• 5/16/22:  Phone Lines Down - Our phone lines are down at the parish & school offices. We can receive calls but the line drops after a minute. They are currently working on repairs. With this now happening several times this year, we are actively pursuing a new phone provider and system. and apologize for the inconvenience.

• 5/12/22:  Mass for the 5th Sunday of Easter will be live streamed at 10:30am on Sunday, please note the time change, and available on our YouTube Channel after it streams.

• 5/11/22:  In the midst of current tensions, we invite Catholics around the country to join us in fasting and praying the Rosary on Friday, May 13, the Memorial of Our Lady of Fatima.  More info.

• 5/5/22:  Mass for the 4th Sunday of Easter will be live streamed at 4:30pm on Saturday & available on our YouTube Channel after it streams.  

• 5/3/22:  Blessing of the Babies - On May 20th at 1:45pm the SMM kindergarten class will hold the Blessing of the Babies Prayer Service in the church.  We would like to extend an invitation to all mothers and their babies born in 2020-2022, as well as expectant mothers!  RSVP not required, but suggested, in an effort to gage attendance.  Please RSVP to Melissa Pollio.

• 5/2/22:  Ministry of Caring Volunteers Needed - A group of SMM Parishioners have been preparing & serving meals at Emmanuel Dining Room East in Wilmington on the 27th of each month.  We need a few new volunteers to help us with this outreach effort.  You don’t need to commit to help every month and we don’t provide meals if the 27th falls on a weekend.  If you are able to help and/or have additional questions, please call Laury and Ed Kusner at 302-655-4575. 

• 4/29/22:  Collection Drive for Ukraine - SMM School is having a collection drive for the United Ukrainian American Relief Organization, which provides assistance to Ukrainian refugees, particularly those in orphanages, who have been impacted by the war.  SMM church will be assisting in their drive by having a bin in the main vestibule of church collecting NEW kids underwear and NEW kids socks if you would like to donate.  We will be running this drive through May 8^th and at that time take all donations over to the school.

• 4/28/22:  2022 Faith and Charity Catholic Appeal - This weekend is Commitment Weekend for the 2022 Faith and Charity Catholic Appeal.  In-pew solicitation will be conducted at all Masses this weekend.  Please take a moment to view the Faith and Charity Catholic Appeal video from Bishop Koenig.

• 4/28/22:  Mass for the 3rd Sunday of Easter will be live streamed at 4:30pm on Saturday & available on our YouTube Channel after it streams.  

• 4/28/22:  Our phone lines have been restored! You can now call the parish and school offices and we can make calls out. Thank you for your patience and understanding this past week.  Since we have had this happen several times, we are meeting with new phone vendors.

• 4/27/22:  Update on Phone Lines - Our phone lines at the school and parish have been down since April 21st.  We are unable to receive or make calls.  Notification of our phones down has been placed on our website, social media and emailed to parishioners today, so they are aware if they have been trying to call and unable to get through.
  
  If you need to reach the parish office please visit www.smmchurch.org/contact-us and click on the name of the person you need to be connected to their email address.  Please email info@smmschoolde.com if you need to contact the school.
  
  We have been working with the XO, Verizon and Comstar companies daily trying to get phone service restored.  To date pieces of internal equipment have been replaced and several repairs have been made to external wiring at various points in the line from the road to the building and the entry point on the building.  They are sending out another team today to conduct more repairs and we hope to have the issue resolved.  Thank you for your patience and understanding during this time.

• 4/25/22:  Phones lines are still down - Our phone lines continue to be down; we are not able to call out or receive calls.  We are working to have the issue resolved and apologize for this inconvenience.  Visit our Contact Us page to access emails to communicate with us in the meantime.

• 4/18/22:  Happy Easter!  Alleluia, He is Risen! The parish office is closed this week for Easter break and will reopen on Monday, April 25th.  View pictures of our Easter Vigil, Easter Egg Hunt, and our Best Dressed winners in our Easter 2022 Photo Album.

• 4/13/22:  HOLY WEEK 2022 - Join us this Holy Week for the Sacred Paschal Triduum: Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday.  All 3 days of the Triduum will be in person & live-streamed, available on our You Tube Channel after they air.  Easter Sunday Masses are at 8:30am & 10:30am and will not be live streamed.  Links to the live stream, Worship Aids, and Easter Bulletin below:  

1. Holy Thursday 7pm live stream
2. Good Friday 3pm live stream
3. Easter Vigil 8pm live stream
4. Worship Aids for Triduum & Easter Sunday
5. Easter Bulletin 

• 4/11/22:  Reconciliation Monday - Prepare your heart for Easter and attend Reconciliation Monday.  St. Mary Magdalen Parish will have extended Confession hours today, April 11th from 3pm to 8pm, the Monday of Holy Week.  The extended hours on this date go for all the churches within the Diocese of Wilmington.  Read the letter from Bishop Koenig about Reconciliation Monday. 

