W E L C O M E !

For livestreamed Masses, click on the preferred link below:

(The dispensation from the obligation to attend Mass is still in effect.)

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St. Therese Catholic Church

Ministered by the Discalced Carmelite Friars

Church Address:

1100 East Alhambra Road

Alhambra, California

NAVIGATING OUR WEBSITE:

Under CONTACT can be found specific contact numbers for the priests, the staff, and the volunteer coordinators of our ministries and groups.

If you are unsure about where to find the topic for which you are looking, click SEARCH and then enter a keyword. All the locations where that subject is included will appear.

Under ABOUT US can be found the following topics: Parish Mission & Vision Statements * History of St. Therese Parish * Architect of St. Therese * Discalced Carmelite Friars

Under OUR PATRONESS, topics include: * Life of St. Therese of Lisieux * (Road to Sainthood) * Lives of the Parents of St. Therese * (Upcoming Canonization) and * Lives of the Sisters of St. Therese

Under REGISTER is information about registering at St.Therese Parish (including a form).

MASS AND CONFESSION TIMES has its own link at the top of the page. Under that there is a subheading for information about Low-Gluten Communicants.

MASS CELEBRANTS shows which priests are celebrating the various Masses, etc.

Under the heading LATIN RITE MASS/SACRAMENTS is information about our weekly Latin Mass on Sundays, as well as forms to register for Latin Rite Baptisms, First Communions, and Weddings.

Under SACRAMENTS, you can find information for Baptism, First Communion, Confirmation for Youth, Confirmation for Adults, Weddings, and Anointing.of the Sick.

Under FUNERALS, you can find all the information you need about having a funeral here at St. Therese, including a selection of readings you may choose for the funeral Mass.

Under WEDDINGS, you can find all the information you need about having a wedding here, including links to pre-marital courses.

Under RELIGIOUS ED you can find subheadings for the following: School of Religious Ed (children through 8th Grade); RCIA; Adult Confirmation, Youth Confirmation (High School), VIRTUS (Protecting God's Children), Adult Bible Study, and Vacation Bible School

Under the heading NEWS / EVENTS, click on COMING UP for all our upcoming events, news, and announcements.

Under the heading MINISTRIES can be found the following subjects:

Liturgical Ministries (Eucharistic Ministers, Lectors, Ushers, Sacristans, Music Ministry, Altar Servers)

Prayer & Devotion Ministries (Perpetual Adoration, Exposition & Benediction, Rosary Prayer Group (including information on how to say the Rosary, as well as meditations and pictures for each mystery), Legion of Mary, St. Joseph Prayer Group, First Friday Mass, Intercessors for Priests prayer group, the Order of Secular Carmelites; and the Divine Mercy Devotion);

Respect Life Ministry (Articles written by Catherine Contreras (Respect Life Coordinator); Guadalupe Pregnancy Services [GPS]; and Natural Family Planning [NFP]

Peace & Justice Ministries (Christian Service, Detention Ministry, Rosary Makers);

Retreat Ministry (Men's Retreats, Women's Retreats),

Under COR JESU (X) is information about our Youth Ministry

Under VOX VITAE is information about Pro-Life Camps for Youth and Adults and other activities

Under the heading CATECHESIS Q & A, can be found various articles written or compiled by our staff about the Catholic Faith and Liturgy

Under the heading GROUPS can be found: the Avila Young Adult Group, Catholic Tradition Talks, Couples for Christ, "Going Deeper" Catholic Faith Study, the Grief Ministry, Knights of Columbus, Retrouvaille (for hurting marriages), and Video Night Presents.

Under OUR SCHOOL you can find information about our school.

Under COUNCILS: (Parish Council, Finance Council, Liturgy Committee, Festival Committee);

Under ONLINE GIVING is information about how you can make automatic donations through your checking account or credit card

Under PHOTOS you can find several albums containing pictures of parishioners and parish events, etc.

