The Anderson-Alexandria Pastorate

The most direct way of having your intention mentioned at Mass is to contact the parish office to
schedule a Mass said for that purpose. Call or stop by the office at the church where you’d like the
Mass to be celebrated (the addresses and phone numbers of our three parishes are always printed on
the front of this bulletin) and talk with the secretary, who will let you know what dates and times are
available. It is customary to leave a $10 donation for each Mass requested.

Once it is on the calendar, your Mass intention will be printed in the bulletin—usually on page 3—the
weekend before. Regardless of whether or not the intention is specifically mentioned out loud during or
right before the Mass, be assured that the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is being offered for that person.

Since each Mass can have only one formal intention attached to it, you’ll need to choose an alternate
Mass for your intention if the particular date and time you were hoping for has already been claimed by
another parishioner. Keep in mind that Masses are celebrated not only on the weekends, but on certain
days during the week, as well. It is often easier to find a weekday Mass available than it is to schedule a
Saturday or Sunday Mass. Some parishioners schedule Masses months in advance if they have a one-
time or recurring intention that they’d like a specific date for, such as a birthday, a wedding anniversary,
or the anniversary of a loved one’s passing.

Regardless of whether or not you formally schedule a Mass for your intention, remember that you’re
always welcome to make an entry into our Parish Book of Prayer, located in the narthex of each of our
pastorate’s churches. There you can write down what or whom you are praying for—with as little or as
much detail as you feel comfortable sharing. These intentions are included collectively at the weekend
Masses in the Prayers of the Faithful (after the homily and creed), when the lector reads, “For the
intentions entered in our parish Book of Prayer… we pray to the Lord,” and we all respond, “Lord, hear
our prayer.”

Most importantly, keep in mind that God is attentive to all of our prayers, big and small, whether
offered up by through a Mass celebrated by the Pope in Rome or in the silence of our hearts. He is
aware of all our needs and desires and wants to be as near to us as we will allow! As St. Paul assures us
in the fourth chapter of his letter to the Philippians: “ 6  Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything
by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  7  And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

There are people in our pastorate who are happy to pray for your special intentions!  Contact your parish secretary to learn how to connect with the Prayer Line.

If you place your offering in your pre-printed church envelope (or if you write a check made out to a specific parish), your offering will go to the parish written on the envelope (or check), regardless of where in our pastorate that Mass was held. If you contribute cash with no envelope, the money will go to the church hosting that specific Mass. 

One way around this would be to place your contribution in a plain white envelope (generally available at the back our all our churches) and write on it the name of the parish you wish that offering to be attributed to. 

Don’t get pre-printed church envelopes in the mail? Contact your parish secretary to get you signed up! It’s easy, fast, and free.

Yes!

St. Mary Anderson: Check the bin labeled “lost & found” located over the coat rack near the door in the church annex. 

St. Mary Alexandria: Found items are generally deposited on one of the benches in the narthex. 

St. Ambrose: They are typically placed in the ushers’ room.

Yes!

Any copies of the bulletin that are not taken by parishioners during the weekend are generally left out on the tables until the new ones are set out for the next weekend, so you might find an extra copy of the most recent edition if you come to church for one of the weekday Masses. If not, you can ask in the parish office if they have any left over. 

But your best bet—where you’ll always be able to access every bulletin—is the pastorate website under the Bulletin page here.

On that page, you can see bulletins from back in 2017!