The sacraments of Christian initiation - Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist - lay the foundations of every Christian life. The sharing in the divine nature given to men through the grace of Christ bears a certain likeness to the origin, development, and nourishing of natural life." - CCC 1212
Baptism is the first of the Sacraments of Initiation. By it, we are cleansed of all sin, both original and actual, filled with Sanctifying Grace, and made part of the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church. It leaves an indelible mark on our soul, marking us for eternity as sons and daughters of God. It can be received only once.
There is no cost for a Baptism. It is customary to make an offering to the Church but this is not required.
The Church encourages parents to have their children Baptized as soon as possible after birth.
Yes, though an older child will be given some instruction about Baptism so they understand what is going on during the ceremony. There is no age too late to be baptized!
The Church requires at least one confirmed Catholic godparent in order to support the parents when bringing up the child in the Church. Other baptized people can serve as Christian Witnesses of Baptism. All Christian Witnesses are required to be baptized and at least 16.
There is no need to be anxious or worried. You will be given a friendly reception by the priest or parish office staff member that will be happy to make arrangements and answer your questions. All that matters is that the child will be brought up and taught about their Catholic faith.
Your spouse’s minister or pastor is welcome to come and can at certain points share a prayer, but the baptism must be done by only one person. The priest will be happy to discuss and explain what is customary in these situations.
Let us assure you that there is no need to be worried. The priest or deacon leading the ceremony will guide you through the service step-by-step. During your preparation do not hesitate to mention any point or action that might worry either of you. We want you to enjoy the occasion and celebrate!
Baptism is the sacrament of becoming a Christian, and the baptism at birth was a true baptism. Although the baptism will not be repeated, you can have a celebration in church and share in the other prayers and blessings which are part of the baptismal ceremony. You can also appoint godparents at this time.
To be chosen as a godparent is a special honor. You have been entrusted with the responsibility to participate in this child’s Christian life and education. This privilege offers you the opportunity to develop a mutually enriching spiritual relationship - one that will last throughout this life and beyond. There are many ways you can nurture this spiritual relationship and become a special friend to your godchild. Among them are:
By living a Christian life in partnership with your godchild, both of you will experience the great joy of sharing a life of faith.
Congratulations, and may God bless you!
The sacrament of Confirmation is the second of the Sacraments of Initiation. It seals and completes the graces first given in Baptism. In Confirmation a person receives a fuller outpouring of the gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord.
Confirmation strengthens and prepares us to be miletes Christi, soldiers of Christ, to give witness to Christ and live according to His Law.
To receive Holy Communion in your home, please contact the parish office at 507-452-4770 with your name, phone number, and address.
The Lord Jesus Christ, physician of our souls and bodies, who forgave the sins of the paralytic and restored him to bodily health, has willed that his Church continue, in the power of the Holy Spirit, his work of healing and salvation, even among her own members. This is the purpose of the two sacraments of healing: the sacrament of Penance and
the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick." - CCC 1421
It is a good habit to make a daily examen, evaluating where we have experienced God throughout the day, and where we have fallen short in serving Him. This will help us when we make our examen in preparation for sacramental Confession.
A good place to start in making your examen is with the 10 Commandments:
Have I treated people, events, or things as more important than God?
Have I sworn upon holy things, especially the name of God, in order to deceive others?
Do I go to Mass every Sunday (or Saturday Vigil) and on Holy Days of Obligation (Jan. 1; the Ascension; Aug. 15; Nov. 1; Dec. 8; Dec. 25)? Do I avoid, when possible, work that impedes worship to God, joy for the Lord’s Day, and proper relaxation of mind and body? Do I look for ways to spend time with family or in service on Sunday?
Do I show my parents due respect? Do I care for them if they are old? Am I grateful for what they have given me?
Have I harmed another through physical, verbal, or emotional means?
Have I used sex outside of the lifelong bond of marriage, with self or others?
Have I taken anything that was not mine or failed to do the work I am paid for?
Have I gossiped, told lies, or embellished stories at the expense of another?
Have I honored my spouse with my full affection and exclusive love? Have I looked at anyone else with lust?
Have I desired that others be worse off or celebrated their loss or failure because of jealousy?
1 Corinthians 13 and Matthew 5 could also be used as part of your examen.
This includes two parts. First, we must be sorry for our sins. Our sin offends God and our neighbor, harming our relationship with both. Second, we must resolve not to sin again. This does not mean that we will never commit a particular sin again, but it means that we will try our hardest to avoid it in the future.
You can also name any less serious (venial) sins that are present in your life.
If there is some sin that you particularly don't want to confess, it's probably the one that you most need to confess.
Finish with these or similar words "for these and all the sins of my life, I am truly sorry."
An example is: "O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended you, because I dread the loss of Heaven and the pains of Hell, but most of all because they offend Thee, who art all loving and deserving of all my love. Therefore I firmly resolve, with the help of thy grace, to confess my sins, do penance, and to amend my life. Amen.
Often this (or similar) prayer will be on a card in the confessional.
Even though we will always struggle with sin until we enter into the next life, we leave each Confession forgiven of our sins, a new start, fully intending to live life differently this time, yet also planning to come back to this sacrament again soon. Nothing prevents sin so well as frequent Confession!
Examinations of Conscience
Examination for Children
Longer Examination
Please contact the parish office at 507-452-4770.
