinity Sunday (May 18, 2008).
• High School Students – Hang Out Night – Calling all high school students and your high school friends: Come and hang out with your friends and meet a few new ones. St. Bernadette Outreach Committee is initiating a high school hang out night, Wednesday, April 30^th, St. Bernadette gym and cafeteria, 7PM until 10PM. High school ID required for admission. Register online at hshangout@gmail.com (E-mail us to let us know you’re coming!) Come out – play some basketball, ping pong, board games, Wii, listen to music, hang out, and of course there will be plenty of food for snacking.
  
• The Dyker Heights Athletic Association/St. Bernadette Athletic Organization will host or SECOND ANNUAL CHILDREN’S RUNNER’S MARATHON on Saturday, May 17^th on 12^th Avenue starting from 9:00 AM. Children ages 5-16 can run in this event. The Marathon’s community service purpose is to honor our fallen heroes of this war on terror and to raise money for the Children of Fallen Soldiers Relief Fund. The Children of Fallen Soldiers Relief Fund is a non-profit organization that was founded in October 2003 as a means of providing college grants and financial assistance to surviving children and spouses of our U.S. military service members who have lost their lives in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Following the Marathon, there will be a Post-Marathon celebration in the St. Bernadette School yard with entertainment and refreshments for the children. There will be performances by the King Henry and Party Pets, entertainment by DJ Ralph and Glitzy Chicks. There will be several children’s acitivites including rock climbing and jousting. There will be over 30 pieces of autographed sports memorabilia raffled off that day as well. Flyers are in the back of the church. You can also register online at www.knightsaa.org.

Parish Meetings & Committee News

• Altar Rosary Society: Date to be announced
• Holy Name Society: The meetings are set on the Monday after the second Sunday of the month.
• Evangelization Committee: The St. Bernadette Evangelization Committee invites you to join them for their weekly prayer group on every Monday night at 7:00 PM in the Rectory. The lectionary readings will be studied and reflected upon. Everyone is welcome!
• Outreach Committee: More to follow
• Worship Committee: meeting will be May 7 at 7:00 PM in the rectory.

