The Death of Pope Francis

All are encouraged in these days to pray for the peaceful repose of the soul of our beloved Holy Father, Pope Francis.

Read a full statement from Archdiocese of Seattle by clicking here.

Read the Northwest Catholic article by clicking here.

The Easter Season

But wait, there’s more! Easter doesn’t end after Sunday. The Season of Easter lasts all the way until June 8, when the Church celebrates the Feast of Pentecost. The Archdiocese of Seattle has put together a webpage for Easter (archseattle.org/Easter) where they provide information on the Feasts and Solemnities of the Easter Season. This page also provides ideas for additional ways you can celebrate the joy of Easter in your daily life.

Divine Mercy Sunday

On the Second Sunday of Easter, April 27, we celebrate the Feast of Divine Mercy.

In the 1930s, Jesus appeared to a polish nun, Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, and shared with her the message of Divine Mercy. She recorded these private revelations in her diary. Jesus requested fourteen times that a Feast of Mercy be established, that it might “be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners.” (Diary, no. 699) Saint Faustina was canonized by Pope Saint John Paul II on April 30, 2000. Five days later, it was decreed that the Second Sunday of Easter be accordingly known as Divine Mercy Sunday.

Join members of the Legion of Mary on Divine Mercy Sunday, April 27, at 2:30PM in the Church to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy and the Rosary.

Pamphlets with instructions on how to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet and the nine days of intentions leading up to Divine Mercy Sunday are available in the main church vestibule.

The novena of Divine Mercy is prayed beginning on Good Friday and concludes on the Feast of Divine Mercy.

Registration for this Summer’s Vacation Bible School is now open!

Come spend a while on the Nile! Registration for Vacation Bible School (VBS) is now open! Join us this summer as we adventure through ancient Egypt. Your child will join an Egyptian family and meet Old Testament hero, Joseph, as he journeys from prison to the palace of Pharaoh. This weeklong program includes fun, faith-filled activities, and games, and like Joseph, your child will learn that God gives each of us hope, unique abilities, wisdom, forgiveness, and family. VBS will be held at St. Monica Catholic Church on June 23-27. Please register early, space is limited. We are still recruiting volunteers (both teens and adults) to help put on this great program! Learn how YOU can help this year with VBS! Click here to access our VBS webpage where you can register or sign up to be a volunteer! If you have any questions, please contact Melissa Stewart at faithforward@stmonicami.org.

Holy Hoedown 2025—School Auction

Block your calendars for the biggest event of the year - The Holy Hoedown is May 3rd from 4-10pm. We can't wait to celebrate with you and raise money for a cause dear to all of our hearts, our kids! 

To help make this event successful we absolutely need your help in procuring fabulous items to be auctioned off on the big day. We've developed a wish list of items that we would love for you to consider when planning your donations. (As a reminder, all school families are required to procure and donate an item of $200 value or more.) You can donate an item yourself or team up with others for larger items. You can find the WISH LIST HERE. Once you decide on an item to donate, make it official and register it HERE. All items need to be in by 4/14. 

We are also in need of sponsors and would love for you to consider supporting the event. By sponsoring the Holy Hoedown, you help us underwrite the expense of putting on the biggest community event and fundraiser of the year - so that every dollar raised goes directly to the school and most importantly, benefits our students. As a sponsor, hundreds of Parish and School families will notice your business and its generous donation. Please consider being an event sponsor at whatever level is most meaningful to you. More details on how to sponsor the event can be found here.

Finally, we will need your help to put this event on! We have hay to move, tables to setup, volunteers to wrangle and we need EVERY ranch hand available. Please find a way to help out! Volunteer for the Hoedown

Thank you so much in advance for being such strong advocates and members of SMCS. Together we create our community, we create positive spaces for our kids to explore and learn, we keep Catholic tuition affordable -- and it truly takes all of us to make this happen. Thank you for being a committed partner. 

- Get involved, help fundraise, help put this event on! We NEED you! – 

Season of Service

To help celebrate the 175th anniversary of the Archdiocese of Seattle, the archdiocesan team is inviting you to join Catholics across Western Washington to volunteer together as the living Body of Christ through the Season of Service from March to May 2025.

During this time, let’s come together to volunteer 175,000 hours to recognize our legacy of faith – and demonstrate our commitment to serving others. Participate in this program by serving others and logging your hours on the Season of Service webpage.

