Welcome to the Church of Saint Matthew.

Whether you are celebrating with us for the first time, visiting our community

or have decided to make this your parish home, the Saint Matthew

parish family welcomes you!

Monsignor Thomas M. Ginty, Pastor Reverend Mr. Glen Dmytryszyn

Deacon James P. McCluskey Deacon Kenneth P. Bangs

Deborah P. York, Finance Manager Sonia Shavel, Parish Secretary

R. Greg Romans, Mary Pat Caputo, Parish Trustees

MASS SCHEDULE Saturday Vigil: 4 PM

Sunday: 7, 8:30, 10 and 11:30 AM Daily: Monday through Friday 7:30 AM

Saturday: 8:30 AM

SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION (Confession): Saturday 3:00–3:45 PM or by appointment. Call the Parish Office.

ADDITIONAL SACRAMENTS For information on the Sacrament of Baptism, the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults, the Sacrament of Marriage and the Sacrament of the Sick (Anointing of the Sick) please contact

the Parish Office or go to our website.

SCHOOL • (860) 583-5214 33 Welch Dr. • Forestville, CT 06010-6790

Mrs. Helen Treacy, Principal Lisa O’Donnell, Advancement Director

RESOURCE CENTER • (860) 583-1833 101 Church Ave. • Forestville, CT 06010

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION Maryann Wisniewski, DRE

Kate Ricci, Secretary

MUSIC MINISTRY Sally Kish, Director of Music

PARISH CENTER • (860) 583-2004 119 Church Ave. • Forestville, CT 06010-6799

120 Church Avenue • P.O. Box 9216, Forestville CT 06011-9216 Phone: 860-583-1833 • Fax: 860-582-6152

Email: rectory@stmatthewrcc.com • Web: www.stmatthewrcc.com Office Hours: Monday through Friday: 9:30AM-4PM

New Parishioner Registration: Census/Registration Forms at church entrance and web page.

DECEMBER TWENTHY-FITH , 2016 • THE NATIVITY OF THE LORD

WELCOME TO THE CHURCH OF

Saint Matthew

“A Child is born for us, and a son has been given to us.”

As we celebrate the gift of Christmas and the joy which was born unto this world two thousand years ago, may we also pause to celebrate the gift of our faith, the gift of family and the belief that God did so love the world that he gave us his only son born of a woman yet truly the son of God.

To you the dear parishioners of this wonderful parish of St. Matthew, to your family, friends and visitors here present, may the peace of our newly born savior Jesus Christ bring you great joy and help us to continue the good works that are accomplished so beautifully here at St. Matthew Parish, a beacon of light and a beautiful expression of God's love here in the little village of Forestville, Connecticut.

A Blessed Christmas to everyone!

Monsignor Ginty

We welcome with sincere hearts and opened arms all those who

attend Mass this Christmas Day. This is indeed a very special day in which we celebrate the gift of Christ’s presence among us, if

you are new to the parish or would like to speak to

Monsignor Ginty for any reason, please print your name and phone

number in the space provided below and Monsignor Ginty will

call you in the next few weeks. Again, welcome!

Name:______________________________________

Address:____________________________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________________

Phone: ____________________________________

A Christmas Prayer

Lord, in this holy season of prayer and song and laughter, we praise you for the great wonders you have sent us:

for shining star and angel's song, for infant's cry in lowly manger. We praise you for the Word made flesh in a

little Child. We behold his glory, and are bathed in its radiance.

Be with us as we sing the ironies of Christmas, the incomprehensible comprehended, the poetry made hard

fact, the helpless Babe who cracks the world asunder. We kneel before you shepherds, innkeepers, wisemen.

Help us to rise bigger than we are. Amen.

Prayerful best wishes and congratulations:

Jaxson J. Brown Carter J. LaPointe

Carter B. Tetro

Who recently received the Sacrament of Baptism here at St. Matthew Church.

Save the Date

We have received notification from the Chancery Office that Archbishop Cro-

nin will confer the Sacrament of Confir-mation here at St. Matthew Church on:

Saturday, March 18, 2017 at 11:00 am

The Confirmation Ceremony will take place that day in the context of the Mass. Please remember that each student

must have completed all Archdiocesan and parish requirements before he/she can be confirmed.

St. Matthew Bereavement Support Group will meet on

Monday, January 9th from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Resource Center.

