In the spirit of the National Eucharistic Revival, visit Saint Anne Shrine of Fall River during Corpus Christi weekend: Friday, May 31-Sunday, June 2. We are hosting liturgies, exhibits, Adoration time, and more to cultivate your love of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
The weekend is especially important to the Shrine, as it will mark the blessing & opening of our Adoration Chapel in the lower church!
For more updates and information, follow our social media pages @StAnneShrineFR or call us at (508) 678-1510. We look forward to welcoming you during our Eucharistic Weekend!
The schedule for devotions during Holy Week, 2024 have been published. All devotions will be held in the lower shrine at the times listed. For more information, please contact the Shrine office during regular business hours at 508.678.1510, or visit the Immaculate Conception Gift Shop in the entry to the Shrine.
Completing a mult-year renovation effort, the final piece of the Santo Cristo Chapel was installed today: the protective gates, as originally placed when the chapel was built.
Renovation work proceeds on the lower church shrines, one at a time. As shown in the post below from a few days ago, we are moving forward on the Dominican Crypt to take care of renovating after years of neglect. It’s an involved process, depending on the skill and dedication of various crafts and time, not to mention donations, which allow us to return this beloved church to be a beacon of hope for the City.
Please consider making a donation, using the link on the right side of this site, or stopping by the Shrine during regular business hours. EVERY dollar goes towards the repair of this Church; the entire staff is volunteering their time and talents towards the goal, so you can be assured your donation(s) are used ethically and for the sole purpose of giving glory to God and in honor of our patroness, the Good St. Anne in whose name we have been working for the last 5 years.
While renovation continues on the roof and rain gutter system on the outside, work is proceeding on inside improvements to the Shrine. In the past few months, with the generous contribution of Providence College towards the renovation of the Dominican Crypt, water ingress remediation, wall reconstruction, refinishing of the crypt itself, and a new floor system to compliment the renovated crypt is being planned.
You can see that the formerly deteriorated walls have been replaced; along the outside wall, a water trench and extraction pump was installed to keep the crypt dry. The faces of the graves in the crypt have been refinished and new brass plaques identifying the priests have been placed. The gates to the crypt are in the process of being refinished and will be reinstalled as part of the renovation. A refinished altar will be reinstalled, and this chapel will be dedicated to the Dominican Order, who were so instrumental in the foundation and spiritual guidance of St. Anne’s for close to a century. A new floor, inlaid with a mosaic of the seal of the Dominican order, will highlight their contribution to the life of the City.
While the crypt renovation proceeds, we are repairing the destroyed walls which exposed the original brick foundations of the shrine, laid in the 1890s, with a waterproofed finish. This will be matched to the non-damaged interior walls above the moisture line; the underlying brick was sealed to reduce the water ingress. Richard Affonso, former president of the Society, is seen working on the damaged section to the left of the Dominican Crypt this morning, with photos of the progress included.
Deteriorated wall exposing original brick and wall.
Richard Affonso preparing walls for plaster.
Finished underlayment and ready for final plaster and paint.
Also planned for reveal in the near future is our updated Eucharistic Adoration Chapel, funded by generous donations, in the former St. Jude Chapel to the right of the main sanctuary. It too was renovated to control water ingress, and will be available for private prayer when the Shrine is open. The chapel was built with the encouragement of Fr. Edward Murphy, Shrine Chaplain, and is managed by Messrs. Michael Antaya, Director of Liturgy, and Bryan Boyle, Shrine Sacristan for the benefit of our visitors.
The preservation society depends on the generosity and support of all who visit this beloved landmark church in Fall River. We are open Monday-Saturday 10:00AM to 4:00PM, Sunday 12:00PM to 4:00PM for your convenience. Confessions are heard every Thursday from 2:00PM-3:15PM in the lower shrine. For more information, please call the Shrine at 508-678-1510.
Just in case your Sunday bulletin didn’t have these…
According to the 1983 Code of Canon Law for the Latin Rite Church, Latin Rite (Roman) Catholics are bound to observe fasting and abstinence on Ash Wednesday.
Here are some details. I am sure you know them already, but it’s good to review.
FASTING: Catholics who are 18 years old up until their 59th birthday (when one begins their 60th year), are bound under pain of sin to fast: 1 full meal and perhaps some little food at a couple points during the day as long as they don’t add up to a full second meal on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.
ABSTINENCE: Catholics who are 14 years old and older are abound to abstain from land-based animal flesh or preparations made from them such as gravy, sauces, soups, etc. (seafood, crustaceans, etc is permitted) on Ash Wednesday, on all Fridays of Lent, and Good Friday.
In general, when you have a medical condition of some kind, or you are pregnant, etc., these requirements can be relaxed, but it is a good thing to substitute some other form of penance under the guidance of your pastor or spiritual director. Failing to observe any one requirement once is not a cause of concern and can be dispensed with by a priest; failure to observe any is a serious matter.
