“God is so good! What a privilege, honor, blessing and gift it was for us to have Fr. Patrice bring to us the wonderful relic of the heart of St. John Vianney. More impressive than even the relic itself, was the beautiful faith of so many people as they came to pray. This was an experience that I will never forget and I know that through the intercession of St. John Vianney, that many of you will never forget it either.”
~Fr. Troy Gately. April 28, 2018.
View News Article in the Texas Catholic Herald
A Day with Mary, Praying for Life
Thanks to all of our parishioners who came out for our 6th Annual Celebration of Life hosted by SJV’s Respect Life Ministry and Gabriel Project on Saturday, April 14th.
Deacon Greg Stokes led us in a beautiful reflection and Living Rosary. We particularly enjoyed hearing the children’s voices lifted up in praying the Rosary for Life with us. What a testament to their families who shared their faith and God’s love and grace with them!
In spite of the weather, we were blessed with a great turnout and lots of wonderful volunteers. We also had the collaboration and support of the Knights of Columbus, St. Anne’s Society, ACTS, Parish Life, and St. John Paul II Catholic School’s Challenge Club and Jr. Girl Scout Troop 149012. If you missed it, please plan to join us next year!
Congratulations to the RCIC Families!
Congratulations to the RCIC children who celebrated the Rites of Initiation on Divine Mercy Sunday. Please keep them, their families and sponsors in your prayers.
SJV Mission Team’s Spring Trips
From April 3rd through April 8th, a group of twelve SJV parishioners traveled to Eagle Pass, Texas to continue repairs on several homes of the elderly, disabled and very poor. Their work included repairing the bathrooms of some homes, spraying for mold, painting, repairing homes damaged by termites, and also roofing or re-roofing others. In total, both teams worked on eleven homes.
More importantly, the Mission Team continued to grow the relationships we’ve established with the homebound whom we have assisted in the past, and the community spirit and camaraderie developed by the team members was incredible! Some of our new team members are parishioners who were impacted by the flooding. The fact that they are willing to find the time to help others is inspiring to us all!
If you’d like to learn more about our Service Missions, please contact Clay.
SJV’s First Tenebrae Service
On Monday, March 26, St. John Vianney offered its first Tenebrae, an ancient monastic service traditionally celebrated during Holy Week. The response from parishioners and visitors alike was resoundingly positive. The attendance was standing room only, with approximately four hundred in our chapel seating three-hundred-fifty! A pre-service lecture on the history of the liturgy was given by Dr. Jeffery Cooper, Organist-Choirmaster of St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church, League City, who holds a Master of Sacred Music Degree from the University of Notre Dame.
The liturgy was served by three seminarians from St. Mary’s Seminary here in Houston, including our very own Ricardo “Rick” Arriola, who will be ordained to the diaconate by Cardinal DiNardo this summer. The enormous amount of chanted psalmody and other responses directed by Kirk Rich, Associate Director of Music and Organist, were sung by the Vesper Choir , an ensemble of volunteers, professional cantors, and treble choristers who normally sing for the Sunday 5:30 pm Mass. The choir offered the North American premiere performance Allegri’s famous Miserere mei, in a unpublished reconstruction by French musicologist Jean Lionnet (1935-1998).
The Tenebrae service featured a new liturgical furnishing constructed especially for our parish. This “hearse” is triangular candelabra supporting fifteen candles, which are gradually extinguished throughout the service to the point of total darkness (Tenebrae is Latin for “darkness”). Our new hearse was built and donated by members of our parish-sponsored Boy Scout troop, Craig Hagedorn and his son, Kyle. Based on the overwhelmingly enthusiastic responses, we hope the Tenebrae service will become an annual tradition during Holy Week at St. John Vianney.
Welcome to the Church!
R C I A
Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults
Congratulations to the women and men in the RCIA process who celebrated the Sacraments of Initiation at the Easter Vigil. Those rites now moved them into the fourth and final phase of their formation, Mystagogy. Remember also in prayer their godparents, sponsors and the RCIA team who journey with them.
May they become known to us and, us to them!
Preparing for the Sacraments of Initiation
These women and men are in preparation to celebrate the sacraments of Initiation this Easter! Here you can see our candidates at “Dismissal” (Breaking Open the Word), Stations of the Cross, at a Scrutiny, and serving at a Lenten Dinner. Please keep them all in your prayers during this important step in their faith journey!
