The Forty Hours Devotion is a special forty-hour period of continuous prayer made before the Blessed Sacrament in solemn exposition. The 40 hours period is special because it represents the amount of time Jesus spent in the tomb.

St. Philip's devotional period starts after the 7:00 pm evening Mass on Thursday, November 20. It culminates with prayer and Benediction at 5:00 pm on Saturday, leading into a special Bilingual Mass at the Saturday 5:30 Vigil Mass.

There will be special confession times during the 40 Hours:

Friday: 8:30 am, 3:30 pm, and 7:30 pm

Saturday: 8:30 am and 4:00 pm

Next weekend, we celebrate the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, the last Sunday of each liturgical year. Spending time in Eucharistic Adoration is wonderful way to demonstrate the Christ is our king.

In November 2022, Bishop Burbidge presented 23 strategic initiatives to the People of God in the Diocese of Arlington. Among those 23 initiatives was one exploring the interest of a Catholic-based Vocational Program in the diocese. Recently, the diocese completed a first survey, and in that survey over 92% of respondents enthusiastically supported such a program. 

This overwhelming response prompts the effort to advance to the next step: to survey for preferences on the model (or kind) of school and the location of that school. This is a momentous idea, and I respectfully ask each of you take the survey out of personal interest or for the good of the diocese. The survey is available in English and Spanish.

The survey will be available from Oct 23 – November 23

This Advent, we are invited to countdown the days to Christmas by reading the Gospel daily.

The Diocese has prepared a list of daily Gospel readings to help us prepare our hearts as we celebrate and remember the coming and birth Jesus. The readings begin on November 30 and end on Epiphany January 4, 2026.

Dear Friends in Christ,

Jesus Christ is our King! This is a short sentence that, perhaps, we are unused to saying since our American government is structured as a constitutional republic instead of a monarchy. However, today as we celebrate the great Solemnity of Christ the King, we Catholics affirm that we do have a king whom we serve, and he is Jesus, true God and true man. This king does not rule to gain power for himself, but he reigns as one who wishes to express his great love, compassion, humility, and strength all at once in a way that invites us to love Him.

As we celebrate this great Solemnity, I wish for us to explore the lives of two martyrs who both gave their lives in heroic virtue by refusing to acknowledge something or someone other than Jesus as king in their lives. These two martyrs are Bl. Miguel Agustin Pro and St. Andrew Dung-Lac, both of whom wished to die rather than give up their faith in Jesus as their King. We will celebrate these two men on November 23rd and 24th, respectively.

Blessed Miguel Agustin Pro was born in 1891 in Mexico to a family of eleven children. His father was a miner by trade, and alongside his desire to follow in the family trade, Miguel possessed a keen interest in spiritual matters. He joined the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) when he was twenty years old, and a few years into his formation he had to flee from Mexico because of fierce persecution of Catholics at the time. After seeking sanctuary in the United States, he departed for Granada, Spain, to continue his studies as a Jesuit, then soon to Nicaragua to teach, and finally to Belgium to complete his studies and receive ordination to the priesthood in 1925.

In July 1926, Fr. Miguel Pro returned to Mexico, but because of the continued anti-Catholic persecution, he had to administer the Sacraments in a hidden way. He was known to disguise himself as a taxi-driver or a manual laborer in order to hear confessions of strangers who were in need of God’s mercy. Unfortunately, Fr. Pro and his brothers were arrested and falsely accused for the assassination of a Mexican official. Without a trial, Fr. Pro was executed in front of firing squad on November 23rd, 1927. His last words were, “¡Viva Cristo Rey!” Long live Christ the King!

St. Andrew Dung-Lac was born in Vietnam in 1795. During his lifetime, Vietnam suffered greatly from persecution. Thousands of men, women, and children during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries chose to die rather than to renounce their faith by stepping on an image of Jesus with their feet. These individuals acknowledged Jesus as their king in their lives and in their death.

As we draw towards the conclusion of the liturgical year, we should ask ourselves, “Is Jesus truly the King in my life?” While we may not have a physical king in front of us, we can often have a hidden king within ourselves that we pay homage to. Very often, this hidden king is our own pride or our own sense of control, both of which we grasp onto with a tight grip. Here on this Solemnity, we are invited to renew ourselves to our King by surrendering everything to Him. This is not easy, but thanks be to God we have saints like Bl. Miguel Pro and St. Andrew Dung-Lac to intercede for us to place Jesus as King upon the throne of our hearts

May Christ’s Peace be with you,

Fr. Briggs