Contributed by Terrie Evans
Our Saturday, March 7th Annual Pizza Party will go down in the history of San Antonio Church as another huge success. The ticket sales for 2020 surpassed those from last year and we more than doubled our carry out orders from 2019. We had 144 presale tickets for dine in and all our guests were delighted with the variety of pizzas ready for their families and friends to enjoy. Our workers have done a fantastic job selling tickets and handling the many different tasks required for this event to run smoothly; please know everyone at San Antonio really appreciates all your efforts. We cannot thank Buddy, Mike and Mark LaRosa enough for their generous donation of all the items needed. They have always supplied us with all the ingredients for kitchen staff to get the pizzas baked and ready to serve our dine ins and pickup orders. They graciously delivered olive oil, the doughs, cheese, the sauce, and all the meat toppings and Mark LaRosa even made a special trip to the Hall to check on our amounts so we wouldn’t run out of cheese. All the parishioners at San Antonio Church know we could not have done this event without the LaRosa’s and we will never forget all the kindnesses you have bestowed on our little mission church over the years. Because of their thoughtfulness, the kitchen crew was able to bake the remaining 11 pizzas for our Tuesday, March 10th Lunch on the House.
Our Split the Pot winner was Dave Dalessandro (son of Connie and Ron) who won the $345.00 Prize and in an unexpected act to pay it forward, returned the prize money for our next big church building repair, “The Ring the Bell Fundraiser”. This would go to fix of our church bells that are located in Bell Tower that was dedicated in 1954 by the new Bishop, Clarence Issenmann. Again, we thank everyone who supported this and our many fundraisers over the years, we are successful because of YOU! Our next event will be the Palm Sunday Bake Sale on Sunday, April 5th. Please check the signup sheets in the Hall to volunteer.
On this 5th week of Lent the Station Church visited today will be St. Peters Basilica (Part 2) known for its solid bronze altar, the Baldachin that took 11 years to build. Construction began in 1506 and took 120 years to complete with the new Basilica built around the old one and over the tomb of St. Peter, 23 feet below the marble floor. On Monday, the Station Church will be San Crisogono, dedicated to the Martyr, St. Chrysogonos. For many centuries, San Crisogono was the National Church of the Sardinians and Corsicans who resided in Rome. On Tuesday, the Station Church will be Santa Maria in Via Lata, known as the 1st Christian place of worship. The 5th century chapel and welfare center are now located under the present church and it is thought St. Paul spent 2 years here under house arrest while waiting for his trial. The Station Church on Wednesday is San Marcello, administered and owned by the Servite Order since 1369. Thursday’s Station Church is San Apollinare, dedicated in the 7th century to the 1st Bishop of Ravenna. It is always the Station Church for the Thursday of the 5th week of Lent. The Station Church for Friday is San Stefano, the ancient Basilica that is Hungary’s National Church in Rome. In 1454, Pope Nicholas V entrusted the Church to the Pauline Fathers, the only Catholic Order founded by Hungarians. On Saturday, San Giovanni a Porta Latina or “St. John Before the Latin Gate” is the Station Church. Construction was during the reign of Pope Gelasus (492-496) when the imprint of a taxation stamp was affixed on buildings at that time. The imprint was used on the roof tiles and found many centuries later with one of those ancient roof tiles is now used as a lectern.