The long-awaited and overdue 2023 St. Clement Parish Directories have finally arrived! It was my understanding that the directories, like the photographs, would be mailed directly to those who had photos taken at the parish. But that is not the case. All were delivered to the parish office. We will be distributing them after the weekend Masses to those who had photos taken or who submitted photos. We will also be hand delivering some of them. You can stop by the office to pick yours up too. If you did not have your photo taken, directories can be purchased for $15 (the cost of a photo submission). The 2023 directory summarizes and totals the number of sacramental events that have taken place since we were established in 1859. This is the last photo directory for St. Clement Parish. Once our pastorate is merged, the next directory will be that of St. Joseph the Worker Parish which will include all seven churches. ~Bill Manthe

Operation Santa Claus in the River Ridge area is sponsored by the West Grant Lions Club to help those families and individuals in need to have a Merry Christmas. The club serves the Bagley, Bloomington, Glen Haven, Mt. Hope and Patch Grove areas. The members of the West Grant Lions Club have already been checking the five communities and surrounding areas served by the club for people in need. This has been necessary to provide enough time for the proper ordering of food items and other needed items. If a new situation develops that the club should know about, please contact Lion Mike Farrell at 9143 Kussmaul Rd., Mt. Hope, WI 53816. His phone number is: 608-988-4527. Money donations which are needed for the purchase of food items may be mailed to the West Grant Lions Club Treasurer, Paul Wegmann at 10998 Holly Rd. Bloomington, WI 53804. Be sure to make checks out to the West Grant Lions Club. The deadline for making money donations is Monday, Dec. 2. If you have any nonperishable food items (especially canned goods) please bring them to one of the collection locations which will be announced at a later date. Also please mark the bags or boxes as being for the West Grant Lions Operation Santa Claus. Sometimes there are other organizations or classes who are gathering food items for a different project. The Lions Club cannot distribute home canned foods or home baked items or clothing.

Masses intentions for loved ones to be said during 2025 at St. Mary's and St. John's Churches may be scheduled during November and December. The stipend is $20.00 per Mass. To schedule Masses, you may send a note listing possible Mass dates and the name of the person(s) for the intentions. You may also call St. Mary's Parish Office (608-994-2526) from 8:30 a.m.-3:00 p.m. Monday-Friday to schedule Mass intentions.

A Bereavement Mass will be held at 10:00 a.m. at St. Andrew Church in Tennyson on November 3.

We will remember loved ones who have died this past year at the Mass on Saturday, November 2 at St. Mary's Church, Glen Haven. If you would like to have your loved one remembered, please contact the St. Charles Parish office (608-725-5595).

We will remember loved ones who have died this past year at the Masses on Sunday, November 3 at St. Mary's Church, Bloomington. If you would like to have your loved one remembered, please contact the St. Mary's Parish office (608-994-2526).

We will remember loved ones who have died this past year at the 8:00 p.m. Mass on Saturday, November 2 at St. Mary's Help of Christians Church. If you would like to have your loved one remembered, please contact the St. Charles Parish office (608-725-5595) with the person’s name and which Mass you will be attending.

We will remember loved ones who have died this past year at the 4:30 p.m. Mass on Saturday, November 2 at St. Charles Church. If you would like to have your loved one remembered, please contact the St. Charles Parish office (608-725-5595) with the name of the person.

Thank You to everyone who attended our and special thanks to the many wonderful volunteers and generous donors. We couldn’t have a successful festival without you! Congratulations to our raffle winners: $5,000 - Maddie Driscoll (gave $500 back) $3,000 - Stan Miles $1,000 - Mary Jo Roesch $500 - Tom McLimans $100 - Kathy Edwards (gave all to school) $100 - Patricia Adams $100 - Larry Duncan $100 - Connie Murray $50 - Judy Leeser $50 - Mary Chapman

A huge thank you to everyone who supported the St. Mary School Pizza and Bulb Fundraiser. A special thank you to Patsy White and Deb Van Bogaert for their help and to Catholic Financial Life Chapter #15 for generously donating $1,000.00 in matching funds.

