St. Martin St. Rose PNCC San Antonio Texas

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St. Martin St. Rose News

Pastor’s Letter, July 2010

Dear Family in Christ,

The upcoming General Synod of the Church will take place come October in Canada, and we as a parish need to make a commitment to pray that the Holy Spirit may dwell upon all the delegates representing all of the parishes in the PNCC. During a General Synod important decisions are made, such as: proposed changes or additions to the Constitutions and laws of the Church, specific administrative decisions that may affect all of us, and this year we will also elect a new Prime Bishop, and two new Bishops. While in the midst of all of this decision making, something special also happens: we see how our Church works to do God’s will in our ministries. We also get to see friends that we have not seen for a long time, and we do a lot of networking, and praying together. As a parish we have already sent our community picture for the Synod album. We have also begun the process to assure that we have voting delegates who have been actively involved in the life of the parish during this past two years. Some have manifested that they would like to also attend as observers, and probably to do some sightseeing when the voting delegates are too busy with Church matters. Let us all rejoice for this great opportunity to have our voices heard, and to participate in such a holy event in our Church.

June was an interesting month in terms of vocations for our dioceses.. It looks like Texas will be producing two new priests. One priest is from the Dallas area who will be moving to Buffalo in order to serve the Church closer to his family. The second vocation is that of Father Jose Rojas, originally from Saltillo, Mexico, but presently ministering as a Hospice chaplain in both Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras. Both of these priests have begun the process of incardination that is required by canon law. We shall soon meet Father Rojas, as he is planning to begin his process by being a member of our parish in San Antonio.

Prayers: We thank the Lord for the answered prayers for Veronica Meyers-Marrero whose biopsy results were negative. We also thank the Lord for the kidney that our good friend Moses Esquivel has received. For the continued healing of Guali and Cookie Marrero, and their grand-daughter Nadia. For Willie Canedo and his family, especially his nephews who are presently deployed into the war zones. For Amparo de la Cruz, and all of her family. For the intentions of all of our parish members, especially Cristina and Marco Rodriguez, Jack Garcia and Elsa Vielman, and Luis Ruiz. For those affected by hurricane Alex in south Texas and northern Mexico. For Roxann Obledo who is now a grandmother, and for her daughter Kevrin. For Raymond Cruz who made his First Communion on June 24.For all those who have requested to become members of our Parish, that we may welcome them as our brothers and sisters.

Wishing all of you a feeling of freedom from all of your worries on Independence Day.

Fr. Augustin, SamOP
Samaritan Missionaries

About our Parish

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: Aurora Rosemary Rivas (SM)
Vice-Chair: Delma Manka
Secretary: Elsa Vielmann
Treasurer: Delores Chavez
Financial Secretary: Lillian Margarita Riera (SM)

DIRECTORS:
School of Chirstian Living Director: Ivonne Gutierrez – Interim
Property Management: Louis Ortiz, assisted by Marco Rodriguez
Hall Management: Herlina Estrada, assisted by Marco Rodriguez
Fund Raising: Letty Guadalupe Sanchez (SM)
Music Director: Dora Perez, assisted by Albert Perez
Garden Overseer: Cristina Rodriguez

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)

Download the
2008 Declaration of Scranton
in PDF format

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

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