Hello Families, As Confirmation quickly approaches I am reaching out again with the important dates, times, and guidelines for this special day to ensure everything goes smoothly. Please read through carefully, some details have been slightly edited. Mandatory Practice: Practice is required for all candidates to ensure they are comfortable with the liturgy. Ensure you arrive promptly so we can start and finish on a timely basis. Note for Sponsors: Sponsors are not required to attend the practice. If they do not/can not attend it is the candidate's responsibility to relay the information about the ceremony process to their sponsor so they know what to expect on the night of Confirmation. When: Wednesday, May 13, 2026 Where: In the Church 1. 10th Grade Practice: 6:30 PM 2. 9th Grade Practice: 8:00 PM **If you have requested to attend a different grade's Confirmation ceremony your child should attend the practice of the Mass they will be Confirmed (ex. your child is in 9th grade but you are attending the 10th grade ceremony so your child should attend the 10th grade practice).** Confirmation Day: Thursday, May 14, 2026 The Sacrament of Confirmation will be administered on Thursday, May 14. Both grades will be confirmed on the same night: 1. 10th Grade Ceremony: 6:00 PM 2. 9th Grade Ceremony: 8:00 PM Dress Code for Candidates and Sponsors: (See graphic attached) Confirmation is a formal "rite of passage" in the Church. Our attire should reflect the solemnity and beauty of the Sacrament. Think of this as a "Step up from Sunday Best." Guidelines for Men: Dress jacket, dress slacks (no jeans), a collared dress shirt, and a tie. Dress shoes are required (no sneakers). Guidelines for Women: A modest dress, skirt and blouse, or dress pantsuit. Hemlines should be knee-length or longer. Shoulders and midriffs must be covered (no spaghetti straps or strapless dresses unless worn with a cardigan/sweater). Attire should be modest in fit, avoiding tight or overly form-fitting clothing. Grooming Note: For the anointing, the candidate's forehead must be clear. Please ensure hair is styled away from the forehead so the priest can easily apply the Sacred Chrism. Thank you for your attention to all these details. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to reach out. God Bless, Sabrina Huresky

Our monthly Forget-Me-Not Food Collection to benefit the Fr. English Center in Paterson is this weekend, April 11 & 12! Please drop non-perishable food donations in the priests' garage. Thank you for your support and generosity!

Beginning March 8, we will individually pray a novena to our patron saint, Saint Patrick, for 9 days asking for the ongoing growth of our parish community, the conversion of sinners, the wisdom in how to become better Catholic Christians and for our parish and school in addition to our own personal intentions. We will email the prayer daily to our parishioners and there are paper copies available in the Church for you to pick up and bring home. If you did not receive the email, please reach out to the parish office. Please remember not to unsubscribe to the emails, please delete them; otherwise, you will be removed from receiving parish wide emails in the future including weekly newsletters.

Join the Knights of Columbus as they host their annual St. Patrick's Day Party on Saturday, March 14 from 70m-11pm in the Parish Center. Traditional Irish food, drinks and entertainment will be available all for one low price. Adults only. Our St. Patrick's Day Sunday Social will offer fun for the entire family on March 15 from 10:30-11:30am in the Parish Center.

Celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation as we journey through the Season of Lent. During this liturgical season, Saint Patrick Parish will offer private reconciliation as part of our Diocesan Welcome Home to Healing initiative on Monday evenings from 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm. All parishes within the Diocese of Paterson will offer Welcome Home to Healing on Monday evenings. No appointments are necessary. In addition to Monday evenings, St. Patrick Parish will offer reconciliation on Saturday afternoons from 4 pm – 4:30 pm in the church. The Sacrament of Reconciliation frees us from our sins and challenges us to have the same kind of compassion and forgiveness towards others that God, our Father, shows us.

Due to the snow, all activities and programs at the Parish are canceled today including Welcome Home to Healing confession and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament tonight.

