[Jan. 4, 2009] At Mass, Liliana Trisa Irwin is baptized, child of Michael Irwin and Laura Boccia.  In the same Liturgy, Olivia Santaniello is baptized, child of John Santaniello and Sun Min.

[Jan. 14] We celebrate the funeral of Josephine LoBue; as the deceased requested, it is a simple Liturgy of the Word.  The only Scripture reading is the Gospel.  The final commendation and the rite of committal are combined in this liturgy, because burial is private, with only one person in attendance at the cemetery.

[Jan. 17] The Euclid Avenue Community Committee holds a chili dinner at the St. Anthony Hall, to help create a baseball program and a summer camp for children.  Yvette Betancourt helped organize this event.

[Saturday, Jan. 24] We celebrate the funeral of Albert Biasella.  The Mass of Christian Burial takes place at 11 a.m., at San Rocco Oratory.

[Feb. 5] Christopher Marshall comes to repair the organ.  He says that the instrument was damaged by water, from the fire of Dec. 23, 2007.  This repair work takes about two hours.  

[Saturday, Feb. 7] At the funeral of Grace Spagnola, her son, Mickey, gives a eulogy at the end of Mass.    She wanted "no fanfare," says Mickey; that's why there was no wake the evening before.  He is a sportswriter for the Dallas Cowboys.  Grace was the widow of Dominick Spagnola, who was buried from San Rocco July 5, 2003.   Carmen, from St. Liborius parish, reads the First Reading and helps with Communion.  Teresa and Keith Synder present the bread and wine at the preparation of gifts; Teresa is the daughter of Grace. 

[Monday, Feb. 9] Because of the smell of natural gas in the furnace room, Father Gilligan calls Nicor for an inspection.  Within the hour, Brandy arrives and finds two leaks, with a total of 3% of the gas being released.  She says that there is danger of an explosion with 2.5% or more of a leak; she therefore shuts off the gas until the leaks can be repaired. Fred LoBue makes some adjustments in the furnace room, to prevent a fire.

[Feb. 10] Oliver's of Wood Dale sends Dave Cory to San Rocco Oratory.  He comes and fixes the leaks in the gas line, tests the line thoroughly, examines the furnaces, exchanges the air in the ducts, clears the building of gas, and restores the supply to the building.  The work takes about an hour. 

[Saturday, Feb. 21] In the St. Anthony Hall, the pre-Lenten celebration is held, in this case Samedi Gras ("Fat Saturday"), something like Mardi Gras ("Fat Tuesday").  In Latin languages, this celebration is called Carnevale, that is, "Farewell to meat."  There are 88 people present this Saturday.

[Feb. 25] At 7:00 p.m., Ash Wednesday opens the season of Lent, with a Liturgy of the Word, including distribution of ashes.

[Friday, Feb. 27] As we do on Fridays during Lent, we celebrate the Way of the Cross, followed by Vespers.    There are about twenty-five people present this Friday, at 7 p.m. 

[March 9] Today, we celebrate the funeral of Esther Vanderhei, wife of Richard.  She was a faithful member of the San Rocco family.

[March 13] A committee visits a local shop, owned by Mike Cassilla, to choose a marble top for the altar at San Rocco.    Carol Dallesandro and Jackie Graham examine many samples and pick out what to them seems best.

[March 21] At Assumption Cemetery in Glenwood, the ashes of Jayleen Angelotti are laid to rest. The committal liturgy is brief. Jayleen very generously supported our music program at San Rocco, especially in helping us obtain the services of professional musicians.

[April 2] Father Max Ssekiwala of Uganda comes to visit. For four years, he was secretary to Bishop Perry. Now, for a while, he is returing to serve the LaCrosse Diocese in Wisconsin.

[April 4] A memorial Mass is celebrated for Joe Sassano, brother of Priscilla Fushi and Carol Dallesandro.

[April 9] On Holy Thursday, Mike Cassilla installs the new marble top for the altar at San Rocco Oratory.  With this top, the size of the altar is just right for the space we have available.  The evening Liturgy of the Lord's Supper is well attended.

