Shawn Storer, director of Catholic Peace Fellowship, has issued the following public invitation:
Peace. The Saint Marcellus Day 2013 events that will take place in South Bend and Notre Dame, Indiana on Marcellus’ feast day, Wednesday, October 30th, are as follows:
This year’s pilgrimage walk to the relics of Saint Marcellus will begin at 4:00 p.m. outside Saint Joseph Parish at the corner of Hill and LaSalle streets near downtown South Bend. A blessing will be given by Fr. Kevin Russeau, C.S.C., pastor of Saint Joseph Parish, and Shawn Storer, director of the Catholic Peace Fellowship, will offer some initial remarks. (There will be available a shuttle back to Saint Joseph Parish after the conclusion of the prayer service).
Beginning at 5:45 p.m. a light supper will be provided by the Saint Peter Claver Catholic Worker Community in the Notre Dame LaFortune Ballroom just southeast of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. (Donations for the meal will be accepted and the parking lot behind the basilica will be open for those joining the events at this time). At 6:30p.m. the Nickel & Dime Acting Troupe will perform a dramatization of the Passion of Saint Marcellus.
At 7:00 p.m. all are invited to gather by the relics of Saint Marcellus in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart for a prayer service. The keynote speaker this year will be the Rev. Emmanuel Charles McCarthy, a Melkite Catholic priest, founder of the Center for Christian Nonviolence (http://www.centerforchristiannonviolence.org/), founder and past director of the University of Notre Dame program on the Study and Practice of Nonviolent Conflict Resolution, and a life-long scholar and practioner of Christian nonviolence. Fr. McCarthy’s address is entitled, “Marcellus: The Family Values Saint.” The evening also will include the telling of the story of Saint Marcellus by Janeen Bertsche Johnson, campus pastor at the Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, remarks by Michael Griffin of Holy Cross College and the Catholic Peace Fellowship, and music by a vocal ensemble from Manchester College.
In addition to these aforementioned events, both the 11:30am Mass and the 5:15pm Mass at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on October 30th will be offered in commemoration of Saint Marcellus.
The annual Saint Marcellus Day events are co-sponsored and co-coordinated by the Center for Peace and Nonviolence of Saint Joseph County, Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, and the Catholic Peace Fellowship with the cooperation of the staff at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart.
In recent years, many have begun preparing for the feast of Saint Marcellus with the following novena. If you are interested, you can find it at the following link: http://www.emmanuelcharlesmccarthy.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/St.-Marcellus-Novena-01.pdf
On behalf of our staff: Leah, Jessica, Maria and Billy; our advisers; our wider circle of volunteers and the other event co-sponsors, I invite you to join us for any or all of the upcoming events.