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Please Join our parish in praying a Blessed Solanus Casey novena before his feast day on Wednesday July 30th. We will begin the novena on Tuesday July, 22nd. Click below to get the Novena.
News & Updates
From Pentecost weekend, June 8, to Corpus Christi weekend, June 21, 2025, Bishop Boyea is asking all 10 deaneries of the Diocese of Lansing to coordinate continuous 40-hours Adoration. The intention is to have each hour between Pentecost and Corpus Christi covered in intercessory prayer by each deanery. Essentially, we’re employing the power of intercession before the Blessed Sacrament in an effort to “kick start” a new movement of evangelization and discipleship in the parishes throughout our diocese and beyond during this Jubilee Year.
This 40-hour Intercessory Adoration Campaign for our diocese aims to unify all the parishes of the Diocese of Lansing in the missional phase of the Eucharistic Congress (began summer 2024). Along with bringing about more Eucharistic devotion in our parishes, it will provide an opportunity for powerful intercession for deeper conversion (or first-time conversion) for our loved ones, fellow parishioners, fallen away, and unchurched; it will conclude with the all-diocesan Mass at Lugnuts Stadium on June 21, followed by a Eucharistic procession to St. Mary Cathedral, where participants will be able to receive the Jubilee Year Plenary Indulgence.
St. Anthony’s Parish will participate in this Adoration campaign from 8:00am on Wednesday, June 11 until Noon on Saturday, June 14. This means we will have perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament for those 70+ hours, all day Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and Saturday morning, pausing just for daily Masses (Why 70+ hours? I thought this was a 40-hours devotion. Well, St. Anthony’s is such a robust parish, the deanery leadership basically asked us to do two 40-hour campaigns back-to-back—good for us!).
***Please plan to make a Holy Hour (or several, or even just a Holy Half-Hour) during our part of the campaign: 8:00am on Wednesday, June 11 until Noon on Saturday, June 14. Call the office to sign up for an Adoration time.
AND, mark your calendar and plan to attend the all-diocesan Mass and Procession in Lansing on Saturday, June 21 at 10:00am!
Visit www.eucharisticjourney.org for more information about the 40-Hours Devotion, Jubilee Year & Indulgence, and Corpus Christi Procession—all coming up soon! Please join in!
News & Updates
Join us for our 2025 St. Anthony Parish Picnic on Sunday, June 15, after 10:30 Mass at Owen Memorial Park in Hillsdale. Food and drink will be provided, but please bring a dessert to share!
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News & Updates
St. Anthony’s is now accepting donations through Venmo! This is a great way for visitors, students, and those without cash to make an easy, one-time donation. Find us @stanthonyhillsdale
Thank you!
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Fr. David will spend the summer of 2025 at Officer Training School for his Military Chaplaincy. The training will last for three months. His last Sunday here will be May 11. Beginning May 12, Fr. Paul will commence our summer Mass schedule, which will generally be as follows, until mid-August:
• Regular 4 weekend Masses
• Monday and Tuesday—5:00pm
• Wednesday—Noon
• Thursday—7:15am
• Friday—no Mass
• Saturday—8:00am
Schedule subject to change. Confessions will continue as usual Monday through Wednesday, and Saturday.
News & Updates
Based on parishioner feedback and recent years’ experience, St. Anthony’s is making a few changes to our procedure during this year’s Easter Vigil. Our goal is to make the Easter Vigil accessible to as many people as possible, while honoring the Vigil’s place as a solemn and reverent Mass that celebrates Easter and receives our candidates and catechumens into the Church.
Changes to Seating:
First and foremost, we want to ensure that there is adequate seating for those joining the church—our candidates and catechumens—along with their sponsors and guests. We will be sectioning off pews with seat-signs reserving space for these individuals.
Second, we will be opening up the Parish Hall for overflow seating. This will provide hundreds of extra seats. Mass will be live-streamed via televisions and projectors in the Parish Hall. We understand that it is preferable to be in the church proper, but considering recent years’ attendance, this will allow us to better seat all those who wish to attend.
