A reflection on Solemnity...

and one final time to celebrate before Lent commenced!

On Monday, February 12th, Dr. Peter Kwasniewski joined 125 men, young and old and our female volunteers at Epiphany of Our Lord Catholic Church for a night of prayer, adoration, Confession, spiritual growth, fellowship, and revelry.

The night began with Benediction led by Fr Palka and Vespers led by Anders Bergmann. The Sacrament of Confession was provided by Fr Palka and two visiting Priests from the Diocese of St Petersburg.

Dozens of men knelt in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament and lined up to have their Confessions heard before Lent.

At the conclusion of the Rosary and Benediction, the men processed into the Social Hall to begin the night of Festivities. When they entered they were greeted by the festive sounds of New Orleans Renaissance. It marked one final occasion to celebrate before the penitential season of Lent. Christmas season was now behind us but Holy Mother Church allowed us an interlude in between Christmas and Epiphany tide before Lent to “carne-vale” and prepare ourselves for the season of sacrifice and mortification.

The boys in the Parish enjoyed Abita Root Beer while our men enjoyed celebratory libations as the sounds of Bourbon Street rang out through the social hall. Everyone lined up to indulge one final time in a bountiful feast provided freely by Top Shelf History and catered by Baton Roux which included Boudin balls, Jambalaya, and Gumbo.

As the men settled in with their food and band exited the stage we started the night’s programming by thanking all of our generous sponsors and heard a special video message from our Eagle Sponsor, Regina Magazine.

Our Presenting Speaker, Dr. Kwasniewski was then introduced by Chris Mangiaracina, a Parishioner and long time friend of the founder of Regina Magazine. The time for spiritual edification and nourishment had started.

At the conclusion of Dr. Kwasniewski’s speech, we held some Q&A followed by the introduction of our Rosary Auction and were given a wonderful witnesss of its spirtual benefits by Tim Curran.

After the conclusion of the Auction the night continued with fellowship amongst all in attendance and Dr. Kwasniewski took time to sign his books and chat with our members.

At the conclusion of the event we announced our next event taking place on Wed, May 1st at Epiphany of Our Lord when we celebrate Eastertide and the Feast of St Joseph the Worker with Fr. Robert McTeigue, SJ!

Individual and season tickets are on sale now as well as sponsorships to help subsidize the event. We pray you have a Blessed Lent and look forward to seeing you on May 1st to celebrate St. Joseph!