As a Parish Family, we worship and work together to serve our Lord.
I echo what one of my predecessors wrote: “I sincerely hope that you will regard this Parish as your home away from home – a place of peace, comfort, and security but also of challenge, strength and spiritual growth. I pray that you will consider this Parish Community as an extension of your own family, and that you experience God’s love for you in the celebration of the sacraments and in other members of the community.”
As you will see in this handbook, there are several outreach programs such as making sandwiches for the Soup Kitchen in Middletown, Helping Hands, and many others.
I encourage you to become involved in the various activities and groups outlined in this handbook.
There is a committee, group or organization for each of you. I invite you to take advantage of what our parish has to offer and get involved.
This is a very Family-Oriented and Eucharistic-Centered Parish, and it is a privilege to serve here at Saint Lawrence, and also to be part of this family.
May God bless you.
Rev. Joseph F. De Costa
Parish History
The Catholic Community in Killingworth was first entrusted to the pastoral care of Saint Mary Parish in Clinton in May 1964 under Father Walter Keenan. Although few in numbers, Father Keenan obtained permission from the local Board of Education to hold Mass in the all-purpose room of Killingworth Elementary School. The first Mass in Killingworth was celebrated September 21, 1964, with 200 in attendance.
One year later, after a successful fund-raising campaign, Bishop Hines gave permission to erect a building on six acres in Killingworth purchased by the diocese for $15,000. The date of purchase was August 10, 1965, the feast of Saint Lawrence, the Martyr, who thus became the patron of this new Roman Catholic community. On October 15, 1966, the new building was completed and dedicated as the visible presence of a Killingworth Catholic Church, housing both the church and social hall.
On February 2, 1978, Father Daniel F. McGrath was named the first Pastor. The Catholic community was continuing to grow and Father McGrath instituted several building committees to research possibilities for a church and hall expansion.
On October 11, 1984, Father Michael J. O’Hara became Pastor of Saint Lawrence Church. He spent time considering numerous committee reports and recommendations. On October 6, 1985, Father O’Hara developed a Parish Expansion Program (PEP) whose chief goal was to construct a new church building on the west side of the parking lot. The Parish Council served as the Building Committee.
In April of 1988, J.H. Hogan, Inc. of New Haven was chosen to build the new Church, and ground was broken on May 2, 1988. The first Mass was celebrated at Christmas Midnight Mass in 1988, with 400 in attendance. Just four years after the PEP campaign began, twenty-five years after the Catholic Church had been established in Killingworth, a new Church building was erected to the honor and glory of Almighty God under the patronage of Saint Lawrence, the Martyr.
On March 27, 1998, Father Michael Phillippino joined St. Lawrence as Parish Administrator. On July 1, 1998 Father Michael was named Pastor and was installed on August 9, 1998. Father Michael was reassigned to St. Joseph/Sacred Heart Parish in North Grovesdale, CT.
On January 10, 2006, Father Robert Buongirno was appointed as Parish Administrator to St. Lawrence. He was named Pastor on January 10, 2007, and installed on February 10, 2007. Father Buongirno was reassigned to three parishes; Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Our Lady of The Lakes and St. John the Evangelist, CT.
In December, 2009, Father Jan Swiderski was assigned to St. Lawrence as Pastor and Father George Mattathilanikal was assigned to be our Pastoral Vicar.
On February 11, 2011, Father Joseph F. De Costa came to St. Lawrence as our Pastor and was installed on February 27, 2011, by Fr. Greg Fluet.
There are currently 694 registered families and approximately 132 children in our CCD program.
As a growing Catholic Community, we seek the expansion of ministries and parish activities. We pray for continued growth and participation of all parishioners in our St. Lawrence Catholic Community and for guidance from the Holy Spirit to lead us in faith, service and love.
Parish Hall Usage Policy
By decision of the Parish Council on July 11, 1989, the Hall and its facilities can be used for functions and activities as follows: first for Parish-sponsored functions, which shall always have preference; second by active parishioners (those who regularly celebrate Sunday Eucharist) for sacrament-related or other family celebrations; and third for community-directed or related activities which are not Church related but in every instance maintain the good intent and the good name of the parish.
Parish Pillars
Hospitality
Greeters, Social Activities, Christmas Fair, Strawberry Festival, Rummage Sale, Bereavement, Woodcarvers
Liturgy & Spirituality
Faith Formation; Bible Study, Adult Services, Sacramental Preparation, Marriage Encounter, Marriage Preparation
Beginning in Faith
Religious Education, Classroom Design & Room Set up, Catechist Training, Teacher Recruiting, Communications
Finance Council, Stewardship Council, Knights of Columbus
Columbiettes
The Sacraments
Initiation
Baptism
“ “By which we are born into the new life in Christ””
The fruits of this sacrament are:
Remission of original sin.
Birth into the new life by which man becomes an adoptive son of the Father, a member of Christ, and a temple of the Holy Spirit.
Incorporation into the Church, the body of Christ, and participation in the priesthood of Christ.
The imprinting, on the soul, of an indelible spiritual sign, the character, which consecrates the baptized person for Christian worship. Because of this character, Baptism cannot be repeated.
Confirmation
“By which we are more perfectly bound to the Church and enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit”
The fruits of this sacrament are:
An increase and deepening of baptismal grace.
A deepening of one's roots in the divine filiation, which makes one cry, “Abba, Father!”
