BRIDGEPORT—The Vigil of Pentecost Mass is set for Saturday, June 8, 7 pm at St. Augustine Cathedral. The Mass will be celebrated by Bishop Frank J. Caggiano. All are welcome to attend.
Pentecost is a feast of the universal Church which commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles fifty days after the resurrection of Christ. The prayers of the Faithful will be read in Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Haitian, Vietnamese and English.
The Vigil Mass also celebrates the 38 international Ecclesial Movements and Communities at work in the Diocese of Bridgeport. The groups, largely consisting of lay people, represent a common faith journey and Christian witness with its own charism.
Ecclesial communities strive in a common spirit to foster a more perfect life, to promote public worship and Catholic teaching, and to exercise other works of evangelization, piety and charity in order to bring Christ to the temporal order.
Diocesan Ecclesial Movements include the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, Magnificat, the Secular Order of Franciscans, CAPP , the Serra Club of Bridgeport, Lay Missionaries of Charity, the Neocatechumenal Way, and the Knights of Columbus, and many others (for a complete list see the bottom of the page).
“We form one beautiful mosaic as a Church. This diversity, which extends to every nation, is a small piece of the mystical presence of the family of God,” said Bishop Frank J. Caggiano during last year’s Mass that drew hundreds to the Cathedral.
This year’s Vigil Mass will also include the Commitment Ceremony for the new Society of St. Stephen, which will immediately follow Bishop Caggiano’s homily.
The Bishop announced plan for the Society earlier this year at the Deacons Convocation. The goal of the confraternity, which includes the wives of Deacons, is to deepen reverence for the Blessed Sacrament through prayer and adoration, to foster ongoing spiritual renewal and fraternal bonds among its members, and to encourage works of charity and acts of reparation for the sins of deacons, priests and bishops. Members will commit to weekly Eucharistic adoration, daily silent prayer, weekday Mass, monthly confession and other duties.
Music for the Mass will be sung by members of the St. Charles Church Spanish Choir, musicians of the Neocatechumenal Way, and the Vietnamese Choir. Dr. John Michniewicz, Director of Music at St. Aloysius Parish in New Canaan, wills serve as organist, and Erick Sanchez as Cantor.
Father Peter Towsley, pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Danbury, serves as Vicar for Evangelization for the diocese. The following are the Ecclesial Movements of the Diocese of Bridgeport:
- Ain Karim
- Alpha
- Catholic Charismatic Renewal
- Catholic Daughters of the Americas
- Catholic War Veterans of the USA
- Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice (CAPP)
- Christ Renews His Parish (CRHP)
- Columbian Squires
- Columbiettes
- Communion and Liberation
- Cursillos in Christianity Movement
- Domestic Church Families
- Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem
- Focolare
- Heart’s Home
- Knights of Columbus
- Lay Fraternity of Saint Dominic
- Lay Missionaries of Charity
- Legion of Mary / Legionis Mariae
- Lumen Institute
- Magnificat: A Ministry to Catholic Women
- Marian Community of Reconciliation
- Missionaries de Jesus
- National Council of Catholic Women
- Neocatechumenal Way
- Our Mother of Sorrows Secular Discalced Carmelite Community
- Regnum Christi Movement
- Serra Club of Bridgeport
- Schoenstatt Apostolic Movement
- Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta
- The Order of Secular Franciscans
- The Third Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mt. Carmel
- Voluntus Dei
- Walking with Purpose
