Current Events and News
From the Diocese
USCCB Statement on Johnson & Johnson Vaccine
On March 2, Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Doctrine, and Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City in Kansas, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities,...
Directives for the Distribution of Ashes
Faithful are invited to Ash Wednesday Masses at parishes throughout the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown. Click HERE for a schedule of Masses at parishes. This year, because of the pandemic, and as previously announced, Bishop Mark has directed that ashes are to...
Ash Wednesday Mass Times
Faithful are invited to Ash Wednesday Masses at parishes throughout the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown. This year, because of the pandemic, and as previously announced, Bishop Mark has directed that ashes are to be sprinkled on the heads of those who approach. This is a...
Reconciliation Opportunities
Bishop Mark has asked pastors to make various opportunities for Confession available at their parishes throughout Lent. The Bishop has instructed the clergy to not sponsor the usual Communal Penance Services because of the continuing pandemic.The Diocese of...
Take-Out Fish Lunches/Dinners
Bishop Mark is permitting parishes to sponsor fish lunches/dinners this Lent, but only in the format of take-out service. There is to be no indoor dining, according to his directives, and anyone who assists in food preparation and serving must be screened by...
Catholic Schools Week Message from Bishop Mark
Will Hegemann loves school and attending Mass every week with his classmates. Even at his young age, the first grader at Saint Michael School in Loretto realizes how lucky he is to be in a learning environment in which Jesus Christ is the center of everything. Will is...
Bishop’s Directives for the Blessing of Throats
January 2021The current pandemic is a sufficient pastoral reason to avoid the blessing of individuals in the usual manner of touching the throat of each person with crossed candles while saying the words of the blessing. Among the challenges is the sanitizing of the...
Bishop’s Directives for Distribution of Ashes
January 2021During this time of Pandemic, the Holy See has modified the method of distributing ashes as contained in the following Note from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments issued January 12, 2021: NOTE ON ASH...
2021 Plans for RCIA, Confirmation, First Holy Communion
By Tony DeGolProclaim!There is an old saying in entertainment that no matter what happens, the show must go on. Here in the Catholic Church, the sacramental life of our faith communities must go on as well, even in the midst of a pandemic. As the Diocese of...
Bishop’s Directives for Parish Lenten Fish Dinners
January 2021Ash Wednesday, February 17, marks the beginning of the holy season of Lent. It is also the starting date for annual Fish Dinners in parishes throughout the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown. In many of those places it is a regular fundraiser to support parish...
Saint of the Day
St. Paphnutius: Saint of the Day for Saturday, September 11, 2021
The holy confessor Paphnutius was an Egyptian who, after having spent several years in the desert under the direction of the great St. Antony, was made bishop in the Upper Thebaid. He was one of those confessors who under the Emperor Maximinus lost the right eye, were...
St. Salvius of Albi: Saint of the Day for Friday, September 10, 2021
Bishop of Albi and a friend of Pope St. Gregory I the Great. Also called Sauve, he was a native of Albi and, originally a lawyer, he entered a monastery and served for a time as a monk before receiving election as abbot. Then, after, hying as a hermit, he became a...
St. Peter Claver: Saint of the Day for Thursday, September 09, 2021
St. Peter Claver was born at Verdu, Catalonia, Spain, in 1580, of impoverished parents descended from ancient and distinguished families. He studied at the Jesuit college of Barcelona, entered the Jesuit novitiate at Tarragona in 1602 and took his final vows on August...
St. Adrian: Saint of the Day for Wednesday, September 08, 2021
According to legend Adrian was a pagan officer at the imperial court of Nicomedia. Impressed by the courage of a group of Christians who were being tortured, he declared himself a Christian and was imprisoned with them and suffered excruciating tortures before he was...
St. Cloud: Saint of the Day for Tuesday, September 07, 2021
On the death of Clovis, King of the Franks, in the year 511 his kingdom was divided between his four sons, of whom the second was Clodomir. Thirteen years later he was killed fighting against his cousin, Gondomar, leaving three sons to share his dominions. The...
St. Eleutherius: Saint of the Day for Monday, September 06, 2021
A wonderful simplicity and spirit of compunction were the distinguishing virtues of this holy man. He was chosen abbot of St. Mark's near Spoleto, and favored by God with the gift of miracles. A child who was possessed by the devil, being delivered by being educated...
St. Teresa of Calcutta: Saint of the Day for Sunday, September 05, 2021
The remarkable woman who would be known as Mother Teresa began life named Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu. Born on August 26, 1910 in Skopje, she was the youngest child born to Nikola and Drane Bojaxhiu. Receiving her First Communion at the age of five, she was confirmed in...
