The Saturday Parish Post

from The Lilac Post

Lombard, IllinoisSaturday, October 24, 2026No. 2

Thanksgiving meal kits at St. Pius X, All Saints on Sunday, and a Knights memorial

St. Vincent de Paul at St. Pius X is asking parishioners to sponsor Thanksgiving meal kits for neighbors in need, at $30 a kit. The Solemnity of All Saints falls on Sunday, Nov. 1, this year, and that morning the Father Boecker Knights of Columbus council will remember its deceased members after the 11 a.m. Mass at Sacred Heart. The week ahead brings the feast of Saints Simon and Jude on Wednesday, Oct. 28, and clocks go back an hour early on Nov. 1.

This week’s story

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

Parish news

St. Pius X seeks sponsors for Thanksgiving meal kits

The St. Pius X conference of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul has ordered 45 holiday meal kits, complete with frozen turkeys, from the Northern Illinois Food Bank and will give them to neighbors in need a few days before Thanksgiving, the Oct. 25 bulletin says. Parishioners can sponsor a kit for $30, using the St. Vincent de Paul offertory envelope marked “Holiday Meal” or the parish’s online giving page.

Source: St. Pius X bulletin

All Saints falls on a Sunday this year

The Solemnity of All Saints is Sunday, Nov. 1, so the regular Sunday obligation applies this year. At St. Pius X, the 5 p.m. Mass on Saturday, Oct. 31, is the vigil for All Saints, followed by Sunday Masses at 8 and 10 a.m., the bulletin says. Daylight saving time also ends at 2 a.m. on Nov. 1, so clocks go back one hour Saturday night.

Source: St. Pius X bulletin

Knights Council 6090 remembers deceased members on Nov. 1

Knights of Columbus Father Boecker Council 6090 will hold a brief memorial service for its deceased members after the 11 a.m. Mass on Sunday, Nov. 1, at Sacred Heart Church, according to a notice in the St. Pius X bulletin. The council especially invites the widows and families of departed Knights to join in the prayers.

Source: St. Pius X bulletin

First Saturday Mass at St. Pius X on Nov. 7

St. Pius X’s First Saturday Mass is at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 7, the bulletin says. Each month the Mass is offered for the intentions of the parish’s Council of Catholic Women, living and deceased, and afterward the priest leads a devotion to Mary Immaculate Queen.

Source: St. Pius X bulletin

Bishop-designate Cahill will be installed Nov. 11

Bishop-designate Brendan J. Cahill, whom Pope Leo XIV appointed on Sept. 17 as the seventh bishop of the Diocese of Joliet, will be installed at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 11, at the Cathedral of St. Raymond Nonnatus in Joliet, the diocese says. Seating is limited, so attendance is by ticket only, and the Mass will be livestreamed on YouTube.

Source: Diocese of Joliet

From the bulletins

Council of Catholic Women Advent evening Nov. 18

The St. Pius X Council of Catholic Women hosts an evening of Advent prayer and reflection at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 18, in the Martha Room, the bulletin says. Women may bring their mothers, sisters, friends, neighbors, and daughters of high school age or older. Light refreshments will be served, and guests should enter through Door 8 on the east side of the church.

Source: St. Pius X bulletin

Hora Santa on Thursday evenings at St. Pius X

St. Pius X holds a Spanish-language Holy Hour, the Hora Santa, every Thursday at 7 p.m. in the church, the bulletin says.

Source: St. Pius X bulletin

Holiday photo backdrops benefit the St. Pius X gala

The St. Pius X Gala Committee and Crescendo Balloons will set up Christmas and Winter Wonderland balloon backdrops for family photos in the gym on Sunday, Nov. 8, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., the bulletin says. Each 15-minute spot costs $20 and is reserved through GiveSmart, and pets are not allowed.

Source: St. Pius X bulletin

This week in the parishes · Sun, Oct 25 to Sat, Oct 31

★ marks an editor’s pick.

Sun, Oct 25, 10:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.: Montini Catholic open house

Montini Catholic High School

Wed, Oct 28: Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles

All Lombard parishes

★ Wed, Oct 28, 7:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m.: Behold adoration

Christ the King, 1501 S Main St

Behold adoration falls on the fourth Wednesday of the month, with candlelight, music, and silence.

★ Thu, Oct 29, 7:30 p.m.: Knights social meeting

Sacred Heart social center, 114 S Elizabeth St

Fr. Boecker Council 6090 holds its social meeting on the fifth Thursday, in months that have one.

From the wider Church

Pope Leo XIV skips Assisi trip on doctors’ advice

The National Catholic Register reports that Pope Leo XIV will not travel to Assisi on Oct. 27 for a peace gathering. His doctors say he is recovering exceptionally well from lung surgery but advised against the helicopter trip as a precaution.

Source: National Catholic Register

Liechtenstein’s prince vetoes abortion bill

Liechtenstein’s Hereditary Prince Alois has vetoed a bill that would have legalized abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, saying it does not adequately protect unborn life, the National Catholic Register reports.

Source: National Catholic Register

More from The Parish Post

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.

Votive candles in a chapel — Representative photo of votive candles in a chapel. Photo: Dietmar Rabich / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

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

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

Looking ahead · Sun, Nov 1 to Sat, Nov 14

Sun, Nov 1: All Saints.

A celebration of all the saints in heaven, the famous ones and the countless holy people whose names only God knows. The feast has been kept on November 1 in Rome since the 700s and across the Western Church since the 800s. It reminds us that every Christian is called to holiness.

Source: Catholic Encyclopedia (New Advent)

Mon, Nov 2: All Souls Day.

The Church prays for all the faithful departed who are still being purified before entering heaven. St. Odilo, abbot of Cluny in France (d. 1048), ordered his monasteries to keep this day each year, and the custom spread to the whole Church. Many Catholics attend Mass, visit cemeteries, and pray for their loved ones throughout November.

Source: Catholic Encyclopedia (New Advent)

Thu, Nov 5, 5:00 p.m.–7:00 p.m.: Montini Catholic open house, Montini Catholic High School.

Thu, Nov 5, 7:00 p.m.: Knights business meeting, Sacred Heart social center, 114 S Elizabeth St.

Fri, Nov 6, 7:00 p.m.: Misa de la Divina Providencia, St. Pius X, 1025 E Madison St.

Mon, Nov 9: Dedication of the Lateran Basilica.

The Archbasilica of St. John Lateran is the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome and the pope’s own cathedral, so it is called the “mother and head of all churches of the city and the world.” It was first dedicated to Christ the Savior in the 300s, on land given by Emperor Constantine after he ended the persecution of Christians. Celebrating it worldwide is a sign of unity with the pope.

Source: Catholic Encyclopedia (New Advent)