Back to the edition

The Saturday Parish Post

from The Lilac Post

Lombard, IllinoisSaturday, October 17, 2026No. 1

Undy Sunday at Christ the King and new catechumens at St. Pius X

This weekend Christ the King’s Council of Catholic Women collects personal items for Catholic Charities neighbors, while St. Pius X welcomes three catechumens and five candidates into the path toward full initiation. Christ the King also schedules its next Behold Adoration for Oct. 28, and the week ahead brings no major holy day of obligation.

This week’s story

November is for the holy souls: how to gain the cemetery indulgence

From Nov. 1 to 8, the Church offers a plenary indulgence each day for the souls in purgatory to anyone who visits a cemetery and prays for the dead.

The Church sets aside November to pray for the faithful departed. All Saints Day falls on Sunday, Nov. 1, this year, and All Souls Day, the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, follows on Monday, Nov. 2.

The Church's Manual of Indulgences grants a plenary indulgence, applicable only to the souls in purgatory, to anyone who devoutly visits a cemetery and prays for the dead, even silently, on any day from Nov. 1 through Nov. 8. It can be gained once a day, so a person who visits on all eight days can offer eight plenary indulgences for the departed. On All Souls Day itself, a plenary indulgence is also granted for devoutly visiting a church or oratory and praying an Our Father and the Creed.

The usual conditions apply. You must go to sacramental confession, receive Holy Communion, and pray for the intentions of the Holy Father, and you must be free of all attachment to sin, even venial sin. Confession can be made within about 20 days before or after, and one confession covers several indulgences, but each plenary indulgence needs its own Communion and its own prayer for the Pope. An Our Father and a Hail Mary are the customary prayer for his intentions. If a condition is missing, the indulgence is partial.

The Catechism explains that an indulgence is a remission of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, and that the faithful can apply indulgences to the dead as a work of charity (CCC 1471). A quiet visit to a family grave in early November is one of the simplest and oldest ways to do that.

Lombard's parishes offer confession every week. Sacred Heart hears confessions on Wednesdays from 6 to 7 p.m. and on Saturdays from 3 to 4 p.m. St. Pius X hears them on Saturdays from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., and Christ the King on Saturdays from 3 to 3:30 p.m. or by appointment. Divine Mercy, a mainly Polish-speaking parish, offers confession Monday through Friday from 7:30 to 8 a.m. and 6:30 to 7 p.m., on Saturdays from 7:30 to 8 a.m., and during every Sunday Mass. Our Lady of Lebanon offers it on Sundays from 9 to 9:20 a.m. Times can change around All Saints and All Souls, so check your parish bulletin before you go.

Sources: Manual of Indulgences, no. 29 (USCCB translation); Catholic Culture: Praying for the dead and gaining indulgences in November; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1471–1479 (Vatican); Franciscan Media: All Souls; Sacred Heart parish website; St. Pius X parish website; Christ the King parish website; Divine Mercy parish website (in Polish); Our Lady of Lebanon parish website

Parish news

Undy Sunday collection at Christ the King this weekend

Christ the King’s Council of Catholic Women is collecting essential personal items for neighbors served by Catholic Charities on Oct. 17 and 18, the parish bulletin says. Donations go to the church narthex during the weekend Masses, and cash gifts are also welcome.

Source: Christ the King bulletin

St. Pius X welcomes new catechumens and candidates

At St. Pius X on Oct. 18, three catechumens enter the Order of Catechumens as they prepare for Baptism, Confirmation, and First Communion at the Easter Vigil in 2027, the bulletin says. Five candidates who are already baptized will be received into full communion with the Church this spring.

Source: St. Pius X bulletin

Candlelight Behold Adoration on Oct. 28 at Christ the King

Christ the King holds Behold Adoration, an hour of adoration with candlelight, music, and silence, on the fourth Wednesday of each month from 7 to 8 p.m. The next one is Wednesday, Oct. 28, according to the parish bulletin. The parish also has adoration every Wednesday after the 8:30 a.m. Mass until noon.

Source: Christ the King bulletin

Knights sell vocation raffle tickets at Christ the King Nov. 7 and 8

Knights of Columbus Council 11027 will sell tickets for the Illinois Knights’ annual raffle for priesthood vocations after the Masses at Christ the King on Nov. 7 and 8. Tickets are $5 each or five for $20, the grand prize is $10,000, and the proceeds support Illinois seminarians, the bulletin says.

Source: Christ the King bulletin

From the bulletins

St. Pius X VIP Seniors Thanksgiving Luncheon Nov. 10

The St. Pius X bulletin says the VIP Seniors Thanksgiving Luncheon is Tuesday, Nov. 10, starting with prayer in church at 11:45 a.m. and lunch at noon in the Martha Room. RSVP to Barb Keane at 630-627-9606, and bring a food or paper product for the St. Vincent de Paul food pantry.

