Current Events and News
From the Diocese
Holy Week Resources
Palm Sunday Proclaim! at 10:30 a.m. on WATM ABC 23Bishop Mark explains ways to engage in the solemnity of Holy Week at homeClergy offer messages of hope during these challenging times Mass with Bishop Mark11:00 a.m. on WATM ABC 239:00 p.m. on Atlantic Broadband...
Bishop’s Easter Message
It sounds so awkward to say Happy Easter this year. During the past month, people everywhere added new words to their vocabulary: Coronavirus and COVID-19. The dreaded virus that these words represent made us learn another dimension of living as we “shelter in place.”...
Blessed Palm
As parishes and the faithful look ahead to Palm Sunday next weekend, the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown continues to be aware of the need for social distancing and other necessary precautions. Bishop Mark has directed parishes to not distribute blessed palm to the...
Governor Wolf extended his “Stay at Home” Order
Dear Brothers in Christ, Earlier today Governor Wolf extended his "Stay at Home" order to include Centre County. In keeping with our protocols announced earlier (March 20), in order to protect the faithful and follow this important restriction put in place by the...
Memo from: Bishop Mark
Memo from: Bishop Mark To: All Clergy Date: March 25, 2020 Re: Celebration of the Liturgies of Holy Week and Especially the Sacred Triduum In this time of need, directives have been issued by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, as...
Bishop Suspends All Public Masses
Bishop Mark L. Bartchak announced the suspension of the celebration of all public Masses and all other liturgical celebrations in the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown effective March 17, 2020, and continuing until further notice. Throughout this time, the dispensed...
Liturgical Directives
The following directives were communicated to the clergy of the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown on March 17, 2020. The directives remain in effect until further notice. If questions arise concerning the impact of these directives, please contact your pastor for further...
Holy Week Directives
With public Masses and other liturgical gatherings suspended at least through Holy Week and Easter, Bishop Mark is inviting the faithful to watch the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown weekly television Mass on Passion (Palm) Sunday and Easter Sunday at 11:00 a.m. on WATM...
Television/Streaming Masses
During this time of no public Masses, the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown is committed to continuing the weekly Proclaim! Television Ministry and Mass. Proclaim!Sundays at 10:30 a.m. on WATM ABC 23 Mass with Bishop MarkSundays at 11:00 a.m. on WATM ABC23Sundays at...
Spirituality
PRAYER RECITED BY POPE FRANCISFOR THE PROTECTION OF THE WORLDO Mary,you always shine on our pathas a sign of salvation and of hope.We entrust ourselves to you, Health of the Sick,who at the cross took part in Jesus’ pain, keeping your faith firm.You, Salvation of the...
Saint of the Day
St. Thomas More: Saint of the Day for Monday, June 22, 2020
Thomas More was born in London on February 7, 1478. His father, Sir John More, was a lawyer and judge who rose to prominence during the reign of Edward IV. His connections and wealth would help his son, Thomas, rise in station as a young man. Thomas' mother was Agnes...
St. Aloysius Gonzaga: Saint of the Day for Sunday, June 21, 2020
St. Aloysius was born in Castiglione, Italy. The first words St. Aloysius spoke were the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary. He was destined for the military by his father (who was in service to Philip II), but by the age of 9 Aloysius had decided on a religious life, and...
St. Vincent Kaun: Saint of the Day for Saturday, June 20, 2020
Martyr of Japan. A native of Korea, he was brought to Japan in 1591 as a prisoner of war and was subsequently converted to Christianity. Entering the Jesuits, he studied at the Jesuit seminary of Arima and worked for three decades as a catechist in both Japan and...
St. Romuald: Saint of the Day for Friday, June 19, 2020
St. Romuald was born at Ravenna about the year 956. In spite of an infinite desire for virtue and sanctity, his early life was wasted in the service of the world and its pleasures. Then one day, obliged by his father, Sergius, to be present at a duel fought by him, he...
St. Gregory Barbarigo: Saint of the Day for Thursday, June 18, 2020
St. Gregory Barbarigo was born in 1625, of a very old and distinguished Venetian family. A brilliant student, he embraced a diplomatic career and accompanied the Venetian Ambassador, Contarini, to the Congress of Munster in 1648. Then he became a priest and was soon...
St. Emily de Vialar: Saint of the Day for Wednesday, June 17, 2020
St. Emily de Vialar, Virgin, Foundress of the Sisters of St. Joseph "of the Apparition" Anne Marguerite Adelaide Emily de Vialar was the eldest child and only daughter of Baron James Augustine de Vialar and his wife Antoinette, daughter of that Baron de Portal who was...