Under PRAYERS: Basic Catholic Prayers, Rosary Prayers, Novena Prayers, Prayers Composed by Saints, and Divine Mercy Prayers

Under CARMELITE SAINTS: A list of all the Carmelite saints and the biographies of the more well-known Carmelite Saints

Other headings are:

BULLETINS: Download PDF versions of the Sunday bulletin from January 2011 to the present);

SUBMIT NEWS: Click on this to submit an announcement for the website

CALENDAR: Select the month you are interested in and check on upcoming events).

CONTACT: Find the phone numbers and emails for the Friars, the staff, and the volunteer heads of organizations.

SEARCH: If you're not sure where to find the subject you're interested in, use the search link to enter a key word and finds all the areas where that subject can be found.

CALLED TO RENEW

The Called to Renew campaign will allow St. Therese Parish to renovate our facilities. Fifty percent (50%) of all funds raised up to our goal will remain with our parish to address the following needs:

• Church interior renovations

• Painting the church Interior

•Repairing the stained glass windows

•Repairing the church’s tile roof

•Repairing / updating the lighting/wiring

•Repairing our school classrooms and parish offices (built over 70 years ago!)

See all the details in the bulletin. Expect to hear from one of your fellow parishioners who are volunteering for this program. Please welcome their invitation to meet. Thank you!

SOUP NIGHTS | STATIONS

SOUP NIGHTS: On Fridays, Lenten Soup Nights (sometimes including other meatless dishes) will be in the Parish Hall from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. (donations accepted). SAINT THERESE CARMELITE SCHOOL will sponsor the first Soup Night on February 24. Other sponsors are as follows: March 3: SPANISH PRAYER GROUP; March 10: MARGARET BLACKWELL FAMILY & FRIENDS; March 17: THE KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS; March 24: POTLUCK... Please bring a meatless dish to share!; March 31: MARGARET BLACKWELL & FAMILY. Thank you to everyone participating from these groups. The Soup Nights are followed on the Lenten Fridays by...

STATIONS OF THE CROSS at 6:30 p.m., which will then be followed by Mass at 7:00 p.m.

MASS AT 7:00 P.M. EVERY MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY EVENING (Tuesday's is in Spanish; Friday's will be after the Stations at 7:00 p.m.).

DEEPENING OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT

Join Joe Campbell and Florence Goh for this interactive program series which is held every Tuesday night from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m., via ZOOM (it began November 29 but it is ongoing). To register, CLICK THE PICTURE ABOVE, which will take you to the registration page. After completing it, the ZOOM link will be emailed to you.

VIDEOS OF THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

FR. ED BROOM, OMV, gave four talks at St. Therese on The Acts of the Apostles. Click the picture above to watch them on our YouTube channel. The first one was recorded on May 5, 2022.

VIDEOS OF THE SPIRITUAL EXERCISES OF ST. IGNATIUS

During February through April, 2022, Fr. Ed Broom, OMV, was here at St. Therese to give ten talks on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. The talks were all recorded, and you may view them by clicking the above picture. You will be taken to the page with the links to each talk and to the accompanying handouts for each talk. (Note: Once you are on that page, you may have to scroll down until you find the same picture you see above.)

FORMED: CATHOLIC FAITH ON DEMAND

Fr. Thomas has purchased a subscription to the Catholic media website, FORMED.ORG, and is making it available to ALL our parishioners! Discover all the best Catholic content in one place: Entertaining movies, enlightening programs, inspiring talks, audio dramas, and a great selection of popular e-books--all just a link away! To register, click on the image above. Then, simply enter your name, your email address, a password, and your zip code--and get started enjoying all they have to offer! Click HERE to sign up.

HOLY SPIRIT NOVENA

Anytime is a good time to pray the NOVENA TO THE HOLY SPIRIT! Also, read THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. Fr. Thomas would also like to share with you the following links for talks in the series, "Words of Knowledge Explained". Just click on each person's name to hear his or her talk.