[April 13, Easter Monday] We celebrate the funeral of Violet Cacciurri, mother of Geraldine Nardoni.

[April 14] Father Gilligan celebrates weekday Mass at St. James Hospital, Olympia Fields. Mila Nelson provides organ accompaniment.

[April 19] Elaina Kelly is baptized, child of Jim Kelly and Dana Bove.

[April 26] Catholic War Veterans join us for Sunday Mass.  In the evening, a fund-raiser is held locally, to help the ministry of Braveheart (now Midwest Palliative) Hospice Care.

[April 29] Several parents and children meet at Lucy Czarnecki's house, to plan religious education for the next 12 months.  Liturgy Training Publications (LTP) makes available a lectionary-based program, for the RCIA for children. Yvette Betancourt and Lucy provide instruction, using the LTP textbook.

[Saturday, May 2] Mario Garcia arranges a Quinceneras for his niece, Kimberly Sanchez.  The Mass is largely in Spanish, but Kimberly chooses to make her profession in English.

[May 8] A farewell dinner is held for the Daubenspecks, who are moving to Tennesse.

[May 12] May Crowning takes place in the evening.  Josephine Granno has a new rosary placed in the hands of the Virgin Mary. 

[Saturday, May 16] At 1 p.m., Father Alejandro Garrido celebrates a Mass for the 50th wedding anniversary of the parents of Elizabeth Urquiza.  These are Mr. and Mrs. Angel Sanchez.  The liturgy is done entirely in Spanish. A dinner follows in the St. Anthony Hall, at the east end of the main parking lot.

[May 24] As required by our bishop, Cardinal George, the Feast of Ascension is transferred to this Sunday.  The choir sings extensively, and incense is used.

[May 31] For Pentecost Sunday, we welcome Dennis Peters as guest organist; also present are Pat Hahto, soprano, and Thomas Hall, bass.  Again, the choir does its very best; incense is used once more.

[June 14] For Corpus Christi, we march outside in procession after Mass, as we have for some years now.  In the grotto, there is a blessing, called "benediction."  The choir sings All Glory, Praise, and Honor in four-part harmony.

[Friday, June 25] We celebrate the funeral of Phyllis [Pagoria] Geraci, 91, who grew up on the East Side, on Wallace, in San Rocco Parish.    Of nine children, her sister JoLynn survives her, as do her chlldren, Angie, Nick, Peter, and Vincent.  The spoken eulogies are numerous, well-planned, and appropriate; they take place before the First Reading, introduced by Vincent.  At the end of Mass, at the announcement time, Peter speaks to the people, thanking them for their kindness.  Carol Geraci helps with Communion. Jeanette Dandurand sings for the Mass and provides organ accompaniment for My Shepherd Is the Lord, Ave Maria, and the Final Commendation hymn, May God Welcome Her in Glory.  For these songs, accompaniment is needed, to help the people sing.

[July 6-10] The National Association of Pastoral Musicians (NPM) meets locally, at the Stephens Center in Rosemont, for their national convention.  Father Gilligan and Celeste Jones take part.

[July 12] From India, Father Tommaso Petrongelli comes and concelebrates Sunday Mass at St. Rocco.  He is welcomed by many, especially his two brothers, Americo and Italo.  He will preside at Mass next Sunday.  Today, July 12, he speaks briefly at the end of Mass.  He also will say Mass each day this week and next, at 7 p.m., partly in Italian.

[Tuesday, July 21] In the morning, at 10 a.m., Msgr. Bonanotte celebrates Mass in Italian, especially for his family members.  He is a diocesan priest from Monte Cassino, Italy.  His brother is Cleto Bonanotte. 

[Saturday, July 25] Quinceneras at St. Rocco, for Cristina Soto's niece, Corina, who is up here, visiting from Mexico.  The entire Mass is celebrated in Spanish.