Please call Rita Lagasse at 860-583-6674 to register.

The New Creation Charismatic monthly Prayer Group will meet

Sunday, January 8th from 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm at St. Matthew’s Resource

Center. All those who wish to increase their relationship with the Holy Spirit are welcome. Check us out on Facebook.com/NewCreation or send us an email

at newcreationcr@outlook.com

Ladies Guild of the Blessed Sacrament

Upcoming bus trips on 2016 and 2017

January 25th, 26th - Mohegan Sun Gateway (including accommodations, 2 buffet vouchers,$20 free slot play) Cost: $163.00 per person/double; $228.00 per person/single; $153.00 per person/triple. Ticket deadline: 12-26-16

February 11th - UConn Women’s Basketball at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs. UConn x S.M.U. Cost : $56.00 per person Ticket Deadline: 01-21-17

March 5th - Women’s Basketball Tournament. Featuring the UConn Huskies. Enjoy two AAC Tournament Semi-final games at Mohegan Sun Arena. Cost: $72.00 per person. Ticket deadline: 02-10-17

March 6th , 7th- Mohegan Sun features the 2017 AAC—Women’s Basketball tournament, championship game. Cost: $315.00 single, 229.00 per person/double, $214.00 per person/triple. Ticket deadline: 02-10-17

To reserve your seat please contact: Marilyn Ruel (860) 585-1020 or

Eilene Smith(860)584-5336

Change of Date

The Annual Men’s Retreat Weekend at Holy Family Monastery in West Hartford

has been scheduled for March 24th - 26th. Father Terry Kristofak and the retreat team from the

monastery has been working on combining all the Bristol Deanery parishes together for one weekend.

Please contact Larry Nadeau at 860-841-9058 or Ron Pelletier at 860-209-9347 for more information.

Our Lady of Mercy Church 19 South Canal Street, Plainville

The New England Chamber Choir and Orchestra presents Music for

Christmas on Wednesday, December 28th at 7:30 p.m. at Our Lady of Mercy Church. Prelude begins at 7:00p.m.

Free will offering will be accepted.

The Hartford Wolf Pack would like to invite you to

SAINT MATTHEW SCHOOL NIGHT WITH THE PACK

Saturday, January 21, 2017 at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6:00 PM

Come out for a great night at the XL Cen-ter and cheer along with Saint Matthew School as the Wolf Pack take on the Roches-ter Americans

NEW this year! SMS students will unveil the giant American Flag during the National Anthem and God Bless America!

Support Saint Matthew School and watch the best hockey the AHL has to offer!

Tickets are $15 and $5 goes back to Saint Matthew *Please send ticket orders in no later than January 9, 2017* _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Last Name:________________________________________ Grade of oldest child:______________ #___________ tickets X $15 = $________________ Please return to Annik Chamberlin C/O Grace Chamberlin Grade 5 *Make checks payable to Saint Matthew School HSA

*Please send ticket orders in no later than January 9th

St. Matthew School

Santa’s Breakfast made possible by our sponsors. Please support our sponsors.

prizes donated by: Calling All Dolls * Sassu Cuts Salon * Patrick Baker

food donations: Zarella Farms * Bagels Plus Deli * Super Natural * Panera

decorations for Santa: Louise Shephard

sewing for Santa: Sandee Sims & Jen Hicks-Sims

platinum sponsors: Modern Automotive * Crowley Auto Group * Probabilities Fund Management, LLC

gold sponsors: Afforable Marine * Stephen Auto Mass Centre * Berkshire Oil Inc. * Bristol Winnelson Co.

silver sponsors: Powerful Purpose: Pamela Drezewiecki * Henri Martin Real Es-tate * Premier Real Estate Consultants: Eric Thomas

Knight of Columbus 360 King Street, Bristol

2016 New Years Eve Party

Come celebrate with us!