A firming of one's unity with Christ.
An increase of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
A strengthening of one's bond with the Church and closer association with her mission.
Special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the faith by word and action as a true witness of Christ, to confess the name of Christ boldly, and to never be ashamed of the cross.
The imprinting, as in Baptism, of a spiritual mark or indelible character on the Christian's soul. Because of this character,one can receive this sacrament only once in one’s life.
Eucharist
“By which Christ associates his Church and all her members with the sacrifice of the cross.”
The fruits of this sacrament are:
An increase in the communicant's union with Christ.
Forgiveness of venial sins.
Preservation from grave sins.
A strengthening of the bonds of charity between the communicant and Christ.
A strengthening of the unity of the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ.
Healing
Reconciliation
“By which sins after Baptism are forgiven”
The fruits of this sacrament are:
Reconciliation with God: the penitent recovers sanctifying grace.
Reconciliation with the Church.
Remission of the eternal punishment incurred by mortal sins.
Remission, at least in part, of temporal punishment resulting from sin.
Peace and serenity of conscience, and spiritual consolation.
An increase of spiritual strength for the Christian life.
AnointingoftheSick
“By which a special grace is conferred during grave illness or old age”
The fruits of this sacrament are:
Unity with the passion of Christ, for the sick person’s own good and that of the whole Church.
Strength, peace, and courage to endure as a Christian the sufferings of illness or old age.
Forgiveness of sins, if the sick person is not able to obtain it through the sacrament of Penance. Restoration of health, if it is conducive to the salvation of the soul and preparation for entering eternal life.
Vocation
Matrimony
“By which a man and a woman form with each other an intimate communion of life and love”
The fruits of this sacrament for the spouses are:
The grace to love each other with the love with which Christ has loved his Church.
A perfecting of their human love.
A strengthening of their indissoluble unity.
Sanctification on their way to heaven.
The grace to “help one another to attain holiness in their married life and in welcoming and educating their children.”
An integration into God’s covenant with man: Authentic married love is caught up into divine love.
HolyOrders
“By which the task of serving in the name and in the person of Christ is conferred”
The fruits of this sacrament are:
The mission and faculty (“the sacred power”) to act inpersonaChristi.
Configuration to Christ as Priest, Teacher, and Pastor.
The imprinting, as in Baptism, of an indelible character that cannot be repeated or conferred temporarily.
Liturgy and Community Participation
It is the liturgy through which, especially in the divine sacrifice of the Holy Eucharist, the work of our redemption is accomplished, and it is through the liturgy, especially, that the faithful are enabled to express in their lives and manifest to others the mystery of Christ and the real nature of the true Church.
The Church is essentially both human and divine, visible but endowed with invisible realities, zealous in action and dedicated to contemplation, present in the world, but as a pilgrim, so constituted that in the Church the human is directed toward and subordinated to the divine, the visible to the invisible, action to contemplation, and this present world to that city yet to come, the object of our quest.
The liturgy daily builds up those who are in the Church, making of them a holy temple of the Lord, a dwelling-place for God in the Spirit, to the mature measure of the fullness of Christ. At the same time it marvelously increases their power to preach Christ and thus show forth the Church, a sign lifted up among the nations, to those who are outside, a sign under which the scattered children of God may be gathered together until there is one fold and one shepherd.
To accomplish such great work Christ is always present in his Church, especially in the liturgical celebrations. He is present in the Sacrifice of the Mass not only in the person of his minister, but especially in the Eucharistic species. By his power He is present in the sacraments so that when anybody baptizes, it is really Christ himself who baptizes. He is present in the word since it is He himself who speaks when the holy scriptures are read in the Church. Lastly, He is present when the Church prays and sings, for He has promised “Where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them.” (Mt.18:20).
Christ, indeed, always associates the Church with himself in His great work in which God is perfectly glorified and men are sanctified. The Church is His beloved Bride who calls to her Lord, and through Him offers worship to the eternal Father.
The liturgy is rightly seen as an exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ. It involves the presentation of man's sanctification under the guise of signs perceptible by the senses and its accomplishment in ways appropriate to each of these signs. In it full public worship is performed by the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, that is, by the Head of His members.
Mother Church earnestly desires that all the faithful should be led to that full, conscious, and active participation in liturgical celebrations which is demanded by the very nature of the liturgy, and to which the Christian people, “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a redeemed people,” (1 Pet.2:9, 4-5) have a right and obligation by reason of their Baptism.
In the restoration and promotion of the sacred liturgy the full and active participation by all the people is the aim to be considered before all else, for it is the primary and indispensable source from which the faithful are to derive the true Christian spirit. (Vatican II)
Prayers
Act ofFaith
O my God, I firmly believe that you are one God in three divine Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit; I believe that your divine Son became man and died for our sins, and that He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe these and all the truths that the holy Catholic Church teaches, because you have revealed them, who can neither deceive nor be deceived.
Act ofHope
O my God, relying on your almighty power and infinite mercy and promises, I hope to obtain pardon for my sins, the help of your grace, and life everlasting through the merits of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Redeemer.
ActofCharity
O my God, I love you above all things, with my whole heart and soul, because you are all-good and worthy of all love. I love my neighbor as myself for the love of you. I forgive all who have injured me and ask pardon of all whom I have injured.
ActofContrition
O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended you, and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell; but most of all because they offend you, my God, who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of your grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen.
