Thanksgiving Dinner at St. Anthony of Padua

Preparation of the turkeys and hams by Sister Agustina's team including parish Social Minister, Ubaldo Cisneros!

Fr. Grinnell and Fr. Acho blessing the food.

Saint Anthony of Padua's Thanksgiving Dinner is a popular event.

With entertainment provided by our parish communities.

And lots of deserts!

Photos by Scott Engdahl

New Book Highlights Parish Peace Garden

Since we're all usually pretty busy on Thanksgiving Day with food, family, and giving thanks, you may have missed the article, Gardens Where People Grow by Adrian Higgins, in Thursday's Washington Post Home section. It reports on the new book, Open Spaces -- Sacred Spaces, which beautifully describes the gardens in and around the Washington area that have been funded by the TKF Foundation, the organization that funded our Peace and Remembrance Garden at St. Anthony of Padua.



As the article notes, our Peace Garden is one of the gardens highlighted with pictures and commentary in the book. "At St. Anthony of Padua Roman Catholic Church in Falls Church, the foundation worked with the pastor, Horace "Tuck" Grinnell, and others to create a garden of peace and remembrance that includes a columbarium." It notes that Fr. Grinnell is quoted in the book: "I think the TKF vision of what gardens do for the human spirit is exactly what the postmodern world needs. People feel deeply fragmented and yet open to a spiritual awakening that is almost pre-conscious. A garden is exactly the environment people need to open the door to mystery and spirituality."



The full article is available at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/NewsSearch?sb=-1&st=Gardens%20where%20People%20Grow&



Parishioners may purchase a copy of this wonderful book for $25.00 after the Masses on Saturday, December 6th and Sunday, December 7th. Thereafter, it'll be available in the parish gift shop. Part of the proceeds will benefit our Peace Garden.

Fr. José Camilleri

At the 11:00 am Mass last Sunday (November 23rd), we had the pleasure of welcoming Fr. José Camilleri, a missionary in Guatemala for the last 16 years, as concelebrant of the Mass. As Fr. Grinnell mentioned, Fr. Camilleri is orginally from Malta and served for 25 years in the United States. In Guatemala, he serves 50 chapels in an in the southeast part of Guatemala City and has recently established a hospital there.

Fr. Grinnell also noted that our parish's direct connection to Fr. Camilleri is thanks to one of the parish's young adult groups, Encuentro Catolica, who recently visited Father in his parish to present him with donations they had received from the Encuentro gathering in March 2008. The Encuentro team was very impressed with the work that Fr. Camilleri is doing.

As Fr. Grinnell noted, to see a short video in English about the hospital click on this link to You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uf06MDlJ40U.

Enlighten Your Mind and Spirit

On Saturday, November 1st, we celebrated a morning of prayer and formation for Lectors and Extraordinary Ministers of Communion serving Saint Anthony of Padua parish. Following Mass and a continental breakfast, there was a excellent keynote address by Anne Y. Koester, Associate Director, Georgetown Center for Liturgy, and individual breakout sessions for EMs and Lectors.

If you are interested in becoming an EM or a Lector, please call Fred in the parish office (703-820-7111) for more information; these are both wonderful opportunities to serve the parish community while also growing in one's faith.

"The one who speaks is to deliver God's message. The one who serves is to do it with the strength provided by God. Thus in all of you, God is to be glorified through Jesus Christ." -- 1Peter 4:10-11a

Fiesta del Señor de los Milagros

On Saturday, October 25th, Fr. Jorge Acho and Fr. Grinnell celebrated a special Mass for Señor de los Milagros (Lord of the Miracles). In Peru, this feast is celebrated with a large procession and dates back to colonial times, when a slave from Angola, drew the image of a black Christ on the walls of a hut on a plantation near Lima. The image stayed on the wall despite several attempts to erase it.

Photos thanks to Scott Engdahl.

Youth Ministry Concert

Saturday, October 18th, the Youth Ministry hosted a concert, Avivia El Fuego -- Feed the Fire, here at St. Anthony of Padua. The groups included: Holy Fire from New York (the group in the black Jesus shirts), Jovenes de Valor Dance Ministry Shekinah, Uncion de lo Alto (Nueva Esperanza), and Emmanuel (with Fr. Jorge).

Catholic Healing Ministry

Fr. Grinnell celebrated a Mass and Healing Service Friday, October 17th -- the 18th anniversary of the Catholic Healing Ministry of the Diocese of Arlington that began here at St. Anthony of Padua. For more information about the Healing Ministry see the article below from Our Sunday Visitor.

The next Mass and Healing Service will be Friday, November 21st at 7:30 pm at St. John the Evangelist Church in Warrenton, Virginia. All are welcome!

Our Lady of the Atonement Praesidium 50th Anniversary

The Saint Anthony of Padua Legion of Mary, Our Lady of Atonement Praesidium is celebrating its 50th anniversary. When Our Lady of the Atonement Praesidium was established in October 1958, the area around Saint Anthony of Padua's parish was still mostly rural but rapidley becoming a booming suburb of Washington, DC. Over the next 50 years, the Praesidium has served the parish community in numerous ways. Currently Our Lady of the Atonement Praesidium has nine active members, one of whom has been with the group since its establishment in 1958. They continue all the weekly works of door-to-door visitation, visits to Manor Care Nursing Home for Mass, the bookcart, and the Alexandria Public Safety Center for Mass.


The Legion of Mary is a lay Catholic association founded in Dublin, Ireland on September 7, 1921. Currently it has over 2,250,000 active members in more than 160 countries. Legion praesidia consist of two types of membership -- active and auxiliary. Active members attend a weekly meeting and are assigned some type of evangelization work approved by the pastor to be performed in pairs. Auxiliary members offer a daily rosary and some Legion prayers for the success of this work and the intentions of the Blessed Mother. The objective of the Legion is to enhance the spiritual life of its members through prayer and works for Jesus through Mary.


For more information, please call the Parish Office at 703-820-7111 Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm.

Parishioners at Inaugural VOICE Public Action Oct. 5, 2008

275 parishioners attended the Inaugural VOICE Public Action Sunday, Oct. 5th at First Mount Zion Baptist Church in Dumfries. There was wonderful entertainment (a great choir from First Mount Zion), drama (political leaders being asked to commit specifically to work on social justice issues of concern to our community), and fellowship (over 2,000 members of 40 other churches, synagogues, and mosques attended). Parish Nurse Georgine Redmond was a featured speaker. For more information (and pictures) about the Action and VOICE see the parish's social justice blog!

Photos thanks to Scott Engdahl.

Trick or Treat!

The monthly Senior Health-Spot Luncheon was held last Friday, October 3rd. The theme was Halloween -- with a special sweet treat for each attendee. The health topic was "Maintaining a Healthy Back as We Age" presented by our Parish Nurse, Georgine Redmond. We even had our own "devil" (a good one, of course) visiting. The next Senior Health-Spot Luncheon will be Friday, November 7th following the 12 noon Mass. All are invited!

Parish Picnic 2008

The Knights of Columbus sponsored the first annual Parish Picnic on Sunday, Sept. 21st. The Picnic was a wonderful reason to sit outside on the last full day of summer under the spreading tree in front of the school, enjoy delicious food (chorizos, hotdogs, hamburgers, corn, chips, sodas, cakes, and snowcones), and meet and talk with fellow parishioners. They even had carry-out for those who had soccer games, family activities, or just watching the Redskins. The Knights were assisted by our talented youth from the Squires and Roses.

Thanks to the Knights for a wonderful Parish community activity!