Watch: Sunday Mass with Father Jim (6-21-26)
Listen: Pray As You Go Daily Meditations
Read: Scripture for Life by Mary McGlone (6-21-26)

This Week’s Message
Saint Romuald’s Journey

By Brother Patrick

Romuald Onesti (951-1027) was twenty years old when he watched his father kill a relative in a duel over a disputed piece of property. Devastated by this act of vengeance and violence, Romuald fled the family home in Ravenna and withdrew to the nearby Basilica of Saint Apollinaris for forty days of fasting, penance, and prayer. During this retreat, Romuald discerned a vocation to religious life. He longed for austerity and solitude. He soon found a mentor in Marinus, a hermit who was well-known for his holiness and penitential way of life. Romuald then took vows as a Benedictine monk.

After spending a decade learning from Marinus, Romuald lived for almost thirty years as a hermit-mendicant. He traveled throughout Italy. He founded or reformed several hermitages and monasteries. In the end, he was invited back to Saint Apollinaris as abbot. But Romuald’s efforts at reforms were deeply unpopular so he resigned. Before long, a local nobleman offered Romuald a large parcel of lush and secluded land upon which he built his own hermitage. It was here that he founded the Camaldolese Hermits of the Order of Saint Benedict in 1025.

Romuald’s goal was to integrate the solitary life of hermits with the communal life of monks who lived according to the Rule of Saint Benedict of Nursia (480-547). The Camaldolese hermits value prayer, solitude, and radical detachment from material things. They live alone in individual cells, simple and unadorned, but come together for prayer and worship. Then and now, they wear white habits to signify humble purity, joy in their vocation, and victory over the petty tyrannies of the world.

The Camaldolese way of life is rooted in the Benedictine tradition, but it is inspired and animated by the Rule of Saint Romuald. His little rule (see below) is directed toward the lives of hermit-monks, but its seven simple (yet all too challenging) instructions can help all people of faith, regardless of their vocation, to grow closer to Christ, closer to the Church, and closer to each other.

Before reading and reflecting on Saint Romuald’s little rule, please consider that our cell or monastery can be our home, school, parish, family, or place of work. Please also remember that when the saint refers to the Book of Psalms, he is reminding his followers of their promise to pray the Divine Office (a four week cycle of prayer from the psalms and other scriptures) that fulfills Saint Paul’s command to pray without ceasing. In this sense, Romuald reminds us that however we are called to live and pray, we should devote ourselves — heart and soul — to a discipline of prayer (however simple) that can become the spiritual center of our lives.

Although overshadowed for centuries by larger orders like the Jesuits, Franciscans, and Dominicans, the Camaldolese still flourish in six countries on five continents around the world, including the Immaculate Heart Hermitage in Big Sur, California. Almost one thousand years after his death, Saint Romuald continues to share timeless wisdom with God’s children. And along with the whole communion of saints, he continues to intercede for us and accompany us along life’s way. Saint Romuald, pray for us!

Brother Patrick Garvey
Associate Minister & Diocesan Hermit
Catholic Community of Gloucester & Rockport
Contact: brpatrick@ccgronline.com

Watch!
An Introduction to New Camaldoli Hermitage
A Video Documentary (11.5 Minutes)

CCGR Weekly Newsletter (6-21-26)
Bringing Home the Word (6-21-26)
The Kids Bulletin (6-21-26)

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Call to Contemplation
Saint Romuald’s Little Rule

Pause. Pray. Persevere.

Sit in your cell as in paradise.

Put the whole world behind you and forget it.

Watch your thoughts like a good fisherman watches for fish.

The path to follow is in the psalms. Never leave it.

If you have just arrived at your monastery,
and if you cannot accomplish
what you wish despite your best efforts,
then take every opportunity to pray the psalms
and to understand them in your heart.

If your mind wanders as you pray, do not give up!
Hurray back and apply your mind
to the words of the psalms once more.

Realize above all
that you are in God’s presence.
So stand with the outlook of someone
who stands before a monarch.

Empty yourself completely.
Sit and wait.
Be content with the grace of God,
like a chick who tastes and eats nothing
except what his mother brings.

Listen: Saint of the Day – Saint Romuald

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Words of Wisdom from Saint Romuald

It is better to say one prayer with fervor and devotion
than to say a thousand prayers that have no devotion
and are full of distractions.

Saint Romuald (957-1027) – Feast Day – June 19th
Patron of Monks, Hermits & Eye Diseases

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Saint Peter’s Novena
An Annual Summer Tradition
Begins Monday, June 15th

In prayerful anticipation of the 99th Annual Saint Peter’s Fiesta, all friends, neighbors, and fellow parishioners of the Catholic Community of Gloucester & Rockport are invited to join together in offering the Nine Day Novena to Saint Peter from Monday, June 15th through Tuesday, June 23rd at 7:00pm in American Legion Hall, which is located at 8 Washington Street in Gloucester.