You can join service opportunities in our parish and school ministries. Additionally, there are more than 50 volunteer opportunities that you, a group of friends or family can sign up for on the Archdiocesan website. Together let’s serve and volunteer 175,000 hours by May 31! For more information on the Season of Service and to log service hours, please visit archseattle.org/seasonofservice.

Annual Impact Report 2023-2024

The 2023-2024 Annual Impact Report for the Archdiocese of Seattle is here. Read about the archdiocese’s impact over the last year by clicking here.

Archdiocese of Seattle's 175th Anniversary

The Archdiocese of Seattle is celebrating its 175th anniversary this year from January to May. We will mark this anniversary with special Masses and with a “Season of Service”. Learn more about the 175th anniversary at archseattle.org/175.

The first of the special anniversary Masses with the Archbishop will take place on January 25, 2025 at 11AM at the Proto-Cathedral of St. James the Greater, Vancouver.

History of the Archdiocese for 175th Anniversary

In honor of the Archdiocese of Seattle’s 175th Anniversary, a video has been released which briefly outlines the history of our local church community. Visit vimeo.com/1050898649 to watch this video.

Prayer in honor of the 175th Anniversary:

Lord Jesus Christ, you are the beginning and the end, Lord of time and history. We give you thanks for this local Church, and for these 175 years of faith and challenge. Give us the grace we need to respond to the needs of our time with wisdom and compassion. Make us one in mind and heart, and show us how to love all people as you love them. You who live and reign for ever and ever. Amen.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us. Holy Angels of God, pray for us. St. James, pray for us. St. Kateri Tekakwitha, pray for us. St. Frances Cabrini, pray for us. All holy men and women, pray for us.

Pilgrims of Hope

On Sunday, December 29, in union with bishops throughout the world, Archbishop Etienne opened our local observance of the Jubilee Year 2025.

The 2025 Jubilee Year was established by Pope Francis, calling the faithful to become Pilgrims of Hope. We will hear more about the Jubilee throughout the year, but we encourage you to check out the Seattle Archdiocese Jubilee webpage (archseattle.org/the-catholic-faith/jubilee2025) to learn more about the Jubilee and the ways which you can earn a Jubilee Year Indulgence.

Archbishop’s Annual Letter

Archbishop Etienne has published his annual letter to the faithful of the Archdiocese of Seattle. Please visit archseattle.org to read the full letter.

Becoming a Synodal Church

Catholics around the world participated in the global Synod on Synodality, which just completed this fall at the Vatican. Archbishop Paul D. Etienne, who was one of the delegates, has released a video where he reflects on everything shared by the People of God. In this video, he shares his experience of the synodal process, highlights key elements in the final document, and discusses what it means for each of us. Click here to watch the full video.

Upcoming Events and Opportunities

We've put together a page of our upcoming events and other Catholic events from around the Archdiocese of Seattle. Click here to check out what's going on in our community and discover new ways to engage in parish life!

Scam Email Warning

The parish staff wants to warn parishioners that someone has been sending emails pretending to be Father Nagel, parish staff members, and our former pastor, Father Freitag. Scam emails typically say that Father is "in need of help" ask if "you are available for an errand" or just asks the recipient to "please respond concerning a sensitive matter". These emails (or texts) are a scam and should be deleted whenever they are received. Legitimate emails from parish staff members will always be sent from an email address ending with "@stmonicami.org". If you have any questions, feel free to contact the parish office directly at parishoffice@stmonicami.org

Sunday Homily Video Recordings

Did you have trouble hearing father's homily at Mass? Or maybe you'd just like to listen to it again? For convenience, we re-upload our Sunday Mass homilies as videos. Each Sunday's homily is typically uploaded by the Wednesday following the weekend Masses. All homily videos are uploaded to youtube, and on our website’s homily page. Looking for a past homily? Our homily page also features an index of our previous Sunday Homilies.

What about weekday Masses? While we don't process separate videos for our daily Mass homilies, they can be watched within the full recordings of our daily Mass livestreams. Browse past livestreams on our Youtube page: www.youtube.com/@stmonicami/streams.

Mass Livestreams? St. Monica livestreams one Mass each day of the week. It can be beneficial to watch weekday Masses via livestream when your schedule does not allow you attend in person. Sunday Mass livestreams are a great resource for parishioners who’s health prevents them from attending Mass. We also recommend watching the livestream if you are unable to attend Mass due to illness. For more information about Mass livestreams, visit our livestream page.

Please note that the general obligation to attend Mass on Sundays (or Saturday Vigil Mass) and Holy Days of Obligation was reinstated (CIC, can. 1247), as of December 8, 2021.