Mass Times
Monday - Friday
8:00 a.m. - noon - 5:30 p.m.
Weekend Mass
Saturday
8:00 a.m. - noon - 4:00 p.m.
Sunday
8:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. - noon
Holiday periods may affect these times
Confession Schedule at end of page
Light a Devotional Candle
at the Shrine
If you are unable to visit the Shrine in person and would like to have a devotional candle lit, click on the image below.
Fr. Terry O'Connell
Memorial Digital Bulletin Board
Weekly Bulletins
February Holy Hours
Sanctity of Life
Monday, February 24 4:00 p.m.
2025 Jubilee Year Pilgrims of Hope
December 24, 2024 - January 6, 2026
Archbishop Henning has designated St. Joseph the Worker Shrine as a “Holy Site” for the Jubilee year. Under certain conditions a Plenary Indulgence may be obtained by those who take Sacramental Confession and the Eucharist and fulfill certain other prescriptions. @BostonCatholic #JubileeYear
This Week's Message
from Fr. Amesse
February 16, 2025
It kinda looks like the Boston Bruins are not even going to make the playoffs. What about us? Will we make the Heavenly playoffs? Will we be awarded the Celestial Stanley Cup? The Holy Year is a guarantee we will. But, we worry about our attachment to sin.
I would like to offer a little consolation to those of us who get discouraged at confessing the same sins over and over and over. I am lifting this from the book, Devotions for Confession, by Father Hubert McEvoy, SJ. Sophia Press recently released the good book. Here’s what Father says about the problem above.
Your confession tends to be the same because it’s the same you that makes the confession. Admittedly, it is a pity that we say much the same when we want to be better, but the explanation is simple---by the time we are in our late teens, which is the earliest moment when we begin to be really critical of ourselves, our tendencies and weaknesses become rather established.
But there is this comfort: though your sins are the same because you are the same person, you really are more sorry for them, more anxious to amend and to make reparation for them. So, we will make the playoffs. The Holy Year is our passport to heaven. We must not get discouraged. We must dive into the Year of Hope.
“Hope does not disappoint”
- Romans 5:5
I remember you at Mass.
First Fridays at the Shrine
Next First Friday, March 7
Immediately following the 8:00 am Mass, we will pray the Rosary with reflections written by the Venerable Fulton J. Sheen.
Immediately after the Noon Mass to 5:15 we will have Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament
Please keep First Fridays fervent here at the Shrine by spending some time with our Lord.
Catholic Conversations
Dr. Rebecca Duda talks with Sacristan David Lazu about the Holy Year and St. Josephine Bakhita.
Harriet Tubman
First Woman of Color to Lead a U.S. Military Operation
Harriet Tubman, born Araminta Ross, c. March 1822, was an American abolitionist and social activist born into slavery in Dorchester County, Maryland. Early in life she began experiencing strange visions and vivid dreams which she attributed to God. These experiences, combined with her Methodist upbringing, led her to become devoutly religious. In 1849 Tubman made the first of many missions to rescue approximately 70 enslaved people using a network known as the Underground Railroad. Slowly, one group at a time, she guided dozens of people to freedom. Tubman (or "Moses", as she was called) travelled by night and in extreme secrecy, and later said she "never lost a passenger
For her guidance of the raid at Combahee River Ferry in South Carolina in 1863, which liberated more than 700 enslaved people, she was credited as being the first woman to lead an armed military operation in the United States. After the Civil War, she retired to the family home in Auburn, New York, where she cared for her aging parents. She was active in the women's suffrage movement until illness overtook her and was admitted to a home for elderly African Americans, which she had helped establish years earlier. Tubman is commonly viewed as an icon of courage and freedom. She died March 10, 1913.
Shrine Gift Shop and Bookstore
We have an extensive selection of books, prayer cards, statues, gift cards,
religious articles, nativity sets and many more gift ideas!
The Gift Shop/Bookstore is open at convenient shopping times:
Monday thru Saturday 9-5 and every first Sunday of the month
Legion of Mary
at the Shrine
Meetings are held in the downstairs Conference Hall each week after the Sunday 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’ Febuary
Prayer Intention
Let us pray that the ecclesial community might welcome the desires and doubts of those young people who feel a call to serve Christ's mission in the priesthood and religious life
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 on February 25th . Learn more
- 5:30 p.m. - Mass at the Shrine
- 6:15 p.m. - Social
- 7:00 p.m. - Meeting
Words of wisdom from the letters of St. Eugene de Mazoned, founder of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate and the patron saint of dysfunctional families:
“If one is to get involved at all. It must be in an effective way…”
-1835 letter to Fr. Courtes
St. Joseph
Most Obedient
Pray for us!
Downes Parking Garage Ticket Validation
- Available in the Gift Shop /Bookstore on Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
- Sunday street parking is always free
- Those attending the Saturday 4 p.m. 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.
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
Gift Shop, Office and Museum Hours
Monday - Friday
9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Rebecca Duda, Bulletin Editor
Jessica Rauseo, Business Office Manager
Gift Shop & Bookstore
Aurea Torres, Gift Shop Manager
Hours
Monday - Saturday 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
First Sunday of each month 8:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
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, OMI,
Museum Curator/Historian
Saturdays 8:30 a.m. - 1:15 p.m.
Sundays 8:30 a.m. - 1:15 p.m.
Jubilee Year 2025 Hours
Wednesday and Friday 8:30 a.m.- 1:00 p.m.
Say NO to Physician Assisted Suicide in Massachusetts
Learn more