Christmas and New Year's greetings to you from all the Salesian Priests, Brothers, Cooperators and Volunteers of Marian Shrine.

 

   We wanted to personally thank you for considering and deciding to have Marian Shrine as a designated Site for the Holy Door and Year of Mercy and the Jubilee Year. When Daniel Frascella called in November about having the Shrine as a place to have a Holy Door to let people think of the Year of Mercy and have an opportunity of receiving plenary indulgences, I was presupposing he was calling a lot of sites throughout the whole Archdiocese - never realizing that you were having a formal decree and that you were only designating 5 places.

 

    Thank you for the honor and trust to the Salesians as well as Marian Shrine - it was a early Christmas gift. Many are getting into the privilege and are pleased to have Marian Shrine having a special place in the whole Archdiocese.

 

    We have geared up with holy cards, confessions one hour before Mass, 12 Noon Mass, followed by rosary adn the Divine Mercy Chaplet. So really we are having moments of sacraments adn prayers from 11 to 1:30. So there is an intense 2 ½ hours each weekday of people in Church. Our Shrine is open from 9:00 to 3:30 each day.

 

     The whole concept of this great gift that you bestowed is having an effect of people stepping up, talking and finding out more of the Holy Year and how it will recharge their spiritual lives.

 

      Again thank you Cardinal Dolan, all of us at the Shrine are looking forward to your visit(s). All the people here still talk of your presence during the relic day with St. John Bosco.

 

      A very Happy and Blessed New Year.

 

 

Sincerely,

  Jim

Fr. James McKenna,SDB

Director