At St. Luke the Evangelist Catholic Church in Raleigh the blessings of the Holy Spirit were evident for all to see on August 27th, the feast Day of St. Monica.
Led by St Luke’s pastor, Monsignor Jeffrey A. Ingham, V. F., concelebrated with Father Jairo Maldonado and assisted by Deacon Brian Phillips, over 100 Divine Mercy Radio listeners attended the closing Mass following the completion of our Catholic radio station’s Novena to St. Monica.
Catholic 540-AM established this feast day Mass and on-air Novena to St. Monica, the patron saint of lapsed Catholics, because the number one prayer request our radio station receives from listeners is from those praying for family and friends to return to their Catholic faith.
The Novena Prayers are permanently available on our website, catholic540am.org.
Divine Mercy Radio listeners were invited to submit the names of those in their lives who had left their faith, so that our Novena and Mass prayers to St. Monica would rekindle their Catholic spirit.
On Friday evening during the Mass, 775 listener submitted names were prayed over on the altar of St. Luke the Evangelist Catholic Church.
The beauty of every part of this special Mass cannot be overstated. While Divine Mercy Radio has broadcast many on-air Novena, this was the first Catholic Mass that Divine Mercy Radio had ever organized. It will not be our last.
Catholic 540-AM was humbled by the gracious way Msgr. Ingham and the community of St. Luke the Evangelist Catholic Church embraced our listeners and volunteers as their own in their magnificent, holy Church and later in their community room for the Ice Cream Social that followed the Mass.
Because of that faith community’s familiar generosity and Catholicity, we believe many wandering souls will again hear the call of their faith to be enthusiastically welcomed back to Jesus.
As one might imagine, organizing a 9-day, pre-recorded radio Novena featuring a variety of supplicants leading a day’s Novena and ending with a Holy Mass and Ice Cream Social, was a pretty big job. As our listeners know, we are a 100% listener supported and 100% volunteer Catholic radio station.
We needed help and God provided us with Tina Dawson.
Tina and her husband Dale were tireless in their leadership efforts from beginning to end. Everyone associated with this St. Monica Novena and Mass is deeply grateful for Tina and Dale’s commitment to our Catholic faith and our Catholic radio ministry. Thank you.
But as Tina and Dale will tell you, so many other wonderful people supported this event as well.
The Divine Mercy Radio board of directors and volunteer staff is so appreciative of their help as well.
First and foremost, we are deeply thankful to Monsignor Jeffrey A. Ingham, V. F., Father Jairo Maldonado, Deacon Brian Phillips as well as the altar servers, staff and parishioners of St. Luke the Evangelist Catholic Church. Friday evening’s Mass was magnificent in large part because of your collective efforts.
Thank you to our Catholic 540-AM Divine Mercy Radio listeners who supported the Novena with their prayers and those who joined us at Friday’s Mass.
Leading the prayers of the on-air Novena, Catholic 540-AM Divine Mercy Radio would like to thank:
• Msgr. Doug Reed, Pastor Emeritus of St. Michael The Archangel in Cary
• Fr. Jairo Maldonado of St. Francis of Assisi Church in Raleigh
• Seminarian Gabriel Nugent
• Deacon Brad Watkins of St. Catherine of Sienna in Wake Forest
• Fr. Steven DiMassimo of St. Thomas More in Chapel Hill
• Seminarian Kolbe Flood
• Deacon John DeGuzman
• Fr. Matthew Nwafor of Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral in Raleigh
Many thanks to our fellow volunteers and Divine Mercy Radio supporters whose help made the night a success, including:
• Patricia Guin
• Victoria White (photographer)
• Monica Foley
• Cecelia and Keith Flanary