SJV Youth Choir at the Winter Festival
Two of St. John Vianney’s youth choir members recently participated in the annual Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) Gulf Coast Winter Festival. This year’s winter fest was hosted by St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in San Antonio. Isabella (6th grade) and Madelaine (4th grade) Coronado, daughters of Dan and Josephine Coronado, experienced a full weekend of intensive choral rehearsals with youth choirs from other churches throughout the state. Their hard work and dedication was on display in a Festival Choral Eucharist on Sunday, January 28, in which the massed choir sang works of Stanford, Goodall, and contemporary composer Philip Moore’s Missa pro Ecclesia Christus.
Façade of our New Organ
Façade pipes, upper half casework, and side grillwork.
In these pictures you can see that the façade pipes and wood casework for the new pipe organ. The polished pipes are made of zinc and are being fitted to the casework which will sit in front of the black shutters of the upper half of the organ. The woodwork is currently in the finisher’s shop where it is being stained and prepared for shipment back to the organ builder. The casework will then be prepared for shipment to Houston, where it will be installed around the organ.
Ritual of Choir Investiture
On Wednesday, December 20, 2017, choristers of the St. Gregory Schola Cantorum and the Cantate Choir participated in a Ritual of Choir Investiture in the Ars Chapel at St. John Vianney. The liturgy was based upon similar rituals used for the St. Paul’s Choir School, Harvard Square, the only Catholic boys choir school in the United States, as well as the Cathedral of the Madeleine Choir School in Salt Lake City, the first co-ed choir school in the world. After celebrating a liturgy of the word, the ritual of investiture began with the choristers being presented to Fr. Clark Sample, Parochial Vicar of St. John Vianney, who graciously stepped in for our pastor, Fr. Troy Gately, who had fallen ill. The choristers, vested in their red cassocks and standing before the celebrant, promised to serve Christ by attending all rehearsals and services required by their directors, and to obey the rules of the choir. After receiving their promises, Fr. Clark blessed their surplices with holy water. Their directors placed the white surplices over each chorister, as the celebrant prayed “Receive this surplice. Wear it with love and reverence before the altar of God that you may be found worthy to be numbered among the choirs of angels and saints.” The choristers, now fully invested as members of their choir, were then blessed with holy water by Fr. Clark. A time of fellowship and refreshment followed in the Music Lecture Hall.
The music staff at St. John Vianney is proud of the following choristers who participated in the beautiful liturgy: Isabella Alvarez-Chacón, Emma Clark, Kylie Clark, Isabella Coronado, Madelaine Coronado, Maria Guevara-Campos, Cecilia Jeffers, Kenneth Lee, Whitney Robertson, and Jimmy Tokam.
The Cantate Choir is directed by Ms. Keira Knecht. The St. Gregory Schola Cantorum is directed by Kirk M. Rich, Associate Director of Music & Organist. For more information on our Youth Choirs and how your children can become involved in this beautiful ministry, please visit our webpage.
Christmas Carol Concert
On Saturday, December 9, 2017, the youth choirs and CCE students of St. John Vianney joined forces to present “An Evening of Christmas Carols” in the Ars Chapel. The evening begin with the tolling of bells and the sound of Gregorian chant wafting through the space, as the St. Gregory Schola, an advanced youth choir led by Associate Director of Music Kirk Rich, sang “Creator of the Stars of Night” from the back of the chapel. After processing to the foot of the altar, they were joined by the Cantate Choir, led by Ms. Keira Knecht, in Christmas carol settings from around the globe, reflecting the rich, cultural diversity of our parish. The evening concluded with all youth choirs and CCE students singing “Silent Night” and “Joy to the World.” For more information on our Youth Choirs and how your children can become involved in this beautiful ministry, please visit our webpage.
Gift Giving Weekend 2017
Gifts were collected at all masses on Saturday, December 16th and Sunday, December 17th. On the evening of December 17th, more than 150 youth and adult volunteers from SJV distributed several layers of the gifts into 70 pews. Representatives from 19 recipient parishes picked up the gifts to distribute to families in need.
Thanks to all of our volunteers, the process took less than an hour, and we estimate that more than 7,000 gifts were distributed to benefit less-fortunate children in parishes throughout our Archdiocese.
Thank you to all the parishioners and volunteers who shared their blessings and contributed to this amazing event. Thanks to you, Christmas will be a little bit brighter for many children!
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