St. Lawrence the Martyr Parish – Hamilton

Where faith builds community | 125 Picton St. E., Hamilton, ON L8L 0C5

Category: Feasts and Celebrations

Paschal Triduum Schedule

Published March 29, 2023 / by St. Lawrence Hamilton

Thursday, April 6
Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper
7:00 p.m. Mass of the Last Supper offered for
the priests that have served our Parish
followed by adoration of The Blessed Sacrament up to 9:00 p.m.

Friday, April 7
Friday of the Passion of The Lord (Good Friday)
3:00 p.m. Liturgy of the Passion of The Lord
4:30 p.m. Confessions
7:00 p.m. Stations of the Cross
7:30 p.m. Novena to Divine Mercy (day 1)

Saturday, April 8
Holy Saturday

The Resurrection of The Lord
7:40 p.m. – Novena to Divine Mercy (day 2)
8:00 p.m. – Easter Vigil in the Holy Night

Sunday, April 9
Easter Sunday
11:00 a.m. – Mass offered for the parishioners of
St Lawrence the Martyr Parish and of
Our Lady of Mercy Parish

Posted In Feasts and Celebrations | Mass Time Updates

From the Pastor’s Desk : 24th Week of Ordinary Time

Published September 11, 2022 / by St. Lawrence Hamilton

I will get up and go to my father – this resolution to return to the father’s home as made by the prodigal son is presented to us by St. Luke in this well-known parable. Although we have heard that account many times, we may listen to it again and find a refreshed meaning. At the threshold of a new pastoral year, we may reflect on how we can live this year, and today’s Gospel gives us a simple but significant answer: get up and go back to the Father’s home. What might this mean? Many of us may be lost for various reasons, some of us may be facing hardship and uncertainty as to the future, some of us may be suffering from a physical and spiritual ailment, some of us may be struggling with everyday toil. Get up and go back to the Father’s – means that it’s time to rise from my spiritual slumber, struggles, from everything that bothers me and return to the One who has never stopped loving me regardless of what I have done. Only with the Father’s embrace may I find compassion, understanding, relief, mercy and forgiveness. How many times Have I tried to handle everything on my own and how many times have I failed? If I truly reflect on those questions, I will find the way to my Father’s.

Among the liturgical celebrations of this week, we observe two Marian feasts and one dedicated to the Lord:

Monday, September 12th we celebrate the memorial of The Most Holy Name of Mary. This feast is a counterpart to the Feast of The Holy Name of Jesus, which is held on January 3rd. Its meaning is to commemorate all the privileges bestowed upon Mary by God and all the graces received through Her intercession and mediation. This feast is connected with the Battle of Vienna, which took place in 1683, and the victory over the Turkish army that invaded Europe.

Wednesday, September 14th we celebrate the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, which commemorates the Cross used in the crucifixion of Jesus and the discovery of the Cross done in 326 by Saint Helena, the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great during her pilgrimage to the Holy Land. There is an interesting story about how St. Helena discovered the true Cross of Jesus.

Thursday, September 15th we celebrate the memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows, which refers to sorrows in Mary’s life and her suffering in spiritual union with Her Son. In the Catholic Church there is a popular devotion to The Seven Sorrows of Mary.
Our Lady of Sorrows – pray for us!

God bless,

Fr. Peter

Posted In Feasts and Celebrations | From the Pastor's Desk | Pastoral Notes

From the Pastor’s Desk – Palm Sunday and Holy week

Published April 10, 2022 / by St. Lawrence Hamilton

Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest – Today we are reminded of the crowds gathered almost 2000 years ago in Jerusalem and, united in spirit with the faithful throughout the world, with palm branches we greet Jesus entering the City of David. Palm Sunday always recalls two important events: Jesus’ solemn entrance to Jerusalem and His Passion and Death. The same people who greeted Jesus as a King of Israel not much later cried out to Pontius Pilate: Crucify Him! Therefore, today in the liturgy we begin with the procession with palms and solemn, joyful hymns. Then we read the Passion of the Lord. With Palm Sunday we enter  Holy Week, the most important week in the entire liturgical year. This Monday Bishop Douglas Crosby, Bishop of Hamilton, along with Bishop Wayne Lobsinger, Auxiliary Bishop of Hamilton, his priests, both diocesan and religious, will consecrate Holy Oils during the Chrism Mass. The Holy Oils will be distributed to all the parishes within the diocese and are to be used to administer the Sacraments of Baptism, of Confirmation, of the Sick and of Holy Orders. We are invited to attend the Chrism Mass at 2 pm in our Cathedral Basilica of Christ the King to show our unity with the Bishop. During the Chrism Mass the priests present in the Basilica will renew the promises they made on the day of Priestly Ordination.