St. John Francis Regis: Saint of the Day for Tuesday, June 16, 2020
St. John Francis Regis Confessor of the Society of Jesus June 16 True virtue, or Christian perfection, consists not in great or shining actions, but resides in the heart, and appears to great edification, though in the usual train of common and religious duties...
St. Germaine Cousin: Saint of the Day for Monday, June 15, 2020
When Hortense decided to marry Laurent Cousin in Pibrac, France, it was not out of love for his infant daughter. Germaine was everything Hortense despised. Weak and ill, the girl had also been born with a right hand that was deformed and paralyzed. Hortense replaced...
St. Methodius I: Saint of the Day for Sunday, June 14, 2020
Patriarch of Constantinople, modem Istanbul. He was born in Syracuse, Sicily, and builta monastery on the island of Chios. After some time in Constantinople, he was sent to Rome in 815 as the representative of Patriarch Nicephorus, who was exiled by Emperor Leo V the...
St. Anthony of Padua: Saint of the Day for Saturday, June 13, 2020
Saint Anthony was born Fernando Martins in Lisbon, Portugal. He was born into a wealthy family and by the age of fifteen asked to be sent to the Abbey of Santa Cruz in Coimbra, the then capital of Portugal. During his time in the Abbey, he learned theology and Latin....
Daily Reading
Daily Readings for Sunday, June 14, 2020
Daily Reading for Sunday June 14, 2020 Reading 1, Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14-16Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 147:12-13, 14-15, 19-20Gospel, John 6:51-58Reading 2, First Corinthians 10:16-17 Reading 1, Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14-16 2 Remember the long road by which Yahweh your God...
Daily Readings for Saturday, June 13, 2020
Daily Reading for Saturday June 13, 2020 Reading 1, First Kings 19:19-21Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10Gospel, Matthew 5:33-37 Reading 1, First Kings 19:19-21 19 Leaving there, he came on Elisha son of Shaphat as he was ploughing behind twelve yoke of...
Daily Readings for Friday, June 12, 2020
Daily Reading for Friday June 12, 2020 Reading 1, First Kings 19:9, 11-16Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 27:7-8, 8-9, 13-14Gospel, Matthew 5:27-32 Reading 1, First Kings 19:9, 11-16 9 There he went into a cave and spent the night there. Then the word of Yahweh came to him...
Daily Readings for Thursday, June 11, 2020
Daily Reading for Thursday June 11, 2020 Reading 1, Acts 11:21-26; 13:1-3Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 98:1, 2-3, 3-4, 5-6Gospel, Matthew 10:7-13 Reading 1, Acts 11:21-26; 13:1-3 21 The Lord helped them, and a great number believed and were converted to the Lord. 22 The...
Daily Readings for Wednesday, June 10, 2020
Reading 1, First Kings 18:20-39 20 Ahab called all Israel together and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah stepped out in front of all the people. 'How long', he said, 'do you mean to hobble first on one leg then on the other? If Yahweh is God, follow...
Daily Readings for Tuesday, June 09, 2020
Reading 1, First Kings 17:7-16 7 But after a while the stream dried up, for the country had had no rain. 8 And then the word of Yahweh came to him, 9 'Up and go to Zarephath in Sidonia, and stay there. I have ordered a widow there to give you food.' 10 So he went off...
Daily Readings for Monday, June 08, 2020
Daily Reading for Monday June 8, 2020 Reading 1, First Kings 17:1-7Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 121:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8Gospel, Matthew 5:1-12 Reading 1, First Kings 17:1-7 1 Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, 'By the life of Yahweh, God of Israel,...
Daily Readings for Sunday, June 07, 2020
Daily Reading for Sunday June 7, 2020 Reading 1, Exodus 34:4-6, 8-9Responsorial Psalm, Daniel 3:52, 53, 54, 55, 56Gospel, John 3:16-18Reading 2, Second Corinthians 13:11-13 Reading 1, Exodus 34:4-6, 8-9 4 So he cut two tablets of stone like the first and, with the two...
Daily Readings for Saturday, June 06, 2020
Daily Reading for Saturday June 6, 2020 Reading 1, Second Timothy 4:1-8Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 71:8-9, 14-15, 16-17, 22Gospel, Mark 12:38-44 Reading 1, Second Timothy 4:1-8 1 Before God and before Christ Jesus who is to be judge of the living and the dead, I charge...
Daily Readings for Friday, June 05, 2020
Daily Reading for Friday June 5, 2020 Reading 1, Second Timothy 3:10-17Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 119:157, 160, 161, 165, 166, 168Gospel, Mark 12:35-37 Reading 1, Second Timothy 3:10-17 10 You, though, have followed my teaching, my way of life, my aims, my faith, my...