If you or someone you know is homebound, in the hospital, or in the nursing home, please call the church office and let us know. We appreciate knowing when someone is in need of special care.
We need their name, a phone number to reach, and a location where to find our friend in need of this Sacrament of Anointing.
Through these sacraments those already consecrated by Baptism and Confirmation1 for the common priesthood of all the faithful can receive particular consecrations. Those who receive the sacrament of Holy Orders are consecrated in Christ's name "to feed the Church by the word and grace of God."2 On their part, "Christian spouses are fortified and, as it were, consecrated for the duties and dignity of their state by a special sacrament."" - CCC 1535
"St. Paul said to his disciple Timothy: "I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands" (2 Tim 1:6), and "If any one aspires to the office of bishop, he desires a noble task." (1 Tim 3:1) To Titus he said: "This is why I left you in Crete, that you amend what was defective, and appoint presbyters in every town, as I directed you" (Titus 1:5).
The whole Church is a priestly people. Through Baptism all the faithful share in the priesthood of Christ. This participation is called the "common priesthood of the faithful." Based on this common priesthood and ordered to its service, there exists another participation in the mission of Christ: the ministry conferred by the sacrament of Holy Orders, where the task is to serve in the name and in the person of Christ the Head in the midst of the community.
The ministerial priesthood differs in essence from the common priesthood of the faithful because it confers a sacred power for the service of the faithful. The ordained ministers exercise their service for the People of God by teaching (munus docendi), divine worship (munus liturgicum) and pastoral governance (munus regendi).
Since the beginning, the ordained ministry has been conferred and exercised in three degrees: that of bishops, that of presbyters, and that of deacons. The ministries conferred by ordination are irreplaceable for the organic structure of the Church: without the bishop, presbyters, and deacons, one cannot speak of the Church (cf. St. Ignatius of Antioch, Ad Trall. 3,1).
The bishop receives the fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders, which integrates him into the episcopal college and makes him the visible head of the particular Church entrusted to him. As successors of the apostles and members of the college, the bishops share in the apostolic responsibility and mission of the whole Church under the authority of the Pope, successor of St. Peter.
Priests are united with the bishops in sacerdotal dignity and at the same time depend on them in the exercise of their pastoral functions; they are called to be the bishops' prudent co-workers. They form around their bishop the presbyterium which bears responsibility with him for the particular Church. They receive from the bishop the charge of a parish community or a determinate ecclesial office.
Deacons are ministers ordained for tasks of service of the Church; they do not receive the ministerial priesthood, but ordination confers on them important functions in the ministry of the word, divine worship, pastoral governance, and the service of charity, tasks which they must carry out under the pastoral authority of their bishop.
The sacrament of Holy Orders is conferred by the laying on of hands followed by a solemn prayer of consecration asking God to grant the ordinand the graces of the Holy Spirit required for his ministry. Ordination imprints an indelible sacramental character.
The Church confers the sacrament of Holy Orders only on baptized men (viri), whose suitability for the exercise of the ministry has been duly recognized. Church authority alone has the responsibility and right to call someone to receive the sacrament of Holy Orders.
In the Latin Church the sacrament of Holy Orders for the presbyterate is normally conferred only on candidates who are ready to embrace celibacy freely and who publicly manifest their intention of staying celibate for the love of God's kingdom and the service of men.
It is bishops who confer the sacrament of Holy Orders in the three degrees."
~ CCC 1590-1600
If you think God may be calling you to the priesthood, contact the Diocesan vocation director, Fr. Jason Kern (jkern@dowr.org).
Wedding Application Form
Pre-Cana Classes
"St. Paul said: "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church. . . . This is a great mystery, and I mean in reference to Christ and the Church" (Eph 5:25, 32).
The marriage covenant, by which a man and a woman form with each other an intimate communion of life and love, has been founded and endowed with its own special laws by the Creator. By its very nature it is ordered to the good of the couple, as well as to the generation and education of children. Christ the Lord raised marriage between the baptized to the dignity of a sacrament (cf. CIC, can. 1055 § 1; cf. GS 48 § 1).
The sacrament of Matrimony signifies the union of Christ and the Church. It gives spouses the grace to love each other with the love with which Christ has loved his Church; the grace of the sacrament thus perfects the human love of the spouses, strengthens their indissoluble unity, and sanctifies them on the way to eternal life (cf. Council of Trent: DS 1799).
Marriage is based on the consent of the contracting parties, that is, on their will to give themselves, each to the other, mutually and definitively, in order to live a covenant of faithful and fruitful love.
Since marriage establishes the couple in a public state of life in the Church, it is fitting that its celebration be public, in the framework of a liturgical celebration, before the priest (or a witness authorized by the Church), the witnesses, and the assembly of the faithful.
Unity, indissolubility, and openness to fertility are essential to marriage. Polygamy is incompatible with the unity of marriage; divorce separates what God has joined together; the refusal of fertility turns married life away from its "supreme gift," the child (GS 50 § 1).
The remarriage of persons divorced from a living, lawful spouse contravenes the plan and law of God as taught by Christ. They are not separated from the Church, but they cannot receive Eucharistic communion. They will lead Christian lives especially by educating their children in the faith.
The Christian home is the place where children receive the first proclamation of the faith. For this reason the family home is rightly called "the domestic church," a community of grace and prayer, a school of human virtues and of Christian charity."
~CCC 1659-1666