Dear Parishioners:
Saint Leo the Great said: “The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the foundation of our Christian faith and the source of our eternal hope.” We celebrated this foundation of faith with great joy and solemnity at Our Lady of Mercy. The Church was beautifully decorated, the music was joyous, and many people were celebrating with faith, hope, and love. Holy Week was a beautiful celebration with great attendance by our parishioners.
There are so many people who make our celebration possible with their dedication and hard work. Let us thank God and all those who helped make Holy Week 2026 a wonderful event for our parish. Paul Anderson and his OLM Maintenance Team did a tremendous job cleaning and readying the Church. They set up and take down for each day of the Sacred Triduum. We are very grateful for their hard work and assistance during Holy Week.
Our OLM Decorating Committee should also be thanked for making the Church look so beautiful, especially at Easter. Our good Franciscan Apostolic Sisters help with decorating and cleaning, pressing altar cloths and vestments, polishing sacred vessels, and preparing for all the many Masses and Services. We are so blessed to have them with us at OLM, and we thank them for their tremendous witness of humility, hard work, joy, and faith.
Our music was superb during Holy Week. Under the direction of our talented OLM Music Director, Henri St. Louis, the choir and musicians sang and played beautifully, as did our talented Soloist, Christiana Caprarelli. We thank them for their hard work in lifting up our worship of God.
We thank our dedicated band of Altar Servers who help so much in making the Sacred Liturgies run so smoothly and reverently. In particular, we thank our Master of Ceremonies, Erik Carlson, and our two OLM Seminarians, David Del Bonis and Luke Simms, for their incredible work at all the liturgies.
We also thank our Lectors who read so well, our Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion for their kind and dedicated assistance, and our Ushers for welcoming folks to OLM and assisting us at Mass. We couldn’t be who we are as a parish without all of these dedicated parishioners.
A special thanks to Father Brodeur, our very talented Associate Pastor, for all he did to make Holy Week beautiful and solemn. It was his first Holy Week serving in a parish, and did he ever do a great job! His chanting of the Passion on Good Friday was powerful. He celebrated the Easter Vigil Mass for the first time as a priest and did a magnificent job.
Those who were baptized, received into the Church, and confirmed in the faith at the Vigil were all prepared by him this past year. We welcome them into our Church and Parish Family and offer our promise of prayers for them. May they continue to grow in faith, hope, and charity. This Easter, in the Diocese of Providence, 336 people entered full communion with the Catholic Church. Across the United States, over 40,000 people entered the Catholic Church at Easter.
These conversions are not limited to just the United States. In France, over 20,000 catechumens were received into the Church at the Easter Vigil. A record-breaking surge of conversions. This included 8,152 French teenagers who converted to Catholicism.
. In Spain, the number of adults becoming Catholic this Easter increased by 164% compared to last Easter. In Belgium, a record number of adult baptisms occurred this Easter. It was a 30% increase from last year and 300% over the past decade. Overall, Catholic Church membership passed 1.422 billion for the first time!
The New York Times recently ran a front-page story, “Roman Catholic Churches See a Surge of New Converts,” examining this growth in the Church. I think the secularists at the Times are perplexed at the positive trend. They certainly didn’t credit the Holy Spirit!
In his Easter message, Bishop Lewandowski provided a reflection on St. Augustine’s words, “ever ancient, ever new,” which remind us that the mystery of Christ’s Resurrection is timeless, yet always brings new life. He offered a special welcome to those who have entered the Church this Easter, rejoicing in the new life they share in Christ.
Let us join with him in welcoming so many here at OLM, in Rhode Island, and across the globe into our Church! As G. K. Chesterton said: “ Christianity has died many times and risen again; for it had a God who knew the way out of the grave!”
Father Brodeur and I wish you a very Blessed Easter Season! God bless. Be Good. Stay well. Alleluia, He is Risen! Alleluia, He has Risen indeed!