Dr. Mary Healy (Activating Your Spiritual Gifts) & Dr. Mary Healy (Hearing the Lord's Voice)

(Randy Clark — Richard Roberts — Kris Valloton - Shawn Bolz - Joyce Meyer

For the booklet written by Fr. John Hampsch, CMF, called WHEN GOD SAYS NO, click the title to open it. Also, you may want to listen to this TALK BY BOB SCHUCHT. It is part of a series available on the website, www.jpiihealingcenter.org.

Prayer Guidance (GUIDANCE = God U I DANCE)

Here is some guidance on prayer—from the Gospels and from St. Thérèse. (And when we really ask the Holy Spirit for GUIDANCE, and then watch and wait for Him to give it to us, our lives really do become "God, U & I Dance!")

Prayer is meant to be holy leisure, too--not always hard work; prayer after Holy Communion is especially meant to be a time of holy leisure, to be able to climb into Jesus’ lap and let Him fold His arms around us and hold us close. Here is a way of prayer to foster that kind of listening prayer. It is from the Bible and is called the Jesus Prayer: While breathing in, gently and silently say, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God”; then, while breathing out, say, “have mercy on me, a sinner.” This prayer is a combination of the prayer of the blind Bartimaeus calling out to Jesus (Mark 10:47), the prayer of the tax collector in the temple (Luke 18:13), and St. Peter’s great statement of faith in Jesus (Matthew 16:16). Once you get the hang of praying this prayer, you can shorten it to “Jesus” while inhaling and “mercy” while exhaling.

With the help of St. Therese you can also focus on other meanings of the word mercy, besides that of a sinner pleading before the judge: “Therese has left on record how much she would have liked to learn Hebrew, so as to understand the Gospels better. And this no doubt would have been a great joy to her. For few Hebrew words are etymologically more rewarding than those used to convey the concept "mercy". Four words are used to convey the reality: hanan, to lean over; hamalnoum, to suffer with, to spare since one feels pity [like the judge looking at a repentant sinner]; raham-rahamim, to be soft, the mother’s breast, the entrails, the womb; and naham, to relieve someone, to stop his groans by helping him to breathe. What a program! Therese saw this as God’s feelings about man” (The Little Way, by Bernard Bro, O.P., p. 60).

So, you see? It is a very simple kind of prayer, biblical, rich in meaning, adaptable to whatever psychological, emotional, physical, spiritual situation you find yourself in; and it gives your mind a little bit of food to meditate on while being simple enough so that you can listen to the live Person, Jesus, and try to listen to what He is saying to you. As you get used to this prayer, you can use it anywhere, anytime, focusing on that meaning of mercy which best fits with what is happening in your life at that moment. You will find that you can easily spend 20 minutes with Jesus in this way, especially when He has just come into your very own house/body after Holy Communion.

In Jesus and Mary and Joseph,

Fr. Thomas of the Trinity, OCD

Be sure to check out the NEWS / EVENTS section of this website (link is near the top of each page) for news and upcoming events.

FIVE FIRST SATURDAYS DEVOTION

Mark your calendar for our next Five First Saturdays Devotion on April 1, and join us to pray the Rosary and to meditate for 15 minutes after the 8:00 a.m. Mass that day! For any questions, please contact Maria Alejandra at (626) 282-2744, Ext 235.

The Second and Third Apparitions of the Angel in Fatima (Summer 1916): The Angel of Peace appeared when the three children were playing near a well, asking, “What are you doing? Pray, pray incessantly. Offer prayers and sacrifices to the Almighty.” Lucy asked him how, to which the Angel answered: “In everything you do, offer a sacrifice to God to make up for the sins by which God is offended... Above all, accept and endure with submission the suffering which God will send you.” Toward the end of the Summer, the Angel came to them while they were praying. In his hand he held a chalice, and over it, a bleeding Host. Kneeling, he offered the prayer:

“Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, I adore Thee profoundly, and I offer Thee the most Precious Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges, and indifferences by which He is offended. By the infinite merits of His Most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of Thee the conversion of poor sinners.”