[Sunday, July 26] Father Petrongelli gives the sermon in English and concelebrates.  With only six members present, the choir does nevertheless an excellent job today, singing, for example, Dona Nobis Pacem.

 [Friday, August 7] The annual San Lorenzo Festival begins at the Amaseno Lodge on 24th Street and Union. 

[Sunday, August 9] As part of the festival, a procession begins at the lodge about 11 a.m..  Mass at San Rocco is about 11:30 a.m.  The presider is Father Tommaso Petrongelli.  Mass is celebrated in Italian and English.  Father Petrongelli gives the sermon, in both languages. Thanks to Dr. Candeloro, we have a You Tube video of the entrance procession for Mass today.  Here's another video of the same procession.  Finally, here's a Picasa collection of photos from the San Lorenzo Festival.

[Sunday, August 16] At 1:30 p.m. Mass, Rocco Petrongelli, son of Luciano and Rosa, is baptized.  Luciano is the son of Americo and the nephew of Father Tommaso.    This is the family's third child.   In the afternoon, a benefit is held for the 2 year old Rocco DeBergh, who was baptized at San Rocco Oratory.  (His parents are Jason and Christy.) Rocco has leukemia.  St. Anthony's Hall is overflowing, and people gather outside as well.  Also, in the open field to the north, two uniformed soccer teams compete.  There are at least a couple hundred of people present, overwhelmingly Mexican and Mexican-American. Acclamations are entirely in Spanish.

In the choir, Carol Dallesandro (alto) returns after an absence of about five weeks; she has made an excellent recovery from knee surgery.  Mary Jones (soprano) is away at college and so won't be back for a while. 

[Thursday, Aug. 25] At 11 a.m. Msgr. Bonanotte celebrates Mass in Italian for his sister, Lucia Vittorino of Inverness, age 77, who passed away one week from today.  Her brother is Cleto Bonanotte, of San Rocco Oratory.

[Sept. 9] Mary Kay O'Connell of the Parish Operations Service Center (POSC) comes to the rectory, to help our secretary, Jeanine, prepare the annual financial report, to be submitted to the Archdiocese of Chicago.  This report is evaluated by Pam Gutter, Vicariate Area Consultant, and Richard Boyle, of the Archdiocese.

[Sunday, Sept. 20] The San Rocco religious education program continues.  Lucy Czarnecki and Yvette Betancourt continue to administer the program; they have been joined by Mary Rodriguez. As of now, the group meets on Sunday morning, over in the St. Anthony Hall, continuing during the Liturgy of the Word of Sunday Mass.  Catechetical materials are provided by Liturgy Training Publications (LTP) of the Archdiocese of Chicago.

[Sept. 23] We celebrate the funeral of Olga Sebastian, 82.  She was a faithful member of the San Rocco family.  At the Mass, Jeanette Dandurand leads the singing. Olga's brother-in-law, Vernon Childs, reads the Scripture.  Her nephew, David, did much of the construction work for the church building at San Rocco Oratory.

[Sept. 24] For much of the afternoon, a meeting is held with Bishop Perry, in part to consider how best to promote and support Zaccheus House, a transitional residence for men, on the South Side.   

[Sept. 26] In the early afternoon, on Saturday, Gilberto Ayala III is baptized at San Rocco; his family is from Beecher.  The liturgy is entirely in English, with the usual songs.

[Sept. 28] We celebrate the funeral of Luigi ("Gino") Bragaloni, 65.  He is the nephew of Italo and Americo Petrongelli, as well as Father Tommaso.  Jeanette Dandurand again leads the singing. Thomas Planera helps with Communion. At the end of Mass, a military  ceremony reminds us of Gino's service in the U.S. Army, in Vietnam.  Sergeant Ciesla plays taps, with a bugle; both he and specialist Skupa conduct the ceremony.  The liturgy ends outside the church building, because the body is to be flown back to Amaseno, Italy, for burial there.  That is where Gino was born.

[Oct. 4] Sharon Ciplak joins the choir, as well as Erin Weis, cantor.

