December 29 - St. Thomas Becket

See Saint-a-day for more information about this English martyr.

December 28 - Holy Innocents

For more information about today's feast, see Saint-a-day.

TRIVIA: one parish in the St. Louis Archdiocese was named for this feast. It closed in 2005, along with St. Boniface and was located at 4923 Odell St. from 1893-2005.

December 27 - St. John the Evangelist

See Saint-a-day for more information about this apostle and evangelist.

For more information about St. John the Evangelist parish in downtown St. Louis, home of the St. Boniface baptismal and holy water fonts, see this page at archstl.org.

Merry Christmas!

May you and yours have a blessed holiday season wherever you may be!

This blogger is signing off for a couple of days to enjoy the holidays!

December 22- St. Chaeremon, St. Ischyrion and other martyrs

For more information on St. Chaeremon and the other martyrs, see Saint-a-day.

December 21- St. Peter Canisius

See Saint-a-day for more about today's 16th century Jesuit saint.

December 20 - St. Dominic of Silos

rSee Saint-a-day for more information on today's saint from Spain.

Happy birthday Ray Martinez, another of my STB 1983 classmates.

December 19 - Blessed Urban V

See Saint-a-day for more information on today's 14th century pope.

Happy Birthday Shannon, my STB 1983 classmate.

December 18 - St. Flannan

For more information on today's seventh century Irish saint, see Saint-a-day.

December 15 - St. Nino

See Saint-a-day for more information on this fourth century saint.

December 14 - St. John of the Cross

For more information on today's 16th century Spanish saint, see Saint-a-day.

December 13 - St. Lucy

See Saint-a-day for more information on this third century martyr from Syracuse, Sicily.

Happy birthday Mary!

December 12 - Our Lady of Guadalupe

For more information on today's feast, see Saint-a-day.

See http://www.olgstl.org/ for more information on Our Lady of Guadalupe parish in Ferguson.

Happy birthday Eileen Berding from your twin!

December 11 - St. Damasus I

See Saint-a-day for more information on this fourth century saint.

December 8 - Feast of the Immaculate Conception

For more information on today's feast day, see Saint-a-day.

As many of you already know, Fr. Jim Gray, the last pastor of St. Boniface is now pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish - Maplewood.

Trivia: There are 9 parishes named Immaculate Conception in the St. Louis Archdiocese. Immacolata in Richmond Heights is actually the 10th, as Immacolata is the Italian form of "the Immaculate Conception". (I found this out when my husband realized that he was baptized there, and not in Maplewood when we got married and had to get his baptismal certificate.)

Want to see them all? Here's the results of our search at archstl.org below:

You Searched For: Immaculate Conception
9 matching parishes found (displaying 1 to 9)
Immaculate Conception Mission - West Alton
Immaculate Conception Parish - Arnold
Immaculate Conception Parish - Augusta
Immaculate Conception Parish - Dardenne
Immaculate Conception Parish - Maplewood
Immaculate Conception Parish - Old Monroe
Immaculate Conception Parish - Park Hills
Immaculate Conception Parish - St. Mary
Immaculate Conception Parish - Union

Immacolata Parish information is located here.

Online Advent Calendar

Check out the Catholic Charities online Advent Calendar for an online version of this holiday favorite.

(NOTE: requires Javascript enabled to work).

December 7 - St. Ambrose

For more information on today's fourth century bishop of Milan, Italy, see Saint-a-day.

See this page for more information on St. Ambrose parish in St. Louis, located in the famous Hill neighborhood. Fr. Rico Garavaglia, pastor of St. Boniface from 1986-1989 grew up in this parish.

Rose Christensen

Our condolences go out to Norm and the family. Rose and her sister, Nancy Nelson liked to sit in the back of church on the left side for many years. Rose was also an employee at Southern Commercial Bank for many years. I enjoyed the laughs we'd share on break at the branch on South Broadway during my six years there.

Rosalie C. (Kalin) Christensen

Christensen, Rosalie C. (nee Kalin), on December 4, 2006, baptized into the hope of Christ's resurrection. Beloved wife of Norman Christensen; dearest mother of Norman (Sue) Christensen Jr., Todd (Jennifer) Christensen and the late Kimberly Christensen; dear grandmother of Brittany Christensen; dear sister of Dorothy Mertzlufft and Nancy Nelson and the late Priscilla Suelman, Walter Kalin Jr. and Pat Heagheney; dear sister-in-law, niece, aunt, cousin and dear friend. In lieu of flowers, donations appreciated to Notre Dame High School: Kim Christensen Retreat Fund.

Services: Funeral from HOFFMEISTER South County Chapel, 1515 Lemay Ferry Rd. (63125) on Thursday, December 7 at 9:30 a.m. to St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church, 610 W. Ripa for Mass at 10 a.m. Interment Lakewood Park Cemetery.

Visitation on Wednesday from 3 p.m.-9p.m.

December 6 - St. Nicholas

For more information on today's famous gift-giving saint whose relics are located in Bari, Italy, see Saint-a-day.

December 5 - St. Sabas

See Saint-a-day for more information on today's fifth century monk from Palestine.

December 4 - St, John Damascene

For more information on today's eighth century saint from Damascus, see Saint-a-day.

Happy birthday to my STB classmate Tony Pelizzaro. Tony currently works for Southern Commercial Bank in St. Louis.

December 1 - St. Edmund Campion

For more information on today's 16th century English Jesuit and martyr, see Saint-a-day.