• 4/7/22:  Mass for Palm Sunday will be live streamed at 8:30am on Sunday (note time change) & available on our YouTube Channel after it streams.  The bulletin & worship aid for this weekend are also available online & in church.  Children's Liturgy of the Word this Sunday at our 8:30am Mass.  Please read the Bishop's letter for Reconciliation Monday and the letter from the Diocese of Mandeville, Jamaica.

• 3/31/22:  Mass for the 5th Sunday of Lent will be live streamed at 10:30am (note time change) on Sunday & available on our YouTube Channel after it streams.  The bulletin & worship aid for this weekend are also available online & in church.  Children's Liturgy of the Word this Sunday at our 8:30am Mass. 

• 3/29/22:  SMM Elderly Outreach - The SMM Elderly Outreach Committee is a group of volunteers within our parish that makes phone calls to over 200 elderly parishioners a few times a year.  The calls are a casual check in on current health and living situations, in-home communion needs, email address updates for receipt of bulletins or other parish communications or to just have a friendly chat for a few minutes.  If you are interested in assisting with this calling effort, please contact Lisa McFadden.

• 3/28/22:  Reconciliation Monday - Prepare your heart for Easter and attend Reconciliation Monday.  St. Mary Magdalen Parish will have extended Confession hours on the Monday of Holy Week, April 11th from 3pm to 8pm.  The extended hours on this date go for all the churches within the Diocese of Wilmington.           

• 3/28/22:  Offertory Counters - We are looking for additional offertory counters to join the team with the goal of having enough volunteers that shifts could be taken if a volunteer preferred, rather than a weekly commitment.  You do not need to be an accountant, just know how to count money.  If you are available Mondays at 8am and would like to make more friends at the parish, consider volunteering!   Those interested, please contact Marc Minnick.

• 3/24/22:  Mass for the 4th Sunday of Lent will be live streamed at 4:30pm on Saturday & available on our YouTube Channel after it streams.  The bulletin & worship aid for this weekend are also available online & in church. 

• 3/23/22:  Abstinence from Meat Not Required This Friday - While Fridays in Lent normally are a day of abstinence from meat, canon law provides an exception for solemnities that fall on a Friday, as the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord does this year. Therefore, Catholics are not obligated to maintain the usual Lenten abstinence on Friday, March 25.

• 3/20/22:  Pray for Peace and for the Conversion of Russia - On Friday, March 25th, the Solemnity of the Annunciation, the Holy Father has specifically invited the bishops of the world to join him in the Act of Consecration of Humanity especially Russia and the Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  Pursuant to that request, Bishop Koenig will lead the Diocese of Wilmington in the Act of Consecration at the Cathedral of Saint Peter beginning at Noon (5 p.m. Rome Time).  Mass for the Solemnity will follow.  Our Pastor, Father Kirk, along with other priests from the Diocese will be concelebrants.  Please join in the unity of prayer at that time for the conversion of Russia and for peace.  The Mass is open to the public and will be live streamed on the Diocese of Wilmington YouTube.  Follow along and pray the Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary that will be used.  Additional Information

• 3/18/22: The Bishop Curtis Council KofC is sponsoring a Rosary prayer service at Our Lady of Peace Statue – Holy Spirit Catholic Church in New Castle, DE for citizens of Ukraine and their families.  The service will start at noon on Saturday March 26, 2022.  All are invited to attend.  More information contact Jerry Poore.

• 3/18/22:  Mass for the 3rd Sunday of Lent will be live streamed at 4:30pm on Saturday & available on our YouTube Channel after it streams.  The bulletin & worship aid for this weekend are also available online & in church.  

• 3/17/22:  Easter Dinner Donations - Help us provide 50 Easter dinners for those within our neighboring community.  Donate online today.

• 3/9/22:  Mass for the 2nd Sunday of Lent will be live streamed at 8:30am on Sunday (please note time change) & available on our YouTube Channel after it streams.  The bulletin & worship aid for this weekend are also available online & in church.  Fr. Gary Weismann, a missionary priest for the Diocese of Mandeville in Jamaica, will be at all the masses this weekend.

•  3/8/22:  Collection Instructions for this Weekend:  We have many collections now scheduled for this weekend, more than the usual two.  The ushers will circulate with the collection baskets only twice & the collections will run as follows:

• Weekly Offertory, envelope
• Parish Capital Projects, envelope

• The Churches in Eastern Europe, specifically for Ukraine, Diocesan Collection, no envelope
• Parish Mission, The Diocese of Mandeville, no envelope
   

• 3/3/22:  Mass for the 1st Sunday of Lent will be live streamed at 4:30pm on Saturday & available on our YouTube Channel after it streams.  The bulletin & worship aid for this weekend are also available online & in church. 