The Sunday 5pm Mass is canceled on February 22, 2026, due to the storm. Morning masses will proceed as usual. The 9:30am Sunday Mass is always livestreamed. Be safe.

All Faith Formation classes are canceled Sunday, February 22, 2026, due to the forecasted weather conditions. Be safe in the storm.

The liturgical season of lent begins with Ash Wednesday on February 18, 2026. Mass and Distribution of Ashes will be offered at 8am and 7pm. Liturgy of the Word and Distribution of Ashes will be offered at 12:30pm and 4pm. We will be posting all Lenten offerings and emailing them through our email communication software. If you are not on our distribution list and would like to be, please contact the parish office.

Save the date! We will hold two information meetings for those interested in our annual trips to Appalachia to help those in need with home repairs this summer. Confirmed teens, teens that will be confirmed this spring, and adults are invited to join us when we travel to Appalachia. The Appalachia Help Weeks began after the floods that foraged the area many years ago. This will be the 40th year that members of the St. Patrick Parish community will be traveling to help those in need. To learn more, please attend one of the meetings on February 10 or February 24 at 7pm in the Parish Center.

You may have noticed a beautiful change to our sanctuary recently. We are blessed to have a new tabernacle on our main altar, providing a dignified and lovely home for the Blessed Sacrament. This addition is a generous gift from Fr. Owen and his community for this sign of friendship and for such a meaningful contribution to our worship space. While this tabernacle serves us beautifully for now, we will continue to evaluate the long-term liturgical needs of our church to ensure our sanctuary remains a fitting place for prayer and sacrifice. In the meantime, our original tabernacle will be carefully refinished and restored; we look forward to it being resurrected in the future within a chapel elsewhere on our campus. We are forever grateful for this gift and for the spirit of community that brought it to Saint Patrick.

As you have seen in our church, we have new stands and candle displays. For a small donation, you can light a candle for the intention of a loved one.

Due to the impending snowstorm, Masses will be held at 4pm and 5pm in the church on Saturday ONLY. The church will then close until Tuesday morning, January 27. The 5pm Mass on Saturday will be livestreamed. Please be safe during the storm.

Join our school as they host a Faith and Community Service Fair on Saturday, January 24, 2026 from 9:00am until 10:30am in the Parish Center. All are invited. No entrance fee.

The parish office will be closed on Monday, January 19 in honor of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. The office will reopen on Tuesday, January 20, 2026 at 9:00am. Mass card requests can be submitted through our parish website by visiting www.st-pats.org/mass-card-flower-candle-purchase or clicking on the Mass Card link at the top of our website.

Deacon Mark resumes his series of Breaking Open the Word on Sunday mornings starting this Sunday, January 11. This program allows us to "break open" and explore the Word of God proclaimed each week in the Sunday liturgy, diving a little deeper into the Gospel for a better understanding of the Word. Meets in the Parish Office Building after the 9:30am mass.

Our One-Bag-a-Month food collection is this weekend, January 10 & 11. Donations can be left in the priests' garage and benefit those in need locally. This program is held monthly at the United Methodist Church in Chatham. Thank you for your generosity!

Fr. Peter invites you to join us on a pilgrimage to St. John Paul II’s beloved homeland, Poland. On this journey, we follow in the footsteps of three great Polish saints – St. John Paul, St. Maximilian Kolbe and St. Faustina, the Apostle of Divine Mercy – as we embrace the culture of the Polish people. We entrust our pilgrims and journeys to the maternal protection of Our Lady of Czestochowa.  

THIS weekend, January 3 & 4 is our monthly Forget-Me-Not food collection weekend! Please drop your non-perishable food donations in the priests’ garage. Donations to our food pantries have dropped dramatically over the past few months as food prices continue to rise and need for donations continue to increase. Please be as generous as you can. Donations all stay within the Diocese of Paterson, specifically for the Father English Center who will distribute the items to families and individuals in need. Thank you for your continued support of our food pantries and helping our brothers and sisters in need.

Please click on the title of this news article to be directed to Fr. Peter's Christmas message!