St. Martin St. Rose News

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Pastor's Letter, May 2012

During this Easter season we celebrate the gift that we all have received by Jesus’ Resurrection. We read in the Acts of the Apostles and in the Gospels that the Disciples of Christ were witnesses to His death and resurrection. Yet, when we participate in the Sacrifice of the Mass and receive communion, we also become witnesses of His resurrection. We believe in the Real Presence of Christ, and as we celebrate Mass we become part of the Last Supper where He asked us to “do this in remembrance of Me”. At Communion time we journey with Jesus like the disciples did on the road to Emmaus and recognized Him at the breaking of the bread. Also, as they gathered as a community after His resurrection they recognized that He is “my Lord and my God” (Thomas, the twin proclaimed this in the presence of the disciples on all of our behalf. At St. Martin and St. Rose parish we proclaim that He is our Lord and our God at each Mass as we receive His Body and His Blood . By stating “My Lord and My God” we are saying that we are experiencing in a personal way the Real Presence of Christ at the Eucharist. That ,make us His witnesses, and we are all invited to proclaim that truth to the whole world!

We want to thank all those who participated in the Triduum of the Church on Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Resurrection Sunday. Special thanks go to Juan Manuel Ortiz, George Chavez and Luis Ortiz for their help in making all of the arrangements at our Hall for the Holy Thursday celebration, and also all the ladies who went out of their way to make sure we had enough to eat after the Mass. We also thank our Samaritan Missionaries Elsa Teresita and Socorro Catarina, and Luis Ortiz and George Chavez for helping in keeping the Church clean during these days. Thanks to Marco Rodriguez who spent a whole afternoon setting up the main Church for the Mass of the Resurrection. Let us all thank Sylvia Montalban for having been able to obtain for us new printers. Also we celebrate the reality that our great friend here in San Antonio, Rev. Olin tunnel, was the original founder (1957) of the Church property where we are now worshiping in Dallas.

We pray for all the children and adults in our SOCL classes as they prepare for the reception of the sacraments. We thank our Samaritan Missionaries Elsa Teresita and Lillian Margarita for the great work they are doing with the children and adults. We will be having First Holy Communions on May 13 (Mother’s Day, and Coronation of Our Blessed Mother), weddings, and then preparing the young ones who want to be readers at Mass, or help as Altar servers. +++Prayers for the Marrero family and the Ruiz family for all of their encouragement and support. Let us keep in our prayers all those who have asked us to pray for them, specially the sick. Please pray that during this Synod the Holy Spirit guides us all in electing two new Bishops for the Church. The Parish Committee also discussed preparing for the Diocesan Synod in October. The Diocesan Synod is presently planned to take place in Buffalo, New York. Stay tuned as we will be sharing information on the Special and the Diocesan Synod in the months to come.

Mr. Louis Ortiz has made a presentation about our parish making arrangements for a Columbarium (resting place of loved ones’ ashes). We are considering the model set by the Cordi-Marian Chapel. Pictures will be available to consider how we would like it to be. Your input would be appreciated.
Be a witness to His Resurrection!

Very Rev. Augustin, SMOP
Father Senior, Texas Seniorate


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About our Parish

St. Martin & St. Rose

Our Parish invites you to worship with us on Sundays and during the week. We are almost at the corner of Nogalitos and Theo in the southwest of San Antonio. Join our small community of Catholics seeking to keep our faith alive!

 

St. Martin and St. Rose Catholic Church is a Parish of the Buffalo-Pittsburgh Diocese of the Polish National Catholic Church , established in 1897 by Bishop Francis Hodur for Polish nationals, and became known as the Polish National Catholic Church. Our parish in San Antonio was established by the religious community of the Samaritan Ministers, Missionaries and Oblates of Prayer to serve the many needs of our Hispanic population.

 

Our faith and tradition is Catholic, and our Church, along with the Roman Catholic Church, mutually recognize the validity of all the seven Sacraments. Our Masses (Eucharistic Celebrations) are in English and Spanish (and in Latin when requested). All our rituals are the same as in the Roman Catholic Church.

 

We believe in small basic Christian communities, we pray the rosary, have novenas and benedictions. We receive the Holy Eucharist under both species and the people are free to kneel or stand to receive the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

We have great devotion and respect for Our Lady, the Blessed Mother of Our Lord Jesus, and to the saints who have modeled for us how to live the Christian Life.

