SACRAMENTS

The first and third and fifth Sundays of each month are reserved for baptism.  Parents must be active in our parish and attend the required Baptismal Preparation Class. (See below) This class is a part of our parish co-op program and is offered every month at one of our area churches. 

NOTE: Letters of recommendation (sponsor letter) to act as a sponsor for the Sacrament of Baptism can only be issued to registered and participating parishioners. You must be at least 16 years of age, and actively practicing in the Catholic faith. You must have received the sacraments of Baptism, Eucharist, and Confirmation and if married, the marriage must be valid in accordance with the Catholic Church.

These classes are a requirement for the parents preparing for the Baptism of their children. Classes rotate at St. Peter, (Lorain) St. Joseph (Amherst) and St. Vincent DePaul (Elyria) churches. The Baptism takes place at St.  Joseph or Nativity Church.

Contact St. Joseph Parish Offices at 440-988-2848 to register or for more details. 

Ministry Leader:  Laura Lamb

St. Joseph Parish & Nativity of the BVM Parish is pleased to announce a new program from Dynamic Catholic called Blessed, that we are using to prepare your children (2nd graders) for the Sacraments of First Reconciliation and First Communion.

Blessed is an animated series  that engages your children and helps them understand the importance of  these two sacraments in their lives.

Visit: https://dynamiccatholic.com/blessed for more information on this program and to sign up for the parent component.

For First Communion we also use Blessed from Dynamic Catholic. Again, your participation in this process is critical.

Parent participation in the process is  required and all parents for the 2023-2024 academic year are expected to  attend the parent sessions for both First Reconciliation and First  Communion. You are the first teachers of your children and these  sessions are meant to help you teach your child about these very  important sacraments. Our role at the parish is to support you in this  mission and we do that by using this engaging program.

Our Confirmation Program involves parental involvement as well as sponsor involvement in order for the Sacrament to have meaning and an impact on the students. It is a two year preparation program for grades 7 and 8 at St. Joseph Parish School as well as for our Parish School of Religion (PSR) students.

In the second year of formation the students will have the opportunity to display acts of service and to research and write about the saint that they will choose for their namesake in the Sacrament. Students in both 7th and 8th grade also have the opportunity to participate in the Holy Ground Youth Group meetings and acvtivities. These opportunities are designed to help the students deepen their faith and understanding of what we are called to as people of the Catholic faith.

Please direct any questions regarding Confirmation to the PSR Principal, Mrs. Angie Eads at 440-988-4244 ext. 247

Marriages: 

Diocesan policy requires a six-month period of preparation  before marriage. A couple is to contact one of our priests or deacons  to arrange for a particular date and program of preparation before any  date will be finalized. Attendance at one of the pre-marriage  preparation programs and a compatibility evaluation are required. Please  call the Parish Office for further information.

Contact the Parish Office at 440-988-2848

Communion is scheduled for one Sunday/month to be brought to  those who are homebound,  hospitalized or in a nursing home. To receive Communion at home for  either yourself or a loved one, please contact Joe Siekeres at Nativity 440-965-4001,  jsiekeres@zoominternet.net and Antoinette Tsacoumangos at St. Joseph 440-864-5438.

The sacrament of anointing of the sick began  as a ritual of healing. Over time the emphasis shifted to the  forgiveness of sins on the deathbed, when such forgiveness would be the  final preparation for heaven. The Second Vatican Council returned the  original meaning to the sacrament by emphasizing that it is not only for  those who are at the point of death, but for anyone who is seriously  ill, including mental or spiritual illness. It also helped move the  Anointing away from a private service and back toward a community-based  one.

Today we are all aware that tensions, fear and anxiety about the  future affect not only our mind but our body as well. These illnesses  can be serious. They can move us to ask for the healing touch of Christ  in the Sacrament of Anointing. Persons with the disease of alcoholism or  persons suffering from other addictions can be anointed. Also hose  who suffer from various mental disorders, or for those with  anxiety before surgery are situations in which  Christ’s power can be invoked in the sacrament. In these cases the person does not have to wait until the illness is  so grave that he or she is in the hospital or institutionalized to  celebrate the sacrament. 

Please call for this sacramental anointing before the situation becomes too critical. If you have a prearranged surgery and would like to be strengthened by this sacramental anointing of the Church, please call Fr. O’Connor to arrange a time convenient to you (even possibly after one of the Masses).

If hospitalized, please notify the Parish office to request visitation.  Under the new HIPPA confidentiality law, hospitals are no longer permitted to notify parishes of parishioner’s presence in the hospital.  Be sure to alert the intake persons that you are Catholic and the  Pastoral Care office will see that a chaplain stops by to see you in the  hospital.