St. Alphonsus-St. Clement Parish

Where We’re At  - September 17, 2023 - by Fr. Terry Kerner, Administrator/Moderator

All the fencing around the demolition site will soon be taken down and the heavy equipment removed. I think we can all appreciate the size of the property the parish was given over 170 years ago! It is a gift we can all take pride in and appreciate our responsibility for its stewardship. In the weeks and months ahead, several things will be happening on the property. Though a great deal of the parking lot was destroyed by the demolition work, what remains will be swept and temporary striping applied. (The parish plan was always to replace the current parking lot with a new one. We look forward to doing this over winter, when contract’s bids are usually more reasonable). I am sure the added parking will be welcomed! We inquired, from the City, as to when they would start work on our streets and sidewalks, as they have already done in several other parts of the City. They said: “Not before 2024 and not after 2025”. We can only hope and wait. Besides the temporary repair of the parking lot, there will be trimming of a few trees on the site. Special attention will be paid to the black walnut tree standing guard on the site of the old high school. We, also, look forward to having the flag pole reconditioned to fly our country’s flag once again. Other plans for the high school footprint will be shared in the weeks ahead.

Read more here.

St. Alphonsus Legacy Gardens - Preliminary concept - July 2023 - By Fr. Terry Kerner

Click HERE for the latest update.

Weekday Morning Mass - Sept. 18 - 22.

Fr. Greg will be attending the Priest’s Yearly Convocation. There will not be daily Mass from Sept. 18 through Sept. 22.

Music Notes from the Desk of Adam Morency

With Labor Day behind us, school is back in session for the kids, it’s safe to mention that music ministry ministries are back in session too. I remind you that here at St. Alphonsus-St. Clement Parish, we continue to hold audition meetings for new and returning cantors. A reminder that the cantor leads the responsorial psalm and the gospel acclamation at Mass, they are also encouraged and invited to sing on any of the hymns and ordinary sung parts of the Mass. Please contact the parish office and leave a message for me or please see me after Mass.

St. Augustine Hippo has three quotes on singing, “The one who sings, prays twice”, “Cantare amantis est...Singing belongs to one who loves” and “Singing is a lover’s thing”. I invite you to prayerfully consider joining either one or both music ministries opportunities here at St. Alphonsus-St. Clement Parish. Keep Singing!

Adam Morency Director of Music Ministries/Organist

St. Alphonsus Library – August 2023 Update
Two truckloads of books from the high school library were recently loaded to be taken to Chicago where they will be shipped to Nigeria. The books were discovered last October in boxes in a storage room in the activities building of the school, along with quite a few textbooks that were left behind by the charter school. It was estimated that there were over 200 boxes containing over 9,000 books. A new home for the books was sought before they were lost in the demolition of the school buildings. Fr. Anthony Kote-Witah, one of the Capuchin priests who had been assisting at our Sunday Masses was collecting book donations to establish a library at an orphanage he is building in his homeland in Nigeria. After arrangements were made to donate the library books, they were moved out of the school to Fr. Yagley Hall for temporary storage. Over the past few months, volunteers helped wrap the boxes in plastic for shipment. Thanks go out to members of the parish, alumni and Knights of Columbus for their help with this project. To view photos of the project click HERE.  To read more, click HERE.

To learn more about Fr. Anthony and his orphanage project visit: theogonishepherdfoundation.org