[Oct. 6 and 7] At the request of Father Gilligan, the Archdiocese of Chicago provides a complete audit of the finances of San Rocco Oratory.  Under the direction of Mr. Kevin Marzalik, director of financial operations, Mary Anne Murphy arranges for the firm of Crowe Horwath to conduct the audit.  On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, Amy Altman of that firm carefully goes through all records for the previous fiscal year, ending June 30, 2009.  This audit includes deatailed review of all financial matters, especially considering best practices,  recommended or required by the Chicago Archdiocese. Crowe Horwath is one of the top ten accounting firms in the United States.

[Oct. 11] Lou Anselmo, bass, joins the choir.

[Oct. 12] Father Gilligan attends a meeting of the local deanery, a priest's gathering, at Infant Jesus of Prague parish hall, in Flossmoor.  At this meeting, various policies of the Chicago Archdiocese are discussed, as well as upcoming events.  Bishop Perry also reports on various items, as does Father Ignatius Anaele, the local representative in the presbyteral senate.

[Oct. 13] Amy Altman, of the Crowe Horwath accounting firm, gives an extensive oral report on the audit she conducted for San Rocco Oratory; she also presents a 35-page written report, in draft form.  Both Pete Ruhl (of the San Rocco finance committee) and Jeanine Zamiar (secretary for San Rocco) are present, as well as Pam Gutter, Vicariate Area Consultant, of the Chicago Archdiocese, Vicariate VI.  Amy Altman's recommnendatons are discussed in detail and welcomed.

[Oct. 14] The finance committe of San Rocco Oratory meets to review the auditor's recommendations and  to review best practices.   We welcome Fritz Meyer, head of the finance committee at Infant Jesus of Prague parish, to learn from his experience and insight.  He gives some of the history of the situation at his own parish and provides suggestions for our own work at San Rocco. 

[Oct. 16] Father Gilligan meets with Lucy Czarnecki and Yvette Betancourt, to review the religious education program at San Rocco Oratory.  As of this week, there are 8 children in the program; it is well received by the children and by their parents.  Some of the kids told their friends how much they like the program, so another 4 children participate as guests.

[Oct. 20] A choir rehearsal is directed by Celeste Jones, especially for the benefit of the newer members. 

[Oct. 24] Today, we celebrate the funeral of Pasqualina [Pancrazio] Cosentino, 91; her husband, Cosmo, was buried from San Rocco four years ago.  She was a member of the Secular Franciscans at San Rocco Church for many years.  They organized a wake service for her the previous evening, at Hirsch Funeral Home.  Pasqualina was a teacher for 39 years.   Her cousin, Fran, read the First Reading; Fran's husband, Edward, the Second Reading.  Fran also helped with  Communion.

[Oct. 27] At a presbyteral day, up at Mundelein Seminary, the priests of the Chicago Archdiocese gather, in part to witness a one-act play, representing St. John Vianney.  Cardinal George also speaks to the gathering. 

[Oct. 28] The finance committee of San Rocco meets in South Holland, again at the rectory.  The committee continues to evaluate the 35-page report from the recent audit of the previous fiscal year.   Various emendations and corrections are considered and are forwarded to the auditor at the accounting firm of Crowe Horwath. 

[November 9] At a local meeting of priests, in Blue Island, they learn that RightNeworks is to be implemented in every parish.  By means of this software program, the financial data in the parish is available to people in the Pastoral Center downtown, the chancery.  This is a program with online access, for greater security in the parish, as well as financial controls.  Once parishes make use of Quickbooks, it is said, it is easy to implement RightNetworks.

[November 14] At noon, Bishop Perry hosts a benefit for Zaccheus House; the benefit is held at St. James parish in Lemont.   In the evening, Father Gilligan welcomes people to a benefit in Flossmoor, for the ministry to shut-ins of American Catholic Press.  At the latter gathering, the Festival Choir performs, from St. Joseph's parish in Homewood.  This choir is directed by John Ligda, who donated a piano to San Rocco Oratory, in 2007.