Cluster News

• Diocesan Alcohol and Substance Abuse Assistance Program
  The Diocese of Brooklyn has created a program to provide confidential ongoing assistance to parish and community families who suffer from the effects of alcohol and substance abuse. The program provides counseling, support, treatment and care to those seeking assistance. To connect to a network of services that will help you and your family in addressing this concern, please make a confidential call to the Diocesan Alcohol and Substance Abuse Assistance Program Hotline: 1-800-659-1603. Any one with depression can also call the hotline. For general information, please visit Catholic Charities’ website: www.ccbq.org.
• Help the Needy Program
  Knights of Columbus John Hughes Council has created the Help the Needy Program in order to collect food clothing and toys to help the less fortunate. Items must be in good condition. Items can be brought to the council between the hours of 10am to 4:30pm and 7:30pm to 10pm, seven days a week. For more information, call John Adesso at (718) 614-2689 or Frank Marzigilano at (718) 533-0491
• Italian Board of Guardians
  Located at 7808 18 Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11214 offers Home Companion Services, Counseling Services, Psychological Evaluations and Tutoring Services. Please call 718.232.4242 for more information.
• Make your Voices Heard
  The New York State Catholic Bishops have formed a statewide Catholic Advocacy Network of concerned Catholics who want to put their faith into action. Together, we can speak out in support of the poor and vulnerable, the sick and elderly, the unborn, children and families. Our parish encourages you to join this network. There is no cost. The easiest way to join is to go to www.nyscatholic.org to sign up. Or you can send your name, address, phone number and e-mail address to Catholic Advocacy Network, New York State Catholic Conference,465 State Street, Albany, NY 12203-1004. Be sure to mention you are a member of St. Bernadette parish in the Diocese of Brooklyn. For more information, see the flyers in the back of the church.
• Xaverian High School Alumni Reunion, Classes of 1963, 1968, 1973, 1978, 1988, 1993, 1998, 2003, Saturday May 3^rd at 5:00PM at Xaverian High School. Contact 718-836-7100, ext. 118.
• Xaverian High School Class of 1983 25-Year Reunion, Saturday, May 17^th at 5:00PM at Xaverian High School, contact 718-836-7100, ext. 118.
• Information for Divorced and Separated Catholics: St. Anselm R.C> Church, Melitia Hall, 356 – 82^nd Street, Brooklyn, NY, on April 7^th, 2008 at 7:30PM. Speaker: Father Joseph R. Grimaldi, Pastor of St. Mark’s Church Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, NY and Associate Judge of the Diocesan Tribunal.
• Our Lady of Angels –7320 Fourth Avenue, Brooklyn, NY is sponsoring a Sunday Afternoon Film Series, April 13^th through April 27^th, at 1:30PM in the auditorium. April 13^th; The Keys of the Kingdom: April 20^th The Mission: April 27^th; Therese. Commentary and discussions led by Father James Devlin will follow each film. Free admission refreshments and parking. 5:00PM Mass in the Church available afterwards. Please enter through the Memorial Courtyard behind the rectory on 74^th Street. All are welcome…bring a friend. Please contact Catherine Prisco at 718-492-6138 for more information.
• Our Lady of Angel’s Third Order Lay Carmelite chapter meets every first Saturday of the month. Do you sense that God might be calling you into a deeper relationship with Him? Men and women in every age identified themselves with the Carelites as members of the Third Order. We invite you to se the answers to your questions and discern whether or not you may have a vocation as a Lay Carmelite. We meet every first Saturday of the month from 2-4pm in the Cavanaugh Room at Our Lady of Angels Church, 7320 Fourth Avenue, Brooklyn, NY. For more information call: 718-788-5290, or 917-841-1403.
• Celebration of Christian Renewal
  An extraordinary event comes to Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights. Find hope in the human experience. Friday, April 25^th at 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM; Saturday, April 26^th 1 PM – 4:30 PM. More information to follow.
• Open House: Dominican Academy, on Tuesday, April 29^th at 4:30PM at 44 East 68 Street ni Manhattan. To RSVP or for further information, please contact Mrs. Jo Ann Fannon, Associate Director of Admissions, at 212-744-0195 or jfannon@dominicanacademy.org.

Fund Raisers

• Memorial Funds
  Remember to support St. Bernadette memorial funds next time you need to memorialize a relative or friend. Arrangements can be made through the Rectory to memorialize with bread, wine, altar flowers, altar candle or sanctuary lamp for one week.
• Prayer Cards
  Available now in the Rectory Office is an assortment of prayer cards for different saints and various special donations. The selection of prayer cards will change depending on the Liturgical season and upcoming feast days. There is a small donation of 25 cents for each card.
• St. Bernadette Wall of Remembrance
  You can remember your beloved departed with a small cross. The donation for the first year is $200.00 and each additional year is $100.00 The crosses are made from imported wood from Belgium, with the name engraved on a metal plate. There are three ways that the engraving can be made on these plates - “John Doe”, “Mr. & Mrs. John Doe” or “The Doe Family”. Included in this donation will be remembrance each month at the Purgatorial Mass and a special remembrance on All Souls Day. If someone wishes not to re-enroll, we will give them the cross as a keepsake. The cross is placed on the wall with a temporary label, and when the metal plate is engraved, it will be put on the cross. Arrangements can be made through the Rectory Office Monday to Friday from 9am to 4pm.
• Box Tops Education
  In the vestibule of the church, there is a large box where Box Tops can be dropped off. Find and clip 10¢ Box Tops coupon on hundreds of General Mills, Ziploc and Kleenex products to help St. Bernadette School can earn up to $60,000.00 per year.
• 2008 Annual Catholic Appeal
  If you have received the Appeal letter in the mail, please return it to the Diocese, making sure that you list St. Bernadette as the parish. If you will be making a pledge, please do so as soon as possible since the Appeal not only helps the Bishop, it also helps our Parish. Please be as generous as your means will allow.