Ooooh, I'm getting a little nervous. We had a meeting with the architect for the renovation of the Chapel and the Director of the Mall on Friday, and there are a few hidden costs that we hadn't planned on. Since we are doing a major renovation, we have to bring some of the items up to code (e.g., the fire sprinkler and the smoke alarm systems). We have to speak witht the Fire Department and see just what is required here in Peabody. Say a prayer that this won't throw us too much over budget.

Greetings to all.
We recently published the photos of the architect's drawings for the 50th anniversary renovation of the Chapel. So far, all comments have been very positive.
I had been overly optimistic, hoping that we would be able to start the work in October. However, in order to avoid disrupting the Chapel during the Advent season, we will not begin the construction til January. It is estimated that the work will take between 60 and 90 days. The Chapel will remain open during the renovation, but the Blessed Sacrament will not be exposed.
The actual 50th anniversary of the first Mass and the dedication of the Chapel to St. Therese of Lisieux is January 28th.
I hope every one will remember to write down their e-mail address at the entrance of the Chapel so that we can keep everyone up-to-date with anything happening in the Chapel. So far we have an e-mail list of about 70 names.

Fr. Felix and I attended the "Priests Appreciation Night" at the Convention Center in Boston last night. It was really a great night. Over 1600 people enjoyed a great meal with some very thoughtful presentations, among them former Ambassador to the Vatican, Ambassador Flynn, William Bulger, Fr. John MacInnis of St. John's in Peabody, and Cardinal Sean. Fr. Felix and I were the guests of James Shea and his wife from St Thomas the Apostle Parish in Peabody.

Chapel-in-the-Mall e-mail list.

By the way, I am happy to report that we now have over 70 names on our e-mail list for the Chapel-in-the-Mall. It gives me a way of communicating with those who come to worship at the Chapel to keep them up-to-date on what is happening and also to send them some inspirational items that float around the net from time to time. And we are receiving additional addresses almost every day as people see the sign-up sheet at the entrance to the Chapel.

By the way, today I celebrated the 55th anniversary of my profession of vows which took place at the Carmelite Novitiate in New Baltimore, PA I might add that they have been 55 wonderful years.

Hi, I was just reading the new English translation of some of the prayers used at Mass. They can be found at: usccb.org/romanmissal/example.shtml I'm not to happy with some of them. They seem rather stilted and I don't think they will be so meaningful for the people. I hope I'm wrong.

The August Men's Night of Prayer and Reflection was held last night. Attendance was slightly off. I'm sure that this was due to it being the height of the vacationseason and the extreme heat. Fr. Felix spoke last night on Baptism and what it means for us as adults.