To commemorate the feast of Our Lady of the Snows, members of Our Lady of the Snows Parish in Dexter, St. Agnes Parish in Pittsfield, and visitors are invited to an outdoor Mass and barbecue on August 16 at the Kiwanis Park on Park Street in Dover-Foxcroft.

In celebration of the Year of St. Francis and the Feast of St. Claire, St. Paul the Apostle Parish is offering a one-day family pilgrimage to St. Francis of Assisi Church in Belfast, one of three official pilgrimage sites in Maine.

On Sunday, August 2, we celebrate the healing power of God’s merciful love as we commemorate the Pardon of Assisi.  Also known as the Portiuncula Indulgence, the Pardon of Assisi originated in 1216 when St. Francis of Assisi received a vision of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and angels at the Portiuncula chapel, a small church he had restored and dedicated to Our Lady of the Angels in Assisi, Italy. In this vision, Francis requested an indulgence for all the faithful who visited the chapel with true contrition and confession of sins. Jesus approved the request but instructed Francis to seek papal confirmation, which Pope Honorius III granted, officially establishing the indulgence.

As a new academic year approaches, students, teachers, and staff are invited to attend the Sunday, August 16, 10:30 a.m. Mass at Holy Rosary Church in Caribou for a special back-to-school blessing.

The Parish of the Transfiguration of the Lord will celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord with a daily Mass at 8:30 a.m. and a Latin High Mass at 6 p.m. at Holy Redeemer Church in Bar Harbor.

Bishop James Ruggieri will open the celebration of Respect Life Month with a Holy Hour for Life on Sunday, October 4, at 6 p.m. at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, 307 Congress Street in Portland.