Third, in light of increased seating, we will be closing the Church on Saturday afternoon (after the Easter Basket blessing at 2:00pm) and the doors will remain locked until 7:00pm. We ask that parishioners do not enter the Church during this time of preparation. We will open the front doors of the church at 7:00pm, and parishioners may come in, respectfully, to take a seat. The Vigil Mass will begin at 9:00pm.
Fourth, we are requesting that parishioners do not try to save seats in advance, especially with the use of coats. We will remove coats, bags, or other items that have been left in the pews.
Changes to Greek Feast:
The Greek Feast will be celebrated in the lot to the North of St. Anthony’s. We will be renting a tent big enough to fit 360 people at one time, which is more than our parish hall holds. Food will be received in the parish hall, as usual, and afterwards parishioners will head outside to eat. The tent will be supplied with propane heaters, lighting, walls, and rain gutters.
We thank everyone for their patience and understanding as we implement these new procedures.
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Divine Mercy Sunday: April 27, 2025
Movie Nights: Tuesday, Mar. 25 and Tues. Apr. 1st at 6:15 in the parish hall following the 5pm Mass
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We now have two outdoor Stations of the Cross available for parishioner use, both on the northeast side of town. Click here to download the maps!
Please take advantage of the spring weather to make this journey with Christ during Lent.
News & Updates
Please join us after the 8:30am and 10:30am Masses for our 3rd Annual Sacramentals Sunday! This special service will highlight the importance and power of sacramentals in our spiritual lives. Fr. David will exorcise all sacramentals brought to the service. Following this, Fr. David and the Deacons will offer blessings for all attendees and their sacramentals. Please contact Kathryn Melchi kmelchi@reagan.com with questions. We hope to see you there!
What Are Sacramentals?
Sacramentals are sacred signs or rituals instituted by the Church to inspire devotion and prepare the faithful to receive God’s grace through the sacraments.
Examples of Sacramentals
Holy water, oils, relics, religious medals, scapulars, rosaries, candles, sacred images, Ash Wednesday ashes, Blessed Palms.
How Do Sacramentals Work?
They rely on the intercession of the Church, dispose people to receive grace through the sacraments and serve as aids in helping people grow closer to Christ.
Why Are Sacramentals Important?
They are visible signs of God’s grace at work in the world and sanctify daily life, making ordinary moments holy.
Bring your sacramentals to be exorcised and blessed and discover how they can help deepen your faith and make everyday life more holy.
The Catholic Family Toolkit
By Elizabeth Schlueter
Several years ago, a friend gave me a small wooden box containing blessed salt, blessed oil, a holy water bottle, a small candle, and a miraculous medal. She called it a “blessing box.” We had used some of these items before in our family prayer, but assembling them together in a handy box made them so much more accessible. I reach for the “blessing box” many times a year, using it together with the “Shorter Book of Blessings,” an abbreviated text of the official Catholic Blessing Rites which every Catholic family should own.
Christ gives every baptized Christian a share in the baptismal priesthood. As The Second Vatican Council says, the laity (anyone who is not a deacon, priest or religious,) has a special mission: to order “temporal affairs” and family life according to the plan of God: “They live in the ordinary circumstances of family and social life, from which the very web of their existence is woven. They are called there by God that by exercising their proper function and led by the spirit of the Gospel they may work for the sanctification of the world from within as a leaven” (Gaudium et Spes, 31). You can use the lay form for each rite from the Shorter Book of Blessings to sanctify the important people, places, and events of daily family life, from the blessing of a child on his or her birthday, to the blessing of a garden, a meal, athletic events, seeds, the Advent wreath, the Christmas tree, and many more.