To create an account to place an order: https://store.ignatiusbookfairs.com/ 1. Click “Sign Up” 2. Click “Create an Account” then Choose your role 3. Fill out your information: name, email, create password 4. Add your child’s name 5. Find your school with zip code and/or State. Click “search” and select your school 6. Choose Classroom 7. Confirm 8. Click “Get Started” or click “Add another child”

St. Charles School and Youth Group are selling Christmas wreaths, garland, and porch pots again this year. We also have crosses, candy canes, and swags. If you would like to purchase something, please contact Angela Adams, 608-794-2107 prior to November 4. Delivery will be the weekend of November 22. The fundraiser supports the youth group mission trip and other activities as well as school field trips, activities, and materials. Thank you for your support!

The Ladies Night Out committee would like to thank all the gals and businesses that contributed to the success of our evening. Thank you to the ladies who attended and helped make the evening a fun time for all. - Ione, Alysa, Jen and Mary Jo.

It’s harvest time again which means St. Mary’s Harvest Fund has started. We are very gratefully to the families who have given early donations totaling $670.00 toward our goal of $50,000.00. We hope all of our parish members will be able to share their bounty and blessings to help with fall and winter expenses for the parish. We appreciate all contributions large or small and thank the many generous parishioners for their continued support.

Someone to Celebrate! Join us in honoring Sister Elizabeth Dunn, OP, (Sinsinawa Dominican & former principal at Ss. Andrew-Thomas School), who is celebrating her 60th Jubilee of Religious Life! Anyone interested in participating in a card shower for Sr. Elizabeth, please contact Angie Pierce at 608-732-6576 or [email protected] for more information.

2024 St. Charles Fall Festival Total Beer & Concessions: $2,535.00 Chicken Dinners: $11,315.00 Food Donations: $750.00 Games: $4,557.00 Large Raffle: $9,367.00 Farmers Market: $2,169.00 Silent Auction: $3,520.00 Small Raffle: $1,765.50 Bingo: $899.00 Total Income: $36,877.50 Expenses: $10,645.14 Profit: $26,232.36

October is traditionally devoted to the Holy Rosary! Legend has it that St. Dominic received the Rosary from Our Lady after he had been praying and doing penance for his lack of success in combatting the Albigensian heresy; in his vision, Mary gave Dominic the Rosary as a spiritual weapon and encouraged him to preach its use to others. The Mysteries of the Rosary are rooted in Scripture and offer us a summary of the Life, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. When we pray the Rosary, we join Mary in the contemplation of these Mysteries and ask her to unite and conform us to her Son as we ponder His Paschal Mystery. This month, consider adding a Rosary to your daily prayer routine! The Joyful Mysteries are typically prayed on Monday and Saturday, the Sorrowful Mysteries on Tuesday and Friday, the Luminous Mysteries on Thursday, and the Glorious Mysteries on Wednesday and Sunday, but the faithful are welcome to pray any Mysteries at any time. If you have a longer morning and evening commute, that can be a good time to get in a Rosary! And if a full Rosary each day feels like too much, try praying one Decade a day, perhaps accompanying it with a meditation on the corresponding Scripture passage to help you pray the Mystery more deeply. A guide to the Rosary can be found here: https://www.usccb.org/how-to-pray-the-rosary "May Mary help us to welcome within ourselves the grace emanating from these Mysteries, so that through us we can 'water' society, beginning with our daily relationships, and purifying them from so many negative forces, thus opening them to the newness of God. The Rosary, when it is prayed in an authentic way, not mechanical and superficial but profoundly, it brings, in fact, peace and reconciliation. It contains within itself the healing power of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, invoked with faith and love at the center of each 'Hail Mary'." -Pope Benedict XVI