Photos of Parish Life

April 11, 2021

On April 11, Divine Mercy Sunday, Fr. Shane Johnson presided at the 10 a.m. Mass at the North Church, with Deacon Michael Malucha assisting. Since the beginning of Lent 2021, the 10 a.m. Sunday Mass has been celebrated ad orientem. This means that for parts of the Mass, the priest and the people face the same direction, symbolizing that the words during that time are spoken directly to God. When the priest turns toward the people, he is in dialogue with the people. Fr. Shane is a priest-son of St. Francis Borgia; he attended Mass at the historic stone church and graduated from the parish grade school. He was ordained in 2009 and since 2012 has served parishes in New York City. Fr. Shane’s parents are parishioners Alan and Cheri Johnson.

September 14, 2019
On Saturday morning, September 14, the St. Francis Borgia cemetery was the setting for a solemn gathering to commemorate the more than 60 million children lost to legal abortion since Roe v Wade in 1973. In addition, the newly installed infants' memorial was dedicated. Recent research using ground-penetrating radar at the cemetery revealed 197 unmarked graves, including 46 graves of stillborn and very young infants, born to poor parents unable to afford proper burial. Those graves are marked by crosses. The infants’ memorial and crosses are thanks to the generosity of our parish members and the Knights of Columbus. The service and dedication were led by Fr. Patrick Burns. The event was sponsored by the Knights of Columbus and our Respect Life Committee.

October 5, 2019
As part of our 175th anniversary celebration, Deacon Scott Wiese (from St. Joseph Parish in Grafton) offered a blessing of pets and animals. This was held on Saturday morning, Oct. 5 on the plaza at the North Church. The sky was overcast but the rain stayed away– with the sun peaking out just after the blessing. The date was chosen because it was the weekend closest to the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals. We thank Deacon Scott for offering this blessing for the special “members” of our families.