St. Columba Parish

 Dear St. Columba Family:
     Three weeks ago, June 9th was the feast of St. Columba. As our patron it may seem odd that we don't hear more about him. This may be because unlike other saints who performed extraordinary miracles in their lives or died heroic deaths as martyrs Columba did not do any of that. He was born in what is modern day Donegal, Ireland in 521 and had the great benefit of being trained in some of the best schools that were available. Like most schools at this time his was attached to a monastery where you studied under the very educated monks, and it was not at all uncommon for someone fortunate enough to receive an education to become a monk himself. This is what happened to St. Columba. He continued to advance his education and after being ordained a priest decided to spend his life traveling throughout Ireland to found monasteries and help the faith to spread as it continued to replace many of the pagan religions that had been founded years before. For all his labors towards building up the Church in his native land he is known as one of the twelve apostles of Ireland. During the last years of his life due to disagreements and false accusations of violence made against him Columba went into a type of exile in Scotland. But even here, under these unfortunate circumstances, he continued to spread the faith. Due to his holiness he managed to make peace among the warring tribes on the island and win over many converts doing so. He founded the famous monastery at Durrow and died on  Iona in 597. This short hagiography (life of a saint) gives us a sense of who our great patron was.
Fr. Chris
 
      
*  PLEASE NOTE:.If there is an EMERGENCY and you need a priest, please call: 
                845-772-0717
*  For those of you who are unable to come to church, the Sunday Mass is live streamed on the YouTube channel. In order to receive updates and notifications, please subscribe to our channel located on St. Columba’s web-site. 

     
*  Our guidelines for attendance at           the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, effective as of May1st, 2022:   
     

• Everyone is invited to enter the church and to attend all services. 

• Those of you  who prefer to wear a mask even if you have been vacinated is strictly up to you. However, they are not required.

• Continue to refrain from physical contact except for communion.

• Collections of your weekly offerings will continue to, as previously done, taken up by the ushers.  

• Finally, your Pastor, or priest offering the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass will walk down the isle after Mass to greet you as you exit the church.