Mass Times
Monday - Friday
8:00 am - 12 noon - 5:30 pm
Weekend Mass
Saturday
8:00 am - 12 noon - 4:00 pm
Sunday
8:00 am - 10:00 am - 12 noon
Holiday periods may affect these times
Confession Schedule at end of page
Graduation Mass 
Sunday, June 2, 10 AM
We are honoring our High School and College Seniors at the 10 AM Mass June 2. Please wear your cap and gown and sit in the front with your families. We are proud of you. You will receive a special blessing that day.
Weekly Bulletins
Upcoming Holy Hours
Holy Hour for Life
Wednesday, May 22 at 4 PM
Holy Hour for Vocations
Wednesday, May 29 at 4 PM
May is the month
of Our Lady
In the Gospel of Luke, the Incarnation is announced with these words: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee (Douay-Rheims). Much of the history of Catholic-Protestant debates is really a tug-of-war over the second Greek word in that salutation, translated in English as ‘full of grace.’ But the first word in that greeting also speaks volumes about who Mary is and what has fundamentally changed in the order of creation with the Incarnation: Hail.
But hail is much more than just a synonym of hello with a bold exclamation point after it. In the ancient Roman world, hail—in the Latin, ave—was used to address Roman emperors. Hail was still used as exclamation in Shakespeare, most often to address a royal person or some other person of superior status. In Hamlet, this is how the tragic prince is greeted by his friend, Horatio: Hail to your lordship! (Act 1, scene 2). In the Tempest, when the merchant Prospero summons his servant, the man responds: All hail, great master! (Act 1, scene 2). And of course, we find Hail Caesar more than once in the play, Julius Caesar.
40 Hours Devotion
Memorial Day Weekend
The 40 Hours Devotion will open on Saturday, May 25 and will close Memorial Day, Monday, May 27.
On Memorial Day there will be a procession at 4 PM. The procession will leave the Shrine, stop at the Auditorium, the Immaculate Conception Church, the Bridge Club, returning to the Shrine at 5 PM. Please join us. See full schedule here.
Ordination to the Priesthood
Join us for coffee and donuts after each Mass on Sunday, May 19th,
as we celebrate the anniversaries of their ordination to the priesthood.
50 Years
Fr. Gene Tremblay, Fr. Steve Conserva
40 Years
Fr. Mike Amesse
Oblate Associate Rebecca Duda talks with Br. Richard Cote, of St. Joseph the Worker Shrine, about why May is the month of Mary.
This Week's Message
from Fr. Amesse
May 19, 2024
Two more Sundays in May. I wish I could take the month of May and place it in a bottle. It is so beautiful. No wonder we honor the Blessed Mother. Now, I’d like to remind you about a group that is devoted to Mary. The people meet every Sunday after the noon Mass.
The people belong to the Legion of Mary. The Legion is a world-wide lay apostolate comprised of men and women who desire to dedicate themselves to the Blessed Mother. The meeting lasts till 2 pm. At times we go a little longer. Nevertheless, you’ll be home way before 3 pm.
If you are interested in joining the Legion of Mary or just want to find out information, join with us in the Hall down by the Gift Shop at 1 pm. For more info contact Sister Margaret at 781-805-5814. Besides meeting, which involves prayer to Mary, the members offer services by visiting the sick, and other works. Is Our Lady calling you to the Legion? The Legion is a sure way to grow closer to Christ.
Today, we will honor Father Tremblay and Father Conserva. Yesterday was their 50th anniversary of ordination. 50 years! Each has offered over 20,000 Masses---listened to perhaps as many confessions.
They gathered hundreds of thousands in the humble power of God. How often, like Christ, they emptied themselves. In imitation of Jesus on the Cross, they manifested His power. They saw the world through the eyes of the Crucified Savior. The members of the Legion, strive, in another way, to do the same.
Join us for coffee and donuts after each Mass this Sunday, May 19th as we celebrate Fathers Gene & Steve’s 50th anniversaries and Fr. Mike’s 40th.
I remember you at Mass!
Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church
May 20,2024
Prayer to Mary, Mother of the Church
Mother, help our faith!
Open our ears to hear God’s word and to recognize his voice and call.
Awaken in us a desire to follow in his footsteps, to go forth from our own land and to receive his promise.
Help us to be touched by his love, that we may touch him in faith.
Help us to entrust ourselves fully to him and to believe in his love, especially at times of trial, beneath the shadow of the cross, when our faith is called to mature.
Sow in our faith the joy of the Risen One.
Remind us that those who believe are never alone.
Teach us to see all things with the eyes of Jesus, that he may be light for our path.
And may this light of faith always increase in us, until the dawn of that undying day which is Christ himself, your Son, our Lord!
Pope Francis
Saint Eugene de Mazenod, a Son of Mary
Throughout his life, St. Eugene de Mazenod, Father and Founder of the Missionary Oblates had a deep-rooted devotion to Mary Immaculate, his Mother. So, it is only fitting that he died (May 21, 1861) hearing the Salve Regina (Hail Holy Queen) that his Oblate sons were prayerfully chanting around his death bed. In his will he had written:
“I invoke the intercession of the Most Holy and Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of God, daring to remind her in all humility, but with consolation, of the filial devotion of my whole life and of the desire I have always had to make her known and loved, and to spread her devotion everywhere through the ministry of those whom the Church gave me as children, who have the same desire as I.”
--from “Living the Spirit’s Fire” a book authored by Fr. Alfred A. Hubenig, O.M.I. available for sale in the Shrine Gift Shop.
Legion of Mary
at the Shrine
Meetings are held in the downstairs Conference Hall each week after the Sunday 12:00 noon Mass.