• 3/2/22:  Special Collection March 12/13 - The people of Ukraine need our help! The Diocese of Wilmington will conduct a special collection the weekend of March 12/13 to aid the Church in Eastern Europe - especially Ukraine. There is great risk of additional suffering both within Ukraine and for those who may flee to neighboring countries for safety.  Additionally, if parishioners would like to assist the people of Ukraine, they may do so through Catholic Relief Services. 

• 2/28/22:  Our second collection March 5 & 6 will be for Catholic Relief Services, going directly towards the urgent need in Ukraine.  Your help is needed in Ukraine where there are already more than 2.9 million people in need of assistance.  CRS and Caritas partners on the ground are preparing across Ukraine and in bordering countries, ready to provide safe shelter, hot meals, hygiene supplies, fuel to keep warm, transport to safe areas, counseling support and more.  The situation there is rapidly unfolding, and CRS could not do this work without your help.  When you donate, you provide immediate assistance for your Ukrainian sisters and brothers affected by this crisis.  Your prayers and support will make so much difference.  

• 2/24/22:  Mass for the 8th Sunday in Ordinary Time will be live streamed at 4:30pm on Saturday & available on our YouTube Channel after it streams.  The bulletin & worship aid for this weekend are also available online & in church.  The SMM Girl Scouts will be selling cookies in the vestibule after all Masses this weekend.

• 2/22/22:  SMM Keychains for Sale:  Stop in the parish office to purchase a SMM Parish keychain for $5.  These are the same keychains given to our new drivers on Keychain Sunday.  Photo of key chain

• 2/22/22:  The Diocese of Wilmington has discontinued all previous COVID-19 guidance in DE and the Eastern Shore of MD effective 2/15/22 in light of easing of restrictions in both states.  SMM will continue to sanitize common areas and have hand sanitizers available at entrances.  We support a welcoming environment for those members of our parish who wish to wear masks.  To read the full update, with the exceptions listed, visit our COVID Guidance page.

•  2/18/22:  The parish office will be closed Monday, Feb. 21st for President's Day. 

• 2/17/22:  Mass for the 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time will be live streamed at 10:30AM on Sunday (please note time change) & available on our YouTube Channel after it streams.  The bulletin & worship aid for this weekend are also available online & in church.  Children's Liturgy of the Word will be held at the 8:30am Mass.

• 2/10/22:  Mass for the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time will be live streamed at 4:30pm on Saturday & available on our YouTube Channel after it streams.  The bulletin & worship aid for this weekend are also available online & in church.  This weekend is Keychain Sunday and we will be blessing those teens that have received their drivers license in the past year.

• 2/7/22:  RCIA - Are you someone or do you know someone who:

1. Has expressed an interest in becoming Catholic?
2. Has a child over the age of seven who has not been baptized?
3. Was baptized Catholic as a child, but has not celebrated the Sacraments of Confirmation and Eucharist?

• 2/4/22:  Mass for the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time will be live streamed at 4:30pm on Saturday & available on our YouTube Channel after it streams.  The bulletin & worship aid for this weekend are also available online & in church.  We will be blessing all candles in church this weekend for Candlemas & blessing throats for the Feast of St. Blaise.

• 1/31/22:  Sydod Listening Session - Starting February 12, 2022, Bishop Koenig will officially begin the diocesan phase of the Synod with listening sessions held for parish representatives throughout the diocese.  Thank you to Dennis Harris, Michael Janes, Susan Mulvihill, Pete Clark & Joan Przywara who will be representing SMM Parish at our Brandywine Hundred Deanery Listening session on Feb. 12th.

• 1/28/22:  Mass for the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time will be live streamed at 4:30pm on Saturday & available on our YouTube Channel after it streams.  The bulletin & worship aid for this weekend are also available online & in church. 

• 1/28/22:  St. Mary Magdalen Launches our NEW App - Dowload our NEW mobile app onto your cell phone or iPad, to will quickly and easily access information about St. Mary Magdalen Parish:  Mass Times, Sacraments, Worship Aid, a direct link to watch Mass, and much more.  Download the app today!  

• 1/21/22:  Mass for the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time will be live streamed at 4:30pm on Saturday & available on our YouTube Channel after it streams.  The bulletin & worship aid for this weekend are also available online & in church. 