 

As a jurisdiction we accept married men to the priesthood, married priests from apostolic churches to the priesthood, and married priests may also become bishops. We are under the administration of a Prime Bishop, with Church headquarters in Scranton, PA. We have five dioceses in the U. S. and Canada, with numerous parishes. We also have parishes in Norway and in Italy.

History of St. Martin & St. Rose Parish PNCC

The origin of St. Martin and St. Rose Parish goes back to November 3, 1981 when a group of Roman Catholic laity, together with Reverend R. Augustin Sicard (an ex-Marianist), began a group of consecrated individuals. This group became known as the Samaritan Ministers and Missionaries, organized in honor of St. Martin de Porres and St. Rose of Lima, two Peruvian Dominican religious. The first establishment was on northwest San Antonio. By 1990 they had outgrown their place, and began a search for a larger place. At that time Father had been working with Father Rafael Ruiz at Lutheran General Hospital. Together with Father Celestino Treviño, an ex-Franciscan, they began to dialogue with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) for a Church. In 1993 ELCA vacated a property in southwest San Antonio and asked us to look at the site. Within that same month, a group of the parish committee got together and made arrangements to see the site. In May of 1994 we agreed to move forward with the purchase of the property, which included the Church building, a rectory apartment, and a hall. The 25 years note on the mortgage was carried by ELCA.

 

During the same period of time in 1994, the parish committee had begun dialogue with Bishop Thaddeus Peplowski for possible incorporation with the Polish National Catholic Church. Between 1972 and 1981, Father had worked with PNCC members in Toronto, Canada, and had made a previous attempt at dialogue with Prime Bishop Francis Rowinski. This dialogue was never completed, and it was not until 1995 that direct contact was made with the Bishop Ordinary of the Buffalo-Pittsburgh Diocese. Bishop Peplowski set up a number of meetings, and in June of 1996 St. Martin and St. Rose was officially established as a parish of the PNCC. From 1994 to 2005 mortgage payments were made to ELCA, but in 2005 they forgave our mortgage and allowed us to keep the parish and hall at the price of the payments already made.

 

The Samaritan Missionaries have made contact with a number of Roman Catholic diocesan priests in Mexico, and has helped establish three (3) parishes in the name of St. Martin and St. Rose Parish. These parish are now named: St. Rose of Lima, Immaculate Heart of Mary, and Holy Cross. Many donations have been made of monies and property goods for these establishments, and a number of missionary trips have been made on behalf of St. Martin and St. Rose Parish.

PARISH COMMITTEE
Chair: Belen Sanchez
Co-Chair: Elsa Teresit Vielman, SM
Recording Secretary Sylvia Montalban
Financial Secretary Lillian Margarita Riera, SM
Treasurer Dolores Chavez
Pastor Fr. Senior Sicard, SMOP

DIRECTORS:
Property Manager Juan Manuel Ortiz, assisted by Louis Ortiz
Hall Manager Herlinda Estrada
Music Directors Dora and Albert Perez
Grounds Manager George Chavez
School of Christian Living Elsa Teresita Vielman (SM), assisted by Gina Cruz
Fundraising Activities Sylvia Montalban, Herlinda Estrada and Lillian Margarita Riera, SM

SAMARITAN MISSIONARIES
Aurora Rosemary Hernandez, (SM)
Federico San Miguel Hernandez, (SM)
Reverend R. Augustin Sicard, (SMOP)
Socorro Catarina Ortiz, (SM)
Lillian Margarita Riera, (SM)
Leticia Guadalupe Sanchez, (SM)
Teresita Vielman, (SM)


Union of Scranton Statute May 12, 2009 PDF Download
Download the
2008 Declaration of Scranton
in PDF format

Joint Declaration on Unity

The Joint Declaration on Unity is an effort by the Polish National Catholic Church and the Roman Catholic Church to mutually recognize the unity in faith and morals in the Body of Chirst. This process has brought us to look at what unites us, rather than what separates us. We mutually accept the validity of all of the sacraments, the dogmas of the first seven Ecumenical Councils, and the teachings that has been handed down since the Apostles… If read carefully one will see that the effort to find the common ground has been very fruitful, and it continues as we move to unity in diversity. The difference between the two bodies is simply adminitrative, but not in matters of faith and morals.


The Roman Catholic-Polish National Catholic Dialogue Joint Declaration on Unity


Email St. Martin & St. Rose

Please email us at: smsrpncc@gmail.com or you can use the email form below.


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