by Jill Ragar Esfeld
jill.esfeld@theleaven.org
What better way to come to know Christ than through his mother?
What better way to prepare for our Savior than in union with his mother as she waits for the miraculous birth of the Incarnate Word?
What better way to say yes to Christ’s voice in our own life than by following the example of his mother’s fiat.
Advent is the season of expectancy and trust in God’s grace.
Advent is the season of Mary.
This Advent, Holy Angels Parish is Basehor, Kansas, is offering a rare form of Advent parish mission: four evenings of beautiful liturgies and talks on the history of grace in the life of Our Lady and paths to this history of grace in our own lives.
All are invited to attend.
The mission is exceptional in its spiritual director, Reverend Dom Elias M. Carr, an Augustinian Canon of 900-year-old Klosterneuberg in Austria.
Mary serves as the heart of this Advent mission, every evening giving participants an opportunity to grow deeper in union with her journey of grace and trust in God’s will.
Each evening begins with Mass, followed by a break with light refreshments and a Holy Hour with mission presentation. The evenings end with Benediction and night prayer.
- Monday, Dec. 9, 6:30 p.m.: Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception Mass
- Tuesday, Dec. 10, 6:30 p.m.: Memorial of Our Lady of Loreto Mass
Confession available during Holy Hour
- Wednesday, Dec. 11, 6:30 p.m.: Votive Mass of Mary, the New Eve
Confession available during Holy Hour
- Thursday, Dec. 12, 6:00 p.m.: The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe Mass
In 1998, both Dom Elias Carr and Father Richard McDonald, pastor of Holy Angels, were ordained as deacons at St. Peter’s Vatican Basilica. The following year both were ordained to the priesthood for their respective dioceses.
Dom Elias followed a vocation within a vocation to the 900-year-old Abbey of Klosterneuburg in Austria, with the hope of establishing a community of Canons in the United States.
In 2002, he was among the first Americans to enter the novitiate of Stift Klosterneuburg to become a member of the Canons Regular of St. Augustine.
He labored as a missionary in Austria and Norway and professed solemn vows in 2006.
In 2011, he became the pastor of the Church of Saint Rocco, Glen Cove, New York, when the Canons Regular of St. Augustine established their first American foundation at the Canonry of Saint Leopold on the campus of Saint Patrick Catholic Church there.
In the following year, he was made headmaster of All Saints Regional Catholic School while still serving as pastor; he continues in both ministries today.
At a 20-year reunion in New Orleans, Father McDonald and Dom Elias Carr reconnected with former classmates to celebrate the gift of their priesthood
From that happy reunion, by God’s grace, this parish mission was born.
Dom Elias comes to Kansas to share a message of hope from the history of grace.
Through prayer, reflections from his own priestly ministerial experiences and his expansive learning and through beautiful liturgy and the holy sacraments of Eucharist and confession, participants will discover a history of grace in their own lives.
You can find more information and directions to Holy Angels Catholic Church here.
