Altar Flowers

Altar Flowers were donated in Honor of Nancy Maseda and Dolores Sullivan.

Second Collection

Religious Education At Holy Comforter

Melinda Wells, DRE, dre@holycomforterparish.org

Children’s & High School Christian Formation AND Sacraments START THIS SUNDAY, September 13, 9:45-10:45am. 

• Grab a registration form in the commons or visit our website (click action button below). 

Would you consider becoming a catechist?  

OCIA

A new year of Christian Initiation begins this SUNDAY! 

• If you’d like to learn more about becoming Catholic, please join us Sunday, September 13, 12:30-1:45pm in the lower level conference room for our first session. 
• Catholics - please share the Good News by inviting someone you know who has been discerning entering our glorious Catholic Church. 

Please contact Melinda Wells, DRE (dre@holycomforterparish.org) for more information.

Let Us Unite In Prayer

In response to the extreme abortion proposal, we will pray the Rosary at all Sunday Masses for the next two months. At the 5:00pm Vigil, the 8:30am and the 2:00pm Masses, we will begin 30 minutes before Mass. We will also pray the Rosary immediately AFTER the 11:00am Mass. More information about the abortion proposal is available below (CLICK ON THE LINKS).

Youth Group News

Middle and High School students (grades 6-12) are invited to Youth Group on the 3rd Thursdays, from 6:00 to 9:00pm at Holy Comforter. We begin with Mass and a Holy Hour, and finish with fellowship, food and catechesis.

Annual Parish Picnic

Please join us for our annual Parish Picnic on Sunday September 27th at 4:00pm at Pen Park Shelter #3. Sign up (below) to bring a potluck dish. You don’t want to miss this event, it’s only once a year! 

Men's Cursillo Weekend - October 1 - 4, 2026

Valley Cursillo is now accepting applications for Men's Cursillo Weekend in October. Contact Garrett Smith, 434-960-7775, for details.

Liturgical Notes

The souls in heaven, on earth, and in purgatory are united in prayer, in grace, and in good works. They are united by the love of Christ and separately by the thin veil of death. The souls in purgatory - our friends and family, our brothers and sisters in Christ - need our help. This is the way Christ designed the Church - the Body of Christ is connected. So it's fitting that Holy Mother Church lays before us indulgences, ways to assist our fellow Christians through the journey of God's fire of love. Consider praying 3 Hail Mary's for the soul who needs only a few prayers to be released into heaven. You thus make a great ally in heaven. Consider praying a Rosary for a forgotten soul "who has no one to pray for him or her." Or consider offering your Mass for the souls in purgatory who need it most.

- Christopher Gilbert, Liturgy Coordinator

Adult Formation - Treasures of the Tradition

Holy Comforter's Adult Formation program offers two reading groups this fall: Dante's Purgatorio (a slow, thoughtful trip up the seven-story mountain!). Theologically and psychologically richer than Inferno, this middle section is many readers' favorite part of the Divine Comedy; AND Milton's Paradise Lost (another epic treatment of Christian themes... in some of the grandest English verse ever written!).  We'll take it very slowly with much discussion to make it accessible to all. CLICK ON LINK below for details on website.

Message from the Walking with Moms in Need Ministry

Following Bishop Knestout’s July 6 Pastoral Letter to all faithful Catholics in the Richmond Diocese to form their consciences through prayer regarding the upcoming referendum amending to the state constitution, we will continue to pray the rosary before the 5:00pm Saturday, 8:30am Sunday, and 2:00pm Sunday Masses.  For the 11:00am Sunday Mass we will pray the Rosary immediately after the Mass.  Please join us.  If you cannot, please unite with us by praying our bishops’ Prayer for Protection.

Music @ Holy Comforter

The music program at Holy Comforter is actively recruiting new singers to join the choirs at the various Masses at the parish. This can be a special way to deepen your participation in the Mass! If you are curious about the opportunities available, check out our website for details. Interested? Please email Querida and Jeremy at music@holycomforterparish.org.

Third Order (Lay) Dominicans

What do St. Catherine of Siena, St. Martin de Porres, and St. Pier Giorgio Frassati have in common? They were all Third Order (Lay) Dominicans! You are invited to come meet the men and women who live out this unique vocation.  See if God may be calling you to join this great family on Saturday, September 12 at 8:30am for morning Mass and Rosary at St. Thomas Aquinas University Parish in Charlottesville.

Outreach

• September Food Donations
  
  Thank you, parishioners, for your support of Outreach through your donations, volunteering, and contributions. For September donations of boxed Macaroni and Cheese would be wonderful. God Bless!
  The USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and leader.
  
  
• SVDP Walk
  
  Please join us for our 2026 Walk for Neighbors in Need, which will be held Friday, September 25th at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church. The Walk intends to raise awareness of poverty in our area and to raise funds to support our mission of helping our neighbors in need. Please contact us at info@svdp-ht.org for information. The walk begins after the 5:15pm Mass. Please contact us at info@svdp-ht.org for information.
  
  
• IMPACT
  
  The Holy Comforter IMPACT Team will be holding its annual listening sessions in the lower level of the Church the weekend of September 19 and 20 immediately following the 5:00pm and 11:00am Masses.  All are invited to hear about the progress IMPACT is making on its affordable housing, improved transit, and neighborhood safety issue campaigns and to share your concerns about social justice issues in our community. Food will be provided. For more information about IMPACT click on action button below. To RSVP contact Suzanne Bailey at 434-326-3166/ slank@ntelos.net.

Help Us Tell Holy Comforter’s Story!

As our country celebrates its 250th anniversary, Holy Comforter is also looking back—at its own years of history as Charlottesville’s “mother church.” Do you have a memory, story, photo, or bit of history to share? Or would you like to help us gather it all together? Please contact Suzanne Bailey at 434-326-3166 or slank@ntelos.net. We’d love to hear from you!