After giving the Host to Lucy and the contents of the chalice to Francisco and Jacinta, he said: “Take and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, horribly outraged by ungrateful men. Make reparation for their crimes and console your God.” It was the last time the children saw the Angel of Peace.

UPDATE ON FR. THOMAS' SKATEBOARD

UPDATE ON FR. THOMAS' SKATEBOARD: About three weeks after it was taken from in front of the office, a teenage boy has returned the skateboard, after having heard that it was not a "give-away" item. However, he had painted over the 23rd Psalm with black paint, which he then beautifully decorated with hearts and stars. Before he returned it, a generous benefactor had already purchased a new skateboard for Fr. Thomas from the same company where he had gotten the first one. If anyone knows who the teenage boy is, Fr. Thomas would like to give the skateboard back to him. If you know who he is, please have him call the office. Thank you!

POST-ABORTION HEALING

Fr. Thomas' letter in the bulletin of January 22, 2023--the anniversary of Roe v. Wade--is about the over-turning of Roe

Post Abortion Healing article in English

Post Abortion Healing article in Spanish

ONLINE GIVING

Enroll Today!

Through Faith Direct you can make all of your contributions to St. Therese Church via automatic payment from your checking account or credit card--just as you may do now with your mortgage, household bills, and other monthly payments. This is a great way to simplify your giving--as well as being very cost-effective and environmentally-friendly. Of course, it's voluntary! The first step is to enroll in the program. To do so, click on the picture logo above. You will then be taken to the Faith Direct website. During your enrollment, you may choose from weekly donations, monthly donations, school donations, special collection donations, or one-time gifts. To watch an instructional video, go to the Online Giving link (next to the HOME page link at the top of the page). Thank you for your donations to St. Therese! May God bless you!

SEVEN CHANCES TO GROW IN YOUR SPIRITUAL LIFE

CLICK HERE for six documents to help you take a SPIRITUAL INVENTORY of your life. These will be used at the Saturday evening Healing Prayer Training sessions.

1. MONDAY CONTEMPLATIVE CANDLELIGHT MASS: Fr. Robert Barcelos will be here on Monday evenings to celebrate the 7:00 p.m. Mass.

2. TUESDAY NIGHTS: Mass Celebrated in SPANISH! The schedule is as follows: 6:30 p.m.: ROSARY in Spanish; 7:00 p.m.: Showing of a portion of Season 2 of The Chosen; 7:15 p.m.: Mass

3. WEDNESDAY AFTERNOONS: St. Joseph Prayer Group meets at 3:00 p.m. in front of St. Joseph’s statue.

4. WEDNESDAY NIGHTS: Mass begins at 7:00 p.m., followed by outdoor Confessions at 8:00 p.m.

5. THURSDAY NIGHTS: Join us every THURSDAY evening in HONOR OF ST. JOSEPH! The schedule is: 7:00 p.m.: Showing of a portion of Season 2 of The Chosen; 7:15 p.m.: Mass; 7:45-8:45 p.m.: Adoration and *HEALING PRAYER (*in the main vestibule and on the sides of the church).

6. FIRST FRIDAY NIGHTS: Come and honor the Sacred Heart of Jesus by attending Mass at 7:00 p.m. on the first Friday of each month. The Mass is then followed by adoration AND *HEALING PRAYER (*in the main vestibule and on the sides of the church).

7. SATURDAY NIGHT HEALING PRAYER TRAINING SESSIONS: Join us in the church on Saturday nights from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.

*HEALING PRAYER MINISTRY: Held during Adoration every Thursday evening and every First Friday evening.

NOTE: Click on the links in the left column for LIVE STREAMED MASSES on both our Facebook page and our YouTube channel.

SAINT THERESE CARMELITE SCHOOL VIDEOS

Watch the video, "THE BEST SCHOOL IN THE WORLD"--ONE OF ONLY TWO SCHOOLS IN THE L.A. ARCHDIOCES USING A CLASSICAL CURRICULUM (click on the photo below to view it):