Every birthday, we end the celebration with the “Blessing on the Occasion of a Birthday,” and during the prayer the youngest child enjoys liberally sprinkling holy water on the birthday boy or girl. We use the holy water and official house blessing rite every Epiphany to bless our home. We process around the house singing “We Three Kings” and sprinkling every room, often accompanied by comments like, “Soak the boys’ room. They really need it!” As a mother, I always appreciate gathering the family to bless the new dorm room of our College freshmen, and the “Blessing of a Mother Before Childbirth” took on particular significance at my daughter-in-law’s baby shower.
No family can do without a basic toolbox with the essential hammer, screwdrivers, nails, and drill. Just so, every “Domestic Church” needs a sacramental “toolkit” like the blessing box and the “Shorter Book of Blessings,” so parents have the tools needed to exercise their baptismal priesthood in the home.
The Beauty of Sacramentals in the Home
By Kathryn Melchi
As a child, I remember our home as a place deeply imbued with our Catholic faith. Images of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus were prominently displayed, and a Crucifix—commonly referred to as a “sick kit”—hung in an easily accessible place. This kit contained the Sacramentals (Holy Water, Holy Oil, and candles) used to anoint the sick and dying.
My mother’s rosary was her constant companion, her weapon of choice in prayer, often used while visiting the statue of Mary in her garden. I assumed all Catholic homes looked and felt this way until one day, I overheard an elderly Catholic relative say, “I love coming to Mary’s house—you can tell a Catholic lives here.” That simple comment perfectly summed up my mother and her life. She was, at her core, a faithful Catholic, striving to live her faith while using Sacramentals to guide and support her.
As she raised eight children, my mother also opened her home to a steady stream of family, friends, and anyone in need of a meal or a bed. By her example, I learned the value of Sacramentals and how they can shape a home. Now, in my own home, family and friends are greeted by a Holy Water font and an image of the Holy Family—symbols that quietly welcome them into a space rooted in our Catholic faith. My own Crucifix (sick kit) hangs in the foyer, a visible reminder of our faith and a cherished connection to my upbringing.
Does your home reflect your Catholic faith? Bring your Sacramentals to church on Sunday, March 2, to have them blessed. Let this be the first step in building or enriching your own Sacramental home.
Treasures of the Catholic Church
By Kathy Crowley
There are many, many treasures in the Catholic Church! Many of them we are blessed to have available in our homes, such as Sacramentals. For the Crowley home, we look at our home as a “Domestic Church” –our little family church where we gather together, pray and learn.
Our Sacramentals are important in how we do this. We have a crucifix in every room–a reminder of how much our Lord Jesus loved us. The one we have in our bedroom hangs above our bed and was the crucifix of Deacon John’s parents which hung above their bed. Each exit/entrance to our home has a holy water font so we can bless ourselves with the sign of the cross coming and going. We also bless each other, our children and grandchildren, especially at bedtime! On the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi we also bless our dog and chickens with holy water!
And where would our home be without our Blessed Mother Mary! (Mama Mary, as I call her). Every room also has a statue of her or an icon or picture. There are really no words to explain how comforting it is to be reminded of her love and care for us by just looking at or gazing at these Sacramentals of her. And of course, then there is her Rosary–they are everywhere in our home! Our grandchildren love to search through them to find the one they want to pray with at Rosary time, and their favorite place to pray it is around the campfire!
Personally, two of my favorite Sacramentals and treasures are my Miraculous Medal which was a gift
from my husband years ago–I have never seen another like it, beautiful and simple, and also my Scapular–both gifts to all of us from Mama Mary.
Last but not least that I’d like to mention are Holy Cards—mostly of the Holy Saints. I make them and Deacon John blesses them and we give them away throughout the year. Kept in a bible, prayer book, on a night stand, posted to a mirror, a perfect reminder of our help and connection with the communion of Saints!
There are many more Sacramentals (treasures) abounding and available in the Catholic Church and as was stated they are “the visible signs of God’s grace at work in the world to help sanctify our daily life and make ordinary moments holy.”
What Treasures!