Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Like many of the more than 400 Catholics, who traveled to St. Cecilia Church in Rockaway on the evening of March 7, Amy Welsch, a faith-filled married mother of six, came with a mission: to find a saint to become her new spiritual companion. A parishioner of St. Cecilia’s, she was looking for some help through a tough time — her 17-year-old daughter, Alexis, recently had been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease.

’Twas a grand day for Notre Dame of Mount Carmel Parish as parishioners marched through the streets of Morristown on March 9 in the 40th annual Morris County St. Patrick’s Day Parade, in which their pastor, Father Paddy O’Donovan, was honored as the parade’s grand marshal.

Bishop Serratelli celebrated Mass in the chapel of St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in Paterson on Ash Wednesday morning, March 6, where he distributed ashes to employees of the hospital to begin the holy season of Lent. Following Mass, he visited patients at the hospital in their rooms and distributed ashes to them, blessed them and prayed with them.