Dear Parishioners and Friends of St. Rosalie, St. John Bosco and School,

    Thanks be to God and to Our Blessed Mother for their help and protection during Hurricane Ida. 
    Damage from a Cat 4 could have been much more severe.
    During these days in the aftermath of Ida, there has been a tremendous spirit of assistance to those in need.  Neighbors have rediscovered the value of talking face to face.
    In the grand scheme of things, our parish plants have suffered some minor damage.

St. Rosalie:
A Plexiglas stained glass window protector blew off and broke allowing Ida’s winds to push out and break an 8 inch circular piece of stained glass.  A few roof tiles were broken and displaced. Today (9-5), the Archdiocese had an inspector out checking out the damage to our church roof.  We have lost some roof shingles on the parish center, Hawk’s Haven, the portico over the entrance to the day chapel, the white house and the Dominican Convent. The new front doors to the Church took a beating from the wind and rain and will need some work.  Currently 9-6 and 7, the archdiocese has men tarping our parish and school roofs where shingles have come off.

St. John Bosco:
    The parish office lost a few roof shingles. On both sides of the outside of the church, aluminum panels were torn down by the winds. The Laureate Academy suffered one broken window and some water damage. Most of the drain spouts around the pavilion came down as well as some aluminum flashing.

    Thanks to all the volunteers who help clean up the St. John Bosco Parking Lot and side lawn.  Kudos to the St. Rosalie Family and their helpers who spent all day Wednesday cleaning up our disaster area and removing all the debris from the parking lot and lawn.

    Thanks to the St. Rosalie volunteers who cleaned the Church and manned the parish center food pantry.

    God bless the goodness and generosity of all our volunteers.

    Thanks, too, to all our first responders and linesmen from throughout the country who have come to assist us. I’ve seen trucks from New York, Pennsylvania, Idaho, Mississippi, Florida. Massachusetts, and the Carolinas.  God bless these good people who have left the comfort of their homes and their families have come here to work in unbearable heat to assist us in our time of need.

    The rest of this bulletin is dedicated to priming the pump with ideas of saints and saints’ costumes for our 2nd annual celebration of All Saints weekend coming up at the end of next month.  Dressing up as a saint and sharing your saint’s story can be a great way for our parish family to grow in our knowledge and love of the saints as well as exposing our children to wonderful saints.

    God loves you!
    Fr. Mark