Buffet style, * Cash bar * Enter-

tainment - DJ $40.00 per person - $60.00 per

couple

For more information call Gil at (860)940-3847

Jean Blais, Jaimie Przygocki, Beatrice Salvatore, Phyllis Heath, Darrell Daigle, Margaret Follo, Sherry Gillette, Cecile Cote, Eileen Laferriere, Helen Violette, Shannan Verello, Margaret

Devine-Lauer, Martha Riano, Levite Cormier, Rita Hughes, Norman Dubois, Monica Pinette, Jim Mantie, Adeline Pap-

pas, Rose Lucenti, Joella Bouchard, Allisianna Gagliard, Sally Siemiatkoski, Halina Kuzia, Tamara Kohanski, Ned Michaud, Carol Mullins, Medric Jandreau, Dorothy Cyr, Jenny Mendoza, Charlene Chaplinski, Lillian Levesque, Roger Beaulieu, Lindsey Griffen, Phyllis Douglas, Carol

Yuschak, Jeanne Blanchard, Patricia Malvezzi, James Zoccoli, Jr., Cheryl Leahy, Susan Kennedy, Laurette

Baron, Gloria Wright, Yvette Heroux, Alice Kavel, Jocelyne Dube, Rita Lagasse, Blanche Adamczyk, Amanda Bonaldi, Beryl Harrigan, Patricia Feeney, Lucille Humangit, Rudy Heyne, David F. Birkett, Lawrence DeSimone, Newman Masse, Melody Cyr, Rose Gomez, Abigail Stewart, Wilmer Pelletier, Jane Schlichter, Jeanne Tassis, Mary Jandreau , Normand Ortner, Dora Mac St. Onge, Marilyn Raymond , Claudette Lathrob, Mary Magliulo, Vinny Desautels, Daniel Long , Maria Aparo, Julian Werusinski, Helena Swiverska , Jill Synnott , Nancy Webster , Kathleen Mary Pelletier, Dawn Boucher, Nicholas Del Mastro, Barbara Birkett ,

Kevin Busuy, Mary Lou Fazza, Tyler Christopher Guillman, Mary Theresa Martin, Claudette Desprey, Taylor Benson, Sherly An-

drew, Elaine Haddad, Laurier (Larry) Martin, Catherine Misluk, Patricia Pierce, Xavier Schmitt, Robert Gibson and Amy Lausier.

If you know of any relative, friend or neighbor of St. Matthew Parish that is homebound and may wish to have Holy

Communion brought to their home, please notify the Parish Office. We will gladly make arrangements

for someone to bring Communion to them.

Saturday December 24th 8:30 a.m. No morning Mass

Christmas Eve Vigil Masses 3:00 · 4:30 · 6:00 · 10:00 pm

Sunday December 25th - Christmas Day 8:00 · 9:30 · 11:00 am

All masses for the Feast of Christmas are being celebrated for the living and deceased parishioners of

St. Matthew Parish.

Monday December 26th 7:30 a.m. Marie Bamford Tranzillo by family

Tuesday December 27th 7:30 a.m. John Bellevue by Bruce and Barbara Thorin

Wednesday December 28th 7:30 a.m. Edward A. Skorupski (5th anniversary) by wife and family

Thursday December 29th 7:30 a.m. Elvira Alfonsi Hass (birthday remem- brance) by her daughters Barbara Birkett and Sally Higgins and families

Friday December 30th 7:30 a.m. Frank and Anne Shortt by the Stewart family

Saturday December 31st 8:30 a.m. Peter Sirois by Debbie Apostolico

and family 4:00 p.m For the Blessed Mother in gratitude of a

special favor by Ed and Sonia Shavel

Sunday January 1st 7:00 a.m. Lambert “Bert” Hess (birthday remem- brance) by his daughter Barbara Hess Birkett and husband Dave and family 8:30 a.m. William Santorso by his wife and children 10:00 a.m. All the deceased members of the Blais family by Jean Pierre and Claudette 11:30 a.m. David Korytkowski (25th anniversary) by his mom, sister and family

St. Matthew Church Novenas

Novena: Every Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. Men’s Novena: First Wednesday of the month from 1:30 to 2:20 p.m. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament: Every first Friday of the month from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Candles for the Week of December 25th - December 31st

The Sanctuary Lamp is burning this week in honor of Walter Bartkiewicz by his daughter Joan

The seven-day candle before the statue of the Blessed Mother is lit as a prayerful vigil for the deceased members of the Levasseur and Gesner families by their family

The seven-day candle before the statue of the St. Joseph is lit as a prayerful vigil for David Korytkowski, Timothy Scully, Jeff Kavanaugh, John Korytkowski by Lois Korytkowski, Lisa and family

Office Holydays Hours:

The Parish Office will be closed on Monday, December 26th in observance

of the Nativity of the Lord.