Welcome

October 13 to 24 with Fr. Briggs

Join Fr. Briggs from October 13th-24th, 2024, on a pilgrimage to Spain and Southern France. This pilgrimage is offered through ProRome Tours, and will travel in the footsteps of St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Bernadette, and St. Teresa of Avila. Space is limited to 45 pilgrims, and is open to all. Visit the ProRome Website or scan the document below to register. 

Tuesdays through June 25

St. Philip parishioners can partake in a chronological journey of the Gospels. Based on a study by Father John Riley, retreat master and spiritual director at the diocesan San Damiano Retreat Center, participants will be provided with daily readings from all four Gospels in the order they occurred.

The study will run through June 25 with discussion meetings held every Tuesday night, after the 7 pm Mass in Room 4. You need not come to every meeting, its is not too late to join.

Contact the rectory or Suzanne Webb at suzannedwebb@hotmail.com for more details.

Bishop Burbidge invites you to the Diocesan Jubilee Fest at Warren County Fairgrounds in Front Royal, Virginia on Saturday, June 8, 2024! Celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Diocese of Arlington with your parish family and thousands of faithful from across Northern Virginia.

Kick off the festival by giving thanks to God with the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, celebrated by Bishop Burbidge. Following Mass, enjoy live music by headliner Celtic rock band, Scythian. The event is free, but registration is required for free food. More details and registration details can be found here.

Dear Friends in Christ,

Happy first week of May! We are now in the middle of Spring when the weather is consistently warmer, our graduates are eagerly awaiting the end of the school year, and we anticipate the coming of Summer. In our liturgical calendar, we anticipate the celebration of the Ascension of Jesus into heaven, which we will celebrate next Sunday, and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, which we will celebrate the following Sunday. The Easter Season will conclude after Pentecost, and we will begin our journey through Ordinary Time. It is surely an exciting time for all!

For us Catholics, the month of May is also a special time devoted to our Blessed Mother, Mary. Here at St. Philip’s, we will have the opportunity to honor her next Sunday, May 12th, with a special May Crowning after the 9:00 A.M. Mass in English, and after the 1:00 P.M. Mass in Spanish. Additionally, here in the bulletin, we will learn about four Marian Apparitions from around the world when our Blessed Mother appeared to men and women in history. This week, I invite us to journey to Mexico to learn about Our Lady of Guadalupe.

In the year 1531 A.D., less than forty years after Christopher Columbus departed Spain to dis-cover the new world, our Blessed Mother appeared to a poor man named Juan Diego. Juan Die-go was a man who had converted to the Catholic Church, and who was deeply devoted to his family and to his faith. One day, as he was traveling to what is now Mexico City, he encountered a beautiful woman on the top of Mount Tepeyac. She revealed herself as the Mother of God, and requested to have a church built in her honor at that location. When Juan Diego told Our Lady’s message to the Bishop, the Bishop requested to have a sign from heaven to confirm that this message was truly from heaven.

A few days later, on December 12th, as Juan Diego was traveling to Mexico City again to find a doctor for his uncle who lay sick at home. As he passed Mount Tepeyac, he encountered the Blessed Mother again, who consoled him in his sorrow for his uncle, but assured him that all would be well. She instructed Juan Diego to go to the top of the hill where he would find Castellan roses, even though it was in the middle of winter, and she asked him to bring them to her. She arranged them carefully in his tilma and instructed him to show them to the bishop.

When Juan Diego arrived at the bishop’s house, he presented the roses to the bishop, and up-on the tilma there was imprinted a miraculous image of our Blessed Mother as he saw her on Tepeyac. When the bishop saw this image, he was brought to his knees, and he immediately made plans to construct a church upon the site where she appeared.

There are many attributes to our Lady of Guadalupe that are stunning to realize. First, as this image was venerated by the people of Mexico, over ten million people converted to the Catholic Church in only eight years! Additionally, this image saved the Mexican people from a plague of yellow fever in 1736 A.D. and was also miraculously saved from a bombing in 1921. She is the patroness of all expectant mothers, as well as all couples who struggle with infertility. As we celebrate her month of May, may we grow closer to her and entrust all to her protection.

May Christ’s Peace be with you,

Fr. Briggs