10. The First Scrutiny of the Elect was celebrated at the 5:30pm Mass. These powerful prayers over the Elect to be baptized at Easter engage the entire community in prayer and preparation for the great celebration our redemption at Easter.
29. The Chrism Mass was celebrated by Archbishop Brunett in the Cathedral. This beautiful liturgy gathers hundreds from across Western Washington for the blessing of the oils used in sacramental celebrations at Easter and throughout the coming year.
April1. Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion. We set out on the journey of Holy Week. The 10 o’clock Mass began in O’Dea Gym. More than 1,000 people processed with palms to the Cathedral for the solemn celebration of the Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. At the Noon Mass, the children of the Cathedral had a special procession of their own. View the album.
5. Holy Thursday. In his homily tonight, Father Ryan said: “Tonight we are on one of those high places where earth and heaven meet. This night is holy unlike any other. This is the night of the New Commandment. This is the night when Jesus is in our midst as ‘one who serves.’ This is the night when we become what we receive. This is the night when the impossible becomes possible, when we begin to love one another as He has loved us!” Read Father Ryan's homily. View the album.
6. Good Friday. At the Tre Ore service on Good Friday, we were privileged to welcome Father Ron Rolheiser, who preached on the Seven Last Words of Christ. View the album.
8. Easter Sunday. In his homily, Father Ryan said: “Easter completes what Christmas began. At Christmas, the Word of God embraced all that is human by taking on our flesh and becoming one of us. At Easter, God raises up to glory all that is human, charging it—charging us—with divinity. Let the poet complete the thought: ‘In a flash, at a trumpet crash/I am all at once what Christ is, since he was what I am, and/This Jack, joke, poor potsherd, patch, matchwood, immortal diamond—/Is immortal diamond.’ Happy Easter!” Read Father Ryan's homily here. View the album.
12. Yom HaShoah. As part of our celebration of our Centennial year, we were privileged to gather with our Jewish brothers and sisters to remember the Holocaust. View the album.
20. A special Mass was held in Memory of the victims of the Virginia Tech Massacre. Father Stephen Sundborg, SJ, president of Seattle University, preached on this occasion.
27. The Student Recognition Ceremony gathered hundreds of seventh graders from Catholic Schools across the Archdiocese to honor their achievements in academics, faith, and leadership.
29. Archbishop Brunett presided at our parish celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation.
May6. Marian Celebration with Cathedral Children. Following the Noon Mass, Father Ryan and the children of the parish led the assembly in praying the rosary. The rosary concluded with the crowning of the image of Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom, in the Archbishop Murphy Courtyard.
20. Seventeen children received their First Holy Communion today. View the album.
27. Pentecost. A magnificent installation of red, orange, and gold banners helped us celebrate Pentecost—the birthday of the Church. Father Ryan said in his homily: “God is timeless... and the divine action, the divine energy unleashed in the Incarnation, or the Resurrection, or the Sending of the Spirit isn’t locked in the past: it’s ongoing, ever new. ...The Holy Spirit who burst forth upon the apostles in wind and fire on Pentecost is still fanning those flames, lighting those fires in our time. Pentecost may be history but Pentecost is also here and now!” Read Father Ryan's homily. View the album.
30. O’Dea High School celebrated its 82nd annual Baccalaureate Mass at St. James.
31. Holy Names Academy celebrated its Baccalaureate Mass at St. James today.
June
9. Ordinations to the Priesthood. Archbishop Brunett ordained our own parishioner, Gary Lazzeroni, and Mel Strazicich, to the priesthood. View the album.
9. Archbishop Brunett celebrated the Baccalaureate Mass for Seattle University on a very rainy afternoon.
10. Corpus Christi. After the 10 o’clock Mass, more than a thousand thronged the procession with the Blessed Sacrament around the block, giving honor to Christ’s Real Presence in the Eucharist. View the album.
10. Father Gary Lazzeroni offered his “First Mass” at the Noon Mass, surrounded by friends, family and his parish community.
25. On the tenth anniversary of the death of Archbishop Murphy, Archbishop Brunett offered Mass in Memory of the Deceased Bishops of the Archdiocese of Seattle.
July
25. The unforgettable celebration of our Cathedral Centennial gathered over 1,300 people from across the Archdiocese of Seattle. View the album.
29. Feast of St. James. We celebrated the feast of our beloved patron with great solemnity—and a parish picnic. In his homily for the day, Father Ryan said: “Like James, we have been given a great deal: a call to follow, a friendship with the Master, some moments of special intimacy with him and, yes, a lifetime of perplexing struggles where the question marks often come more frequently than do the exclamation points. No matter. We are in good company—the company of James, the first apostle to give his life for Jesus. Names are important, and so are patron saints, and we’ve been given a great one!” View the album. Read Father Ryan's homily.
August6-10. Choir Camp. This year’s Choir Camp was the biggest and best ever, with 80 (!) young people spending five exciting days at St. James Cathedral, learning about prayer, procession, and music. On Friday, they not only provided beautiful music at Mass, but presented a medieval sung drama for the whole parish—the Play of Daniel. Visit the Choir Camp page.
September
16. We celebrated the retirement of Sister Anne Herkenrath, snjm and Sister Claudette Conrad, snjm, who for twenty-five and twenty-four years, respectively, have been at the heart of everything that goes on at St. James. We gave thanks to God for their extraordinary witness in our midst. God bless you, Sister Anne and Sister Claudette! View the album. Read Father Ryan's homily.
October
7. First Sunday Youth Celebration. Children’s Faith Formation classes began after their summer hiatus. Children, parents, and catechists received a special blessing at the Noon Mass.
29. Archbishop Brunett celebrated the tenth anniversary of his appointment as Archbishop of Seattle with a beautiful Mass gathering hundreds of priests and laity to celebrate. He concluded his homily with a prayer: “I thank you for joining me today, and I leave you with the prayer that we may always be inspired to stand tall in the light of the Resurrection; to seek out together the bright face of beauty in the lives of all we serve; to reach for the vision that will help us see the world through eyes of tenderness and to love all with an open–heartedness.”
November
2. The Cathedral Choir presented Mozart’s matchless Requiem in the context of the solemn Mass of All Souls. View the album. Read Father Ryan's homily.
16. Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart celebrated its centennial with Mass at St. James Cathedral.
17. Twenty-one men from across Western Washington were ordained to the permanent diaconate today, including our own sacristan, David Olsen. View the album.
22. More than 500 attended the beautiful Mass of Thanksgiving Day. Father Ryan said: “Our desire to thank God is itself God’s gift. How fitting, then, that we go now to the altar where our poor words of thanks and our expressions of gratitude will be transformed into divine words of thanks: Eucharist… It is right to give God thanks and praise!”