If you are currently a volunteer who has not yet taken this workshop, you must attend one as soon as possible.

Upcoming VIRTUS Training Sessions at St. Margaret Parish will be held in Sacred Heart Hall in the lower church, as follows:

Monday, February 20^th: 6:30pm – 8:00pm

Saturday, April 14^th: 1:00pm – 2:30pm

You may preregister by calling the parish office at 978-454-5143. Registrations will also be accepted at the very beginning of the evening. Note: you may also attend a VIRTUS training session at any other parish where it is being offered.

Upon completing a VIRTUS Training Session, you will be given a cerificate. Please mail or bring a copy of the certificate to the rectory, or call the parish office at 978-454-5143 to inform Debbie McAndrews of the date, time, and location of the session you attended.

Click for additional  VIRTUS Training Dates being offered in other parishes.

A life witness to the morality of environmental care and the cumulative effect of doing one good thing at a time.

The 2004 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for her conservation efforts and founder of the Green Belt Movement, Professor Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan woman, died on 25th September, 2011. She will be remembered for her determination “to make the world a more peaceful, healthier, and better place.”

Wangari Maathai stated publicly that her belief in God’s omnipresence grounded in her moral fiber the understanding that doing the right thing was being faithful to God’s Word. Her political activism and her work on behalf of the environment was inspired by the prophet Hosea 4:6 – My people are ruined for lack of knowledge! Through the planting of trees, the Green Belt Movement not only provides income and sustenance to millions of people in Kenya, but it also conducts educational campaigns to raise awareness of women’s rights, civic empowerment, and the environment throughout Kenya and Africa. 

The faith passion of Wangari’s life was making learning links between the teachings in the Bible, teachings that often tell us what to do although they don’t tell us the why. The natural wisdom we learn from observing and analyzing the local conflicts over limited resources and struggles to share them brings ecological factors to our reality. To acquire the knowledge needed to keep us from ruin, we need to make the links and respect the links. When we do this, the rituals and human wisdom we share can teach us how to live peacefully and responsibly within our environment.

Influences from childhood can profoundly affect our life/faith passions. Wangari has shared that, as a child, she often collected firewood for her mother. Her mother told her never to take the wood of the Fig tree as this was the “tree of God”: its wood was never to be cut, to be burned, or to be used. This tree was to be left to stand and to fall on its own, and to send its roots deep into the earth. No further explanation was given. Simply respect this tree.

Returning to Kenya after a time away, Wangari found that deforestation was a new reality and a government policy for her homeland. She observed that it was not until these trees were cut down that their link to the physical sustainability of the environment was recognized. The Fig Tree, so huge and never cut, had provided stabilization of the land. Because the roots went deep down into underground rock, they physically protected the land from mudslides and brought the subterranean water system up nearer to the surface. Her mother’s wisdom reflected how people learned to live in their environment. Their respectful attitude of living with all other living things had provided knowledge that had kept them from physical ruin.

When I first heard of Wangari Maathai, what most impressed me was her attitude of service. It was developed as a young girl in a Catholic school at a time when Wangari feels the missionary Church was serious about teaching the virtue of service. She learned that service benefits us - it benefits the world we live in. This is particularly true if we have acquired “spiritual values for healing ourselves and the world”. When we experience that God is omnipresent – God is not in a place, but in ourselves, in others, and in all nature, we have respect that empowers our choices to live as stewards of creation.

Let us pray: May our belief that God is present in all creation empower us to care for the gift we have received.

Our friends at St. Rita’s Parish cordially invite all women to come listen, pray, reflect and share with one another.

When:          Saturday, February 25, 2012

Where:         Saint Rita’s Church Hall – 158 Mammoth Road, Lowell, MA 01854

Time:            9:00 a.m to 12:00 noon – Refreshments will be provided

Facilitator:   Peggy Hassett

Topic:           Women of Winter

Please register no later than Sunday, February 19^th. Call Susan Hurton at (978) 459-6238, or you may send Susan an email at

susandre1234@yahoo.com. Registration is free.

We are very grateful to the St. Rita’s Women’s Club for sponsoring this special event!

You must be breathing. You must continue to breathe after climbing the steps to the loft.
You must be willing to tolerate two hours of laughter and camaraderie most Tuesday evenings from mid-September to mid-May, and to sing at the 11:00 a.m. Mass on Sundays.
You must be willing to be warmly welcomed by the choir, who will become your new friends and extended family!

You must, of course, be able to “match pitch” (sing in tune). We will arrange a simple, private and painless audition. (That’s a promise!)

For more information, please call the rectory at 978-454-5143, ext. 23, or print out and complete an Adult Choir Application Form.*

Still undecided? Here are just a few of the many “benefits” of joining the St. Margaret Adult Choir:

Serving the Lord: Considering all He does for us, it’s just a little giving back to Him.
You’ll make friends! You will no longer be able to say I don’t know anyone in my parish.
Intellectual stimulation: When you make music, you are using both sides of your brain.
For parents: Rehearsal every Tuesday night means one night without the kids.
You always have a great, reserved seat for Christmas and Easter.
Looks good on your resume.
Choir parties — they’re fun!
From the choir loft, you can see who’s nodding off and give them grief after Mass!

 You get the picture… See you in the loft!

*Please note: All volunteers in any parish ministry must complete a yearly CORI (Criminal Offender Record Information) Form and attend a  VIRTUS (Protecting God’s Children) workshop.

USCCB – Changes in the Parts of the People in the Order of Mass with Commentaries

For more information about the New Roman Missal, be sure to click on the “Links” tab at the top of this page to access a variety of video presentations, as well as printable and recorded versions of the chant music of the Mass.

Below are the articles from USCCB that were published in our parish bulletin beginning with the July 31, 2011 issue, covering various topics relating to the new translation of the Roman Missal and the resulting changes in the priest’s prayers and the people’s responses in the Mass.

2011-07-31 Ten Questions

2011-08-07 Parts of the Mass

2011-08-07 Worshipping in Continuous and Unbroken Tradition

2011-08-14 Words in the Roman Missal

2011-08-21 Liturgical Participation

2011-08-28 Praying with Body, Mind, and Voice

2011-09-04 Celebrating the Lord’s Day

2011-09-18 Liturgy and Life

2011-09-25 Embracing Change in the Liturgy

2011-10-02 Scripture and the Mass

If you have any suggestions about any other resource that you feel should be added to this page or to the “Links” page, please send an email to ehoule@parishmail.com.