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!