The Legion of Mary is a Marian movement founded in Ireland in the 1920’s. It is currently the largest apostolic organization of lay people in the Catholic Church.
Pope Francis’ May
Prayer Intention
We pray that religious women and men, and seminarians, grow in their own vocations through their human, pastoral, spiritual and community formation, leading them to be credible witnesses to the Gospel.
Pure in Heart
Pure in Heart (young adults ages 18-35) meets at 7pm in the Shrine Conference Room on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of every month. The next session will be May 28. Learn more
- 5:30 - Mass at the Shrine
- 6:15 - Social
- 7:00 - Meeting
Shrine Gift Shop and Bookstore
First Communion - Confirmation
Graduation
Fine quality religious mementos to commemorate these milestone events
in the lives of loved ones are on display and available for your hands-on
consideration and purchase.
Visit us today!
Oblates of Mary Immaculate in Brazil
Four young Oblates from the Eastern U.S. arrived in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 1945, after difficult travel in the immediate post-war period. The Superior was Lowell native, Father Walter Mooney, OMI. Beginning with ministry to the English-speaking colony of the area, they and succeeding U.S. Oblates were assigned to outlying priest-less districts and the desperately poor urban favela slums of Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Recife, and Belen in the Amazonian north.
Several Oblates were targeted by the authoritarian regime for imprisonment and even torture because of their championing the interest of the indigenous people and the poor of the city of Recife whom they served.
Joined the 1960’s and 1970’s by Oblate missionaries from the Central U.S., Canada, France, Belgium and Ireland and an increasing number of Brazilian Oblates, the Brazilian Province now numbers 65 priests, Brothers and seminarians in four districts. They work to extend the Word and Work of the Gospel through pastoral ministry, social services, and the formation and support of Basic Christian communities throughout the vast country.
The vast favela slums of the cities where Oblates have lived and served.
In a country which had been ravaged by the Revolution, and which had forgotten about God, you were helped by the Savior to understand that your vocation was to live only for God and to bring others to God’s love
St. Eugene, guide us to the Savior in our time of need!
St. Joseph
Most just
Pray for us!
Downes Parking Garage Ticket Validation
- Available in the Gift Shop /Bookstore on Monday through Saturday from 9 am - 5 pm.
- Sunday street parking is always free
- Those attending the Saturday 4 pm Vigil Mass who park in the Downes Garage can still validate their ticket in the Gift Shop before Mass.
Praying with the Stained Glass Windows of
St. Joseph the Worker Shrine
Part I - The 100 Year+ Windows Series
Part II - The St. Joseph Windows
Ring the Bells of the Shrine
Everyday of the year, the “Bells of St. Joseph” ring-out God’s praise for all to hear!
Our Carillon can play Special Hymns of your choice any day of the year. At your request, our chimes will ring in honor of loved ones for the entire community to hear and prayerfully remember.Your offering of $20.00 will be greatly appreciated and will assist us in maintaining the Shrine and its ministries. Thank You!
Bell-ringing selections may be reserved for specific days & times throughout the year(s) in the Shrine Gift Shop/Bookstore.
St. Eugene de Mazenod’s Prayer to the Sorrowful Mother
O Lord, Almighty God, you endowed the Blessed Virgin Mary with the fullness of every gift and grace. By allowing her heart to be pierced with the deepest sorrow, you crowned her merit and placed her at the head of countless legions of martyrs who, for love of your Son Jesus Christ, have shed their blood. Through the painful martyrdom endured by this gentle Mother seeing her beloved Son dying as a Victim because of his love for us, grant us the grace to bear with fortitude the disappointments and setbacks in our life, and not to fear torment or death itself, when we are called to confess our faith in Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
Shrine Memorial Plaques
Since 1868, this holy place - dedicated to the honor of St. Joseph - has been a treasured oasis of prayer and serenity in the heart of the city of Lowell. For generations, many have found great solace and experienced healing and reconciliation for themselves and their families within this holy sanctuary.
In gratitude many have chosen to memorialize their loved ones by inscribing their names on the very walls of this grace-filled place. To inscribe the names of loved ones on our newly expanded Remembrance Wall, please make arrangements in the Gift Shop/Bookstore – at the same desk where Masses are registered.
Light Up Shrine Candles Online
Click to Light a Candle
Thank you!
Please choose your donation amount. $5.00 is the standard donation per candle online
Archdiocesan COVID protocols lifted
Learn more here
Confession and Adoration
Confession
Mon - Friday
10:00 am - noon
4:30 pm - 5:15 pm
Saturday
10:00 am - 1:00 pm
First Wednesday of the month
Eucharistic Adoration
The Blessed Sacrament will be exposed for adoration on -
Saturday after the noon Mass until the 4:00 pm Mass
First Fridays after the noon Mass until the 5:30 pm Mass
Say NO to Physician Assisted Suicide in Massachusetts
Learn more
Gift Shop, Office and Museum Hours
Monday - Friday
9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Rebecca Duda, Bulletin Editor
Jessica Rauseo, Business Office Manager
Gift Shop & Bookstore
Aurea Torres, Gift Shop Manager
Hours
Monday - Saturday 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
First Sunday of each month 8:30 am - 1:30 pm
If for any reason you're still unable to visit the Shrine or Gift Shop and you'd like to book a Mass Intention request please call the Gift Shop Manager at 978-459-9522 x213 or email AureaTorres@stjosephshrine.org
Oblate Historical Museum
Brother Richard Cote, Museum Curator
Saturdays 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Sundays 8:30 am -1:15 pm
During Lent - Wednesday 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm