The following parishes have informed the Catholic Courier of their upcoming Advent activities:
* Collection jars have been placed at the entrances to Holy Family Church, 85 North St., Auburn. The parish is collecting spare change to benefit its Lunches with Love program. Proceeds from this collection will be presented at Mass shortly after Christmas on the Feast of the Holy Family. Each year the parish also puts up an Angel Giving Tree to benefit the Cayuga County Christmas Elf, which is a program of the Cayuga-Seneca Community Action Agency. Parishioners take angels off the tree and buy gifts for the child or children indicated on the angel, and through the Christmas Elf program these gifts are distributed to families who have applied for Christmastime help with food, gifts and clothing. Children in the parish’s faith-formation program are busily preparing for their annual Christmas Pageant, which will take place during the Christmas Vigil Mass, and on Dec. 4, catechists and children in the parish’s faith-formation program will each put one shoe in the hall and wait for St. Nicholas to come by and put treats in the shoes. The children also are encouraged to donate $1 or $2 by the end of January, and the money will be put toward the Auburnwide attempt to raise $5,000 for Heifer International Project by June.
* St. John of Rochester, 8 Wickford Way, Fairport, will host a four-session video reflection series, which will focus on "God in the Flesh in Jesus of Nazareth." Pastoral Associate Barbara Hesenius will lead the series, which will be held Nov. 28 and Dec. 6, 14 and 21 at 7 p.m. in the parish’s gathering room. Father Peter Clifford, pastor, will lead an adult education series on the "Adult Meaning of Christmas" Dec. 7 at 7 p.m. in the gathering room. St. John of Rochester also will host an Advent retreat Dec. 11 and 12 at 7:30 p.m. in the church. The retreat’s theme will be "Celebrating 50 Years of Our Family of Faith in Fairport," and composer Dan Schutte will be the featured guest. The parish will hold Advent penance services Dec. 20 at noon and again at 7:30 p.m. in the church, and individual confessions will be heard in the chapel Dec. 19 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. and Dec. 21 from noon until 1 p.m. and from 7 to 8 p.m.
* St. Pius Tenth Parish, 3010 Chili Ave., Chili, will hold Advent reconciliation services Dec. 12 at 1:30 and 7 p.m., as well as Masses for the Immaculate Conception Holy Day Dec. 7 at 5:30 p.m. and Dec. 8 at 9:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. Advent lessons and carols will be held at St. Pius Tenth School, 3000 Chili Ave., Dec. 15 at 10 a.m., and the parish will host a Christmas caroling party Dec. 19 at 6:45 p.m. Carolers will gather at the church before heading out into the neighborhood, and will return to the church afterwards for hot cocoa and refreshments. St. Pius Tenth also will host an "Advent Evening of Reflection on the Advent Gospels: Joy and Anticipation" Dec. 6 at 7 p.m. The parish is sponsoring the event in conjunction with St. Theodore Parish, Holy Ghost, St. Helen and St. Jude parishes in Gates.
* Church of the Assumption, 20 East Ave., Fairport will offer Masses for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception holy day Dec. 8 at 6:45 a.m., 11:15 a.m. and 7 p.m. On Dec. 10 children and families are invited to participate in Breakfast with Santa, a youth-ministry fundraiser that will be held from 8 to 11 a.m. in the parish hall. Tickets may be purchased in advance for $6 per person or $25 per family, or at the door for $6.50 per person or $27 per family. On Dec. 11 from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. there will be an XLT Eucharistic Adoration at the church, with praise and worship music lead by Assumption’s Life Teen Band. Father Joseph Morris, a noted storyteller, priest and actor, will proclaim the entire Gospel of Mark at the church Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. There is no charge for this two-hour program, but a free-will offering will be accepted. During Advent students in the parish’s School of Religion are donating scarves, hats mittens, gloves and socks for toddlers, teens and children in Fairport and the surrounding communities. The parish’s middle-school students will gather to pack and wrap the donations Dec. 13 at 6:30 p.m. On Dec. 18, parishioners will visit with needy families and bring the families the ingredients they need to make Christmas feasts. There will be communal penance services at the church Dec. 19 at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m., and the parish will host 14 needy individuals from Dec. 26 through Jan. 2 and is looking for volunteers to help prepare the parish’s "inn," as well as to prepare dinner for and dine with the guests on New Year’s Eve.
* Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha Parish will hold an Advent Taize prayer service Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. at Christ the King Church, 445 Kings Highway South, Irondequoit. Participants will prepare themselves for Christmas through prayer, song and silence.
* Children at Peace of Christ Parish in Rochester are being encouraged to create their own creches, complete with animals, manger and figures, using shoe boxes and other materials often found in the home. The parish will display the completed creches in the gathering space throughout the week of Christmas.
* St. Luke the Evangelist Parish in Livingston County will host "No Room at the Inn" Dec. 3-5. The event is a celebration of dozens of Nativity scenes, complete with wine-tasting and music, as well as entertainment provided by students from SUNY Geneseo.
* Saint’s Place, a joint ministry of St. Louis Parish and Catholic Family Center’s Refugee Resettlement Program, has set up Angel Trees in the entrances to St. Louis Church, 64 S. Main St., Pittsford. When refugees from war-torn countries arrive in the Rochester area, Saint’s Place helps them secure housing, support services, furniture, clothing, appliances and household goods. People who take tags off the Angel Trees are encouraged to purchase the gifts listed on those tags and bring them to the church or to Saint’s Place, 46 S. Main St., Pittsford. This Advent St. Louis also is partnering with School of the Holy Childhood, a Henrietta school that serves children and adults with special needs. Each year the school’s students create and package 2,700 ornaments, which are sold for $6 apiece at various locations, including St. Louis. Proceeds from the sale of the ornaments benefit various charities, including Friends of the Orphans in Haiti, Webster’s H.O.P.E. Ministry and Notre Dame Learning Center in Rochester.
* Giving trees have been set up at St. Joseph Church, 43 Gebhardt Road, Penfield, and parishioners are encouraged to take Gifts of the Magi tags from the trees and purchase the gifts indicated on the tags. The gifts will be given to families from St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Parish in Rochester. The parish has posted daily e-reflections on Mary and the Christmas story on its website, www.stjosephspenfield.org.
* More than 40 creches from around the world are on display until Jan. 8 at Sacred Heart Cathedral, 296 Flower City Park, Rochester. The Cathedral Community also is sponsoring a breakfast with St. Nicholas from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. Dec. 10 at the cathedral. The event will include visits with St. Nicholas and Santa Claus, a living Nativity scene at noon and shopping for children in St. Nicholas’ Secret Shop. Tickets may be purchased in the cathedral office for $2 for a family of up to six people. On Dec. 11 the parish will host a concert by the Dady Brothers and Friends, and free-will offerings will be accepted. The parish also will host Advent Morning Prayer Around the Creche Dec. 19 at 8:30 a.m.
* St. Anne Church, 1600 Mt. Hope Ave., Rochester, will host an International Christmas Carol Sing Dec. 18 at 2 p.m. Members of the ethnic communities within the will sing some of their cultures’ Christmas songs, and "Silent Night" will be sung in various languages, including German, Italian, Spanish, French, Polish and English. The event will be followed by a reception with Christmas cookies and a display of creches from around the world.