• 1/21/22:  CDOW Synod Deanery Listening Sessions - We are looking for 5 parishioners from SMM to send to participate in a Listening Session as part of the recent Synod process started by Pope Francis. Pope Francis is asking the entire Church throughout the world to reflect prayerfully on how the Holy Spirit is calling us to improve upon our “journeying together” as a Church to God’s heavenly kingdom. In this spirit, the Listening Session experience will provide an opportunity for us to listen to God in our own hearts and in the voices of one another. In effect, this will help us to grow in the goals of the Synod for better communion, increased participation, and clarity of our mission as Christians in our present time.  The City and Brandywine Hundred Deaneries Listening session will be held Saturday, February 12th at 10 AM at St. Elizabeth Church Hall, Wilmington and will be about 2 hours in length.  If you are interested, and available on this date, contact Stephanie Casey or the parish office.  Further instructions will be provided.

• 1/20/22: St. Paul Roof Fund - St. Paul Catholic Church located at 1010 W. 4th Street in Wilmington needs to have their roof replaced as soon as possible.  They are asking for our assistance to help accomplish their goal of raising $700,000 which is the amount estimated to replace the roof & make the needed repairs to the church interiors.  To donate online visit St. Paul Roof Fund or if sending in a check, put in the memo section St. Paul Roof Fund.  

• 1/19/22:  Flash Food Drive - Thank you to everyone that donated food towards our flash food drive for Holy Rosary’s food closet. Because of your generosity, we were able to drop off a trailer worth of food today to them and they were very grateful!

• 1/18/22:  SMM School Open House - St. Mary Magdalen School will hold an open house on Sunday, January 30th from 9am through 12pm.  Open to all.  Guided and self guided tours are available, and masks are required.  We welcome all families, alumni, and parishioners to come and see our school.  There will be a coffee & donuts outside after the 8:30am Mass on Jan. 30th so you can have a bite before going to the Open House.

• 1/14/22:  Mass for the 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time will be live streamed at 4:30pm on Saturday & available on our YouTube Channel after it streams.  The bulletin & worship aid for this weekend are also available online & in church. 

• 1/13/22:  2021 Tax Donation Letters - The 2021 tax donation letters will be sent via email on Jan. 13th to those parishioners that have requested for annual statements to be sent each year. If you would like a 2021 tax donation letter, please email Stephanie Casey or call the parish office to request to have tax donation letters automatically emailed each year.

• 1/13/22:  Flash Food Drive - we will be having a flash food drive this weekend and Monday through Wednesday of next week.  The Holy Rosary Food Closet is having a critical shortage of the following items jelly, soup, spaghetti sauce, baked beans, crackers, peanut butter, elbow macaroni, pancake syrup and apple juice.  Collection boxes will be in the main church vestibule if you would like to donate.   

• 1/11/22:  SMM Parish needs to raise $5,872 to meet our Annual Catholic Appeal goal for 2021. If you can help in any way, please visit Ways to Give to donate online & be sure to mark that it is for SMM Parish. The Development Office will continue collecting the balance of the monies pledged through Jan. 25, 2022. This gives us an opportunity to collect additional donations toward our goals and individuals an opportunity to fulfill their pledged donations.

• 1/9/22:  The Mass Intention book for 2022 is completely full.  We are unable to issue Mass Intention cards until the 2023 Mass Book opens in September 2022.

• 1/7/22:  Mass for the Baptism of the Lord will be live streamed at 4:30pm on Saturday & available on our YouTube Channel after it streams.  The bulletin & worship aid for this weekend are also available online & in church.  Home Blessing Kits are available at the exits.  

• 1/6/22:   In response to the rising numbers of positive COVID-19 cases, particularly the Omicron variant, the Diocese of Wilmington is issuing new COVID-19 protocols for all parishes effective January 6, 2022.  We encourage all attendees to be masked while attending Mass.  To view all the updated guidance in detail visit our COVID-19 Guidance page.

• 1/5/22:  2021 Tax Donation Letters - Due to the Christmas holiday, we are still keying in offertory for December.  The 2021 tax donation letters will be sent via email on Jan. 14th to those parishioners that have requested for annual statements to be sent each year. If you would like a 2021 tax donation letter, please email Stephanie Casey or call the parish office to request to have tax donation letters automatically emailed each year.

• 1/3/22: Due to inclement weather, the parish office will close at noon today.

2021 Parish Updates

2020 Parish Updates

Our approach:  to have a safe and gradual reopening, making changes as needed, ensuring the best practices are utilized.  Phase 1 began when we opened our doors again on 6/4/20, with additional daily masses added 7/14/20.   After consulting with several groups & individuals, SMM Parish began Phase 2 on Saturday 8/1/20 which included the addition of more daily masses as well as more weekend masses, which is our current schedule.  

Up-to-date info on coronavirus within the State of DE: de.gov/coronavirus