Source: St. Pius X bulletin

Children’s Liturgy of the Word returns at St. Pius X

The St. Pius X bulletin says Children’s Liturgy of the Word has returned at the 10 a.m. Sunday Mass for children ages 3 through third grade. It is a drop-in program; children are dismissed before the Liturgy of the Word. It is not offered on the second Sunday of each month when the children’s choir sings.

Source: St. Pius X bulletin

From the Pew

From the Pew · Editorial · The writer’s view

Take the family to the cemetery this November

By The Parish Post Editors · Friday, October 16, 2026

Most of us visit a cemetery only for a funeral. November gives Catholics a reason to go back on purpose, and we think more families in Lombard should take it.

From Nov. 1 to 8, the Church attaches a plenary indulgence for the souls in purgatory to a simple act: visiting a cemetery and praying for the dead. It takes a short drive and a few minutes. It costs nothing, and it may be the greatest kindness we can still do for grandparents, parents, and friends who have gone before us.

It is also good for the living. Children who walk among the graves and pray a decade of the Rosary learn, without a lecture, that death is real, that the dead still belong to us, and that Christians face it with hope. In a culture that hides death away, that lesson is worth more than any school assembly.

So pick an afternoon in that first week of November. Bring a rosary and maybe some flowers, and say the names out loud. Then go to confession, receive Communion, and pray for the Holy Father's intentions. The souls in purgatory cannot help themselves, but we can help them.

This week in the parishes · Sun, Oct 18 to Sat, Oct 24

Sun, Oct 18: Undy Sunday

Christ the King, 1501 S Main St

Sun, Oct 18, 7:00 p.m.–7:30 p.m.: Vocations rosary

St. Pius X, 1025 E Madison St

From the wider Church

Pope Leo XIV calls world hunger a ‘terrible offense’ against human dignity

The National Catholic Register reports that Pope Leo XIV, still recovering from surgery, sent a message for World Food Day calling world hunger a ‘terrible offense’ against human dignity.

Source: National Catholic Register

More from The Parish Post

How to go to confession, and where to find it in Lombard

A simple guide to the Sacrament of Penance, with the weekly confession times at every Catholic church in town.

Whether it has been a week or many years, confession follows the same simple pattern. Before you go, take a few minutes for an examination of conscience. The U.S. bishops publish several, including ones built on the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes.

In the confessional, begin with the Sign of the Cross and say, “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It has been [this long] since my last confession.” Then confess your sins, naming mortal sins in kind and number as best you can. The priest may offer some counsel and will give you a penance. You then pray an Act of Contrition, and the priest speaks the words of absolution. Afterward, do your penance promptly.

If you have forgotten how it goes, simply tell the priest. Priests hear that often and are glad to walk you through it. Everything said in confession is protected by the seal, which a priest may never break.

In Lombard, Sacred Heart hears confessions on Wednesdays from 6 to 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 3 to 4 p.m. St. Pius X hears them on Saturdays from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., and Christ the King on Saturdays at 3 p.m. or by appointment. Divine Mercy offers confession before its weekday morning and evening Masses (the parish is mainly Polish-speaking), and Our Lady of Lebanon offers it on Sundays from 9 to 9:20 a.m. before the Divine Liturgy. Times can change on holidays, so check the parish bulletin before you go.

Many parishes add extra confession times during Advent and Lent, and The Parish Post will list them on the calendar as they are announced.

Sources: USCCB: Sacrament of Penance; USCCB: Examinations of conscience; Catechism of the Catholic Church, on the Sacrament of Penance (Vatican); Christ the King bulletin, Oct. 18, 2026; St. Pius X bulletin, Oct. 18, 2026

Advent begins Nov. 29: a short guide to the season

The new Church year starts six weeks from now, and a little planning in November makes for a quieter, more prayerful Advent.

The First Sunday of Advent falls on Nov. 29 this year, which begins a new liturgical year. Advent always includes the four Sundays before Christmas.

The season has two parts. Until Dec. 16, the readings look ahead to Christ's second coming at the end of time. From Dec. 17 to Christmas Eve, they turn to preparing for the celebration of his birth at Bethlehem. The Church's color is violet, with rose vestments allowed on the Third Sunday, Gaudete Sunday, which falls on Dec. 13 this year.

Advent is a time of joyful expectation more than a second Lent, but the Church encourages prayer, confession, and works of charity. Familiar customs include the Advent wreath, which adds a candle each week, and the Jesse tree, which walks through salvation history from creation to the birth of Christ.

Two dates fall in early December. The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, the patronal feast of the United States, is on Tuesday, Dec. 8, and it is a holy day of obligation. Our Lady of Guadalupe follows on Saturday, Dec. 12.

Locally, the St. Pius X Council of Catholic Women is holding an Advent retreat on Wednesday, Nov. 18, at 7 p.m. in the Martha Room, according to the parish bulletin. We will add other parish Advent events to the calendar as they are announced.

Sources: USCCB: Advent; Catholic Encyclopedia: Advent (New Advent); St. Pius X bulletin, Oct. 18, 2026