[November 15] In St. Anthony Hall, the community gathers for pizza frite, an informal assembly, with breakfast items.  Mayor Ciambrone coordinates this brunch, which takes place from 11:15 a.m. to 1 p.m.  After celebrating Mass at 12:15 at The Park in Olympia Fields, as he does every Sunday, Father Gilligan attends the anniversary banquet of St. Michael's parish in Lansing.  The parish's former pastor and bishop, now known as Metropolitan Christopher, has been promoted to supervise five dioceses in the Western Hemisphere; the parish's new episcopal leadership is Bishop Longin.

[November 16] We celebrate today the funeral of Frances Markionni, wife of Guido ("Skeeziks"), mother of Rob and Nick Markionni.  She was a faithful member of the San Rocco family, as well as a teacher for many years.  Guido and Frances were married for 55 years.  Jeannie Markionni, wife of Nick, sings during the funeral Mass.  At San Rocco, funeral Masses are usually at 11 a.m.; however, at the family's request, today's celebration is at 10 a.m.  Family members also plan much of the liturgy, including the Scripture readings. For Frances Markionni, there is a full church and a moving farewell.

[November 23] The finance committee of San Rocco meets to give further consideration to the audit report from Crowe Horwath.  The committee also receives 29 pages of "action items" from this audit, as well as norms for facility rental, provided by the Chicago Archdiocese.

[November 26] Thanksgiving Day Mass is at 9 a.m. today, as people voted some years ago.  This early time gives people the opportunity to start cooking early.

[November 29] Today is the First Sunday of Advent.  A large container is placed in the vestibule, so people can donate canned goods for the poor.  This food is collected and given to the Jones Center on the East Side of Chicago Heights.

An announcement is made at Mass about a new evangelization program, sponsored by three local dioceses, including our own.  This program is intended to welcome fallen-away Catholics back to the community.  One aspect of the program is a series of ads on TV. This Welcome Home program begins December 16.

[December 8]  At 11 a.m., we celebrate the funeral Mass of Giovanni Benedetti, husband of the late Augusta, who died June 9, 2008.  They were both from Amaseno, Italy. At 7 p.m., we celebrate Mass for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary.  We have a minyan, that is, a minimum of nine people..

[Saturday, December 19] At 11:30 a.m. we celerate the funeral Mass of Genevieve Rossi, 90, who is survived by her husband, Ray, and her daughter, Pamela.  There is no wake the previous Friday evening.

[December 25] One Mass is celebrated for Christmas, the Mass "during the day," at 10 a.m.  At the beginning of Mass, the choir sings the Angels' Carol by John Rutter.  After the opening prayer, the choir sings Gesu Bambino, in an arrangement by Pietro Yon. At the Gospel Acclamation, for the first time, the choir sings a four-part Alleluia by Giovanni Palestrina.  This short setting is counterpoint, in which each part has its own melody.  During this Alleluia, the Gospel procession is in longer form, down the side aisle and up the middle aisle; incense is used, in honor of Christ who speaks in the Gospel.

[December 27] In the hall, a Christmas celebration is held for those involved in our religious education program; these are eight children and their parents.   It's pizza.

[December 28] At 11 a.m., we celebrate a funeral Mass for Eva Pavilonis.  At the request of the widower, Walter, the Mass is celebrated in Latin.  Also, at Walter's request, the priest says the Eucharistic Prayer from the south side of the altar, facing north.  The people are able to participate, for several reasons.  The Latin responses are short and simple, printed out on sheets distributed to everyone.  The Kyrie, for example, for the Requiem is easily sung; it is used as part of the opening rites and at the Intercessions.  The Sanctus and Agnus Dei, from Mass XVIII, is already familiar from regular use at the oratory.  This Sanctus and Agnus Dei are, in fact, for use during Advent, Lent, and funeral liturgies.  Tony, grandson of the deceased, helps out as server during the Mass.  The first two readings, in English, are read by family members.  The Gospel is read in both Latin and English.