St. Rosalia: Saint of the Day for Saturday, September 04, 2021
St. Rosalia, daughter of Sinibald, Lord of Roses and Quisquina, was a descendant of the great Charlemagne. She was born at Palermo in Sicily. In her youth, her heart turned from earthly vanities to God. She left her home and took up her abode in a cave, on the walls...
Pope Saint Gregory the Great: Saint of the Day for Friday, September 03, 2021
Pope Saint Gregory I, also known as the Great, was the Pope of the Catholic Church between 590 and 604 AD. Gregory was born around 540 in Rome. The exact date of his birth is unknown. Although the Western Roman Empire had collapsed long before his birth, many ancient...
St. Ingrid of Sweden: Saint of the Day for Thursday, September 02, 2021
Born in Skänninge, Sweden, in the 13th century, St. Ingrid lived under the spiritual direction of Peter of Dacia, a Dominican priest. She was the first Dominican nun in Sweden and in 1281 she founded the first Dominican cloister there, called St. Martin's in...
Daily Reading
Daily Readings for Saturday, September 11, 2021
Daily Reading for Saturday September 11, 2021 Reading 1, First Timothy 1:15-17Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 113:1-2, 3-4, 5, 6-7Gospel, Luke 6:43-49 Reading 1, First Timothy 1:15-17 15 Here is a saying that you can rely on and nobody should doubt: that Christ Jesus came...
Daily Readings for Friday, September 10, 2021
Daily Reading for Friday September 10, 2021 Reading 1, First Timothy 1:1-2, 12-14Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 11Gospel, Luke 6:39-42 Reading 1, First Timothy 1:1-2, 12-14 1 Paul, apostle of Christ Jesus appointed by the command of God our Saviour and of...
Daily Readings for Thursday, September 09, 2021
Daily Reading for Thursday September 9, 2021 Reading 1, Isaiah 58:6-11Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 1:1-4, 6Gospel, Matthew 25:31-40 To all our readers, Please don't scroll past this. Today, we humbly ask you to defend Catholic Online's independence. 98% of our readers...
Daily Readings for Wednesday, September 08, 2021
Daily Reading for Wednesday September 8, 2021 Reading 1, Micah 5:1-4Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 13:6, 6Gospel, Matthew 1:1-16, 18-23 We ask you, humbly: don't scroll away. Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask,...
Daily Readings for Tuesday, September 07, 2021
Daily Reading for Tuesday September 7, 2021 Reading 1, Colossians 2:6-15Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 145:1-2, 8-9, 10-11Gospel, Luke 6:12-19 Reading 1, Colossians 2:6-15 6 So then, as you received Jesus as Lord and Christ, now live your lives in him,7 be rooted in him...
Daily Readings for Monday, September 06, 2021
Daily Reading for Monday September 6, 2021 Reading 1, Colossians 1:24-2:3Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 62:6-7, 9Gospel, Luke 6:6-11 Reading 1, Colossians 1:24-2:3 24 It makes me happy to be suffering for you now, and in my own body to make up all the hardships that still...
Daily Readings for Sunday, September 05, 2021
Daily Reading for Sunday September 5, 2021 Reading 1, Isaiah 35:4-7Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 146:7, 8-9, 9-10Gospel, Mark 7:31-37Reading 2, James 2:1-5 We ask you, humbly: don't scroll away. Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a...
Daily Readings for Saturday, September 04, 2021
Daily Reading for Saturday September 4, 2021 Reading 1, Colossians 1:21-23Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 54:3-4, 6, 8Gospel, Luke 6:1-5 FREE Catholic Classes Pick a class, you can learn anything Reading 1, Colossians 1:21-23 21 You were once estranged and of hostile...
Daily Readings for Friday, September 03, 2021
Daily Reading for Friday September 3, 2021 Reading 1, Colossians 1:15-20Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 100:1, 2, 3, 4, 5Gospel, Luke 5:33-39 Reading 1, Colossians 1:15-20 15 He is the image of the unseen God, the first-born of all creation,16 for in him were created all...
Daily Readings for Thursday, September 02, 2021
Daily Reading for Thursday September 2, 2021 Reading 1, Colossians 1:9-14Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 98:2-3, 3-4, 5-6Gospel, Luke 5:1-11 To all our readers, Please don't scroll past this. Today, we humbly ask you to defend Catholic Online's independence. 98% of our...