This beloved and beautiful summer tradition affords us a special opportunity to share our heartfelt prayers and petitions with Saint Peter the Apostle: patron of our parishes and patron of fishermen all around the world. For more information about the Saint Peter Novena, please contact Joe Novello at 978-283-4367. Save the dates! Please join us! All are invited! All are welcome!

Learn More: Saint Peter’s Regret – A Lesson for All

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Saint Peter’s Fiesta
Outdoor Mass & Procession
Sunday, June 28th

Saint Peter’s Fiesta begins on Wednesday, June 24th and concludes on Sunday, June 28th. On that final day, all friends, neighbors, and fellow parishioners of the Catholic Community of Gloucester & Rockport are invited to join Father Jim for the annual outdoor celebration of Holy Mass at 10:00am at Saint Peter’s Square in Gloucester.

After Mass, all are welcome to join us for the traditional procession through the streets of our beloved city with Saint Peter! For more information, please contact Rose Aiello at 978-283-1664 or visit stpetersfiesta.org. Spread the word! All are invited! All are welcome!

A Prayer for the Intercession of Saint Peter

O Saint Peter the Apostle,
you are the rock upon which Jesus built his church.
Obtain for us, we pray:
a lively faith, firm hope, and burning love;
complete detachment from self-interest;
contempt for the world and the ways of corruption;
patience in adversity, humility in prosperity,
recollection in prayer and adoration,
purity of heart, right intention in all of our actions,
diligence in fulfilling the duties of our vocations,
constancy in our resolutions to do good,
perseverance in God’s grace unto death;
so that by means of your powerful intercession,
we may be worthy to appear
before the chief judge and eternal shepherd
of our souls, who is the Lord Jesus Christ,
our merciful redeemer, friend, and brother.
Glory to the Father,
to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning,
is now and will be forever. Amen.

Learn More: Saint Peter’s Fiesta

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Pastor’s Note
Our Grand Annual Collections
Urgent Call for Support!

Along with our weekly offerings, the Grand Annual Collections are a crucial component of our efforts to balance our budgets and ensure the financial stability of our beloved and historic home parishes. As the end of the fiscal year approaches, all friends, neighbors, and fellow parishioners of the Catholic Community of Gloucester & Rockport are encouraged to prayerfully consider making a generous gift to the Grand Annual Collection at either Holy Family Parish or Our Lady of Good Voyage Parish.

• Holy Family Parish
  Our Goal – $50,000
  Raised So Far – $37,104 (74%)
• Our Lady of Good Voyage Parish
  Our Goal – $20,000
  Raised So Far – $20,657 (103%)

By June 30th, Holy Family Parish must raise $50,000; and Our Lady of Good Voyage Parish must raise $20,000. Your urgent support is needed more than ever! Please join me in praying that each one of us will give what we can to these vitally important fundraising campaigns. Grand Annual Collection envelopes are available at the entrances to our churches. You can also give electronically at the link below. For more information, please contact Father Jim at frjim@ccgronline.com. Peace, blessings, and sincere thanks to all!

Support Holy Family Parish
Support Our Lady of Good Voyage Parish

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America’s 250th Anniversary
Mass & Rosary for Solidarity
Saturday, July 4th

During his recent Apostolic Journey to Spain and the Canary Islands, Pope Leo XIV said: “The moral greatness of a nation is manifested above all in its capacity to accompany, protect, and love those lives that are most fragile.” The Holy Father’s challenge is a universal call to solidarity with the poor, the sick, and the persecuted.

In this spirit, as our nation commemorates its 250th anniversary, all friends, neighbors, and fellow parishioners of the Catholic Community of Gloucester & Rockport are invited to join Father Jim for a special morning prayer and adoration beginning with the celebration of Holy Mass at 8:00am in Our Lady of Good Voyage Church.

After Mass and Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, Father Jim will lead us in A Rosary for Solidarity, a new devotion that is rooted in the scriptures, the teachings of the Catholic Church, and our shared love for the Lord, the Blessed Mother, and our brothers and sisters in need.

Our time together will conclude by 9:30am with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament and A Prayer of Consecration of America by Archbishop John Carroll (1735-1815) which entrusts our country, along with its leaders and peoples, into the loving care of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

In addition to being America’s first Roman Catholic bishop, Archbishop Carroll was a cousin of Charles Carroll (1737-1832), the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence. And Archbishop Carroll’s brother, Daniel Carroll II (1730-1796) was one of only five founding fathers to sign both the Articles of Confederation (1778) and the United States Constitution (1787).

For more information about this morning of prayer, please contact Father Jim at frjim@ccgronline.com. Please join us! All are invited! All are welcome! May God bless the United States of America! Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, pray for us!

Learn More: Archbishop John Carroll

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