St. Cecelia Parish

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     Parish Staff                        St. Cecelia Parish Mission Statement              Welcome, New Parishioners and Guests

     Prayer to St. Cecelia            About St. Cecelia                                       Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA)

     Parish Directors                   Pastoral Council                                          Finance Council

     Faith Formation                  Calvary Cemetery                                       Catholic Social Services

     Parish Health Concerns         Verse of the Day

Father Edward M. Girres
Pastoral Minister/Deacon: Rev. Mr. Bill Black
Director of Faith Formation:  Joyce Van Haastert
Business Manager:  June Garman

 The Mission of our St. Cecelia Parish Family is to be:

We place prayer, active participation, peace and justice at the heart of our mission.
THE CHURCH DOES NOT HAVE A MISSION; MISSION HAS A CHURCH.

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We extend a warm welcome to all new members!
If you are new to our Parish, please help us welcome you by
coming to the Parish Office to introduce yourself and register.
We look forward to meeting you! 

St. Cecelia, this parish gladly bears your name.
It is said that during your last three days of life, while mortally wounded,
you vigorously witnessed to and shared the faith and brought about hundreds of conversions. 
Help us witness to and share our faith with a passion like yours:  in our homes, in our Catholic
School and Faith Formation Programs, all our parish activities, and at the work place. 
We are told that you heard angels sing, and so have been named the
patroness of music.  Bless our worship.  Help us to lift our hearts a
nd voices with Christ in effective praise and thanksgiving to the
heavenly Father who has given us every good gift.  St. Cecelia,
pray with us and for us, especially when we sing-
for we are praying twice.  Amen.

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 In addition to being the patron of Church music,
Saint Cecelia is one of the most famous Roman martyrs of the early church. 
According to legend, Cecelia was a Christian of high rank betrothed to a Roman named Valarian. 
Through her influece, Valerian was converted and martyred along with his brother.  Cecelia's martyrdom followed.

Since the time of the Renaissance, Saint Cecelia has usually been portrayed with a viola or a small organ. 
As one writer put it, "Like any good Christian, Cecelia sang in her heart and sometimes with her voice. 
She has become a symbol of the Church's conviction that good music is
an integral part of the liturgy, of greater value to the church than any other art."

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Contact Deacon Bill Black at the parish office.

Tom Erpelding, Jan Frideres, Gene Meister, Brian Schiltz, Greg Stewart, Tom Vautier

Director:  Joyce Van Haastert 

Board:  Chris Gerhardt, Mary Bleich, Fred Schmidt, Sue Haas, Paul Grein, and the St. Cecelia Parish Staff.

Cemetery Sexton: Tom Arend (contact the Parish Office)

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Emily McCullough, M.A., CADC,
M.A. in Marriage and Family Therapy
Certified Alcohol & Drug Counselor

Monday by appointment 295-8840 or 515-576-4156

Please notify the parish office of any illness or hospitalization.
Drivers available for occasional medical appointments: call the parish office.
Rides available at Region 2 Kossuth County Transit: 24 hour advance needed, call 515-924-3251 Monday-Friday 8:00am-3:00pm
If you know of someone needing a parish visit, God's Helping Hands is available through the parish office.

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