From the Pastor’s Desk
Evening Prayer in Our Deanery
The Arlington Diocese is divided up into seven regions called deaneries. Deanery V includes the parishes of Prince William County and the Cities of Manassas and Manassas Park and Fauquier County. Bishop Burbidge has asked that each Deanery celebrate Solemn Evening...
Thanksgiving Blessings
On behalf of the Friars and staff here at St. Francis I wish all of you a blessed Thanksgiving. The feast of Thanksgiving reminds all of us of the importance of moments of gratitude; the value of seeing what is good and right in our world. Let our Thanksgiving be a...
Elections 2021 – A Message from Fr. John
A Message from Fr. John Dear parishioners, Very recently we published a message called Faithful Citizenship: Pro-Life. Please take a moment to read this important message as it forms the background to this message. It contains excerpts from the US Bishops document on...
COVID Vaccine
I received a number of positive comments on my recent article in the weekly parish newsletter, challenging the thinking of those who refuse to receive a COVID vaccine, based on the argument that “the government cannot tell me what to do with my body”. I also received...
Vaccines and Being Pro-Life
One of the curious arguments for not receiving the COVID vaccine is that no government should tell a person what they can or cannot do with their body. In fact, there are a range of things for which the government and the common good, do just exactly that. Think of...
Out of an abundance of Caution….
After some discussion, at the recent meeting of the Parish Council, it was decided that we would not do the Labor day Picnic or Francis Fest this year. Because of the recent spike in cases of COVID (Delta Variant), the Council felt that there could be some risk in...
A sense from you, the Parishioners
Thank you to the almost 600 households who responded to our parish-wide survey about a potential return to the celebration of Mass without masks, tickets, and all the necessary precautions of the past 18 months. Your responses were insightful and we want to share some...
Pastoral Guidance from Fr. John
Over the last several weeks there has arisen several topics which have caused concern or raised questions in the minds of the faithful. Our pastor, Fr. John, has been diligent in providing sound pastoral guidance. In this post we offer three recent articles from Fr....
The Tau Cross
Catholics worldwide are used to seeing the Latin cross inside and atop our churches. It is one of the most recognizable and best known symbols of Christianity. But did you know that there are other “crosses” that have long provenance in Christianity? In addition to...
The Commonwealth of Virginia and the Death Penalty
As you are probably aware, the General Assembly of the State of Virginia recently passed legislation abolishing the Death Penalty in the Commonwealth. In light of this new legislation some have asked me “What is the Churches teaching on the Death Penalty?” On August...