This Thursday we begin, with the Lord’s Supper Mass, the period of the greatest importance of the whole liturgical year; The Easter (Paschal) Triduum. Since the very beginning of the Church, it has been one feast extended from Holy Thursday evening up to the Vespers (the evening prayer) of Easter Sunday. The faithful throughout the world are greatly encouraged to attend all the days of The Triduum so that they may experience all the mysteries the Church lives and be bestowed with all the graces and indulgences prescribed to those who attend the celebrations. During the Lord’s Supper Mass we thank the Lord for the precious gift of the Eucharist. This day we also thank the Lord for our priests who celebrate daily Masses. Our attendance at the Lord’s Supper Mass is a sign of our appreciation to our pastors. We extend our thanksgiving with the Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament following the Mass. On Good Friday we are united with our suffering Lord and His Death on the cross. In the evening we pray the Stations of the Cross and we begin the Novena to Divine Mercy. Good Friday is, for the faithful throughout the entire Church, a day of fasting and abstinence from meat. On Holy Saturday we remain in silence in union with Jesus’ time in the Sepulchre. The Easter (Paschal) Vigil, which is to be celebrated at night, belongs to Easter Sunday. This Easter Vigil is the most important Mass in the whole liturgical year. By keeping vigil during this Holy Night of the Resurrection, we express our longing for the coming of the Morning Star who never sets, Jesus Christ who, coming back from death’s domain, has shed his peaceful light on humanity and lives and reigns forever and ever. 

I would like to invite and encourage everyone to participate in all the celebrations of the Holy Week. Let us come together to pray, reflect on the most significant mysteries of our faith!

God bless,

Fr. Peter

Posted In Feasts and Celebrations | From the Pastor's Desk | Liturgical Celebrations

2nd Week of Advent

Published December 06, 2021 / by St. Lawrence Hamilton

“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”  – St. Luke quoting the Prophet Isaiah introduces to us Saint John the Baptist. He was the only one of the prophets who pointed out the Saviour. He was privileged to be a forerunner of Jesus. He was sent to prepare the way to the Lord, so he appeared in the wilderness to proclaim a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins according to the words spoken by the Prophet Isaiah. This great prophet is called an evangelist of The Old Testament because he wrote a lot about the coming Saviour. The both prophecies of St. John the Baptist and of the Prophet Isaiah are not out-of-date but encourage us to come back to the Lord and make room for Him in our hearts. 

This week we celebrate one of the greatest Marian celebrations:

Wednesday, December 8th, the Solemnity of The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In 1854 Pope Pius IX pronounced and defined that the Blessed Virgin Mary “in the first instance of her conception, by a singular privilege and grace granted by God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human race, was preserved exempt from all stain of original sin”. Only two people were without any sin: our Lord Jesus Christ and His Holy Mother. This feast refers to Mary’s sinlessness not to Jesus’ as some mistakenly may think.

What is the Hour of Grace held on December 8th?

According to several private apparitions given to Sister Pierina, Italian nun and mystic, in 1946 and 1947, the Blessed Virgin, under the title the Mystical Rose, has requested that an hour of grace should be kept at noon on December 8th. During this Hour of Grace many spiritual graces would be granted. The Blessed Virgin promised that whatever a person asked Her for during this Hour of Grace (even in impossible cases) would be granted to them, if it was in accordance with the will of the Eternal Father. The Hour of Grace should be kept in this way: Put away all distractions; begin the Hour of Grace by praying three times the 51st Psalm with outstretched arms; the rest of the Hour of Grace may be spent in silent communication with God, adoring the Sacred Host, meditating upon the Passion of Jesus, saying the Holy Rosary, praising God in your own way or by using favourite prayers, singing hymns, etc.

God bless,

Fr. Peter

Posted In Feasts and Celebrations | From the Pastor's Desk