Christmas Mass Schedule 2020
For 134 years, St. Monica Catholic Community has gathered the faithful to celebrate the birth of our newborn king, Emmanuel—God with us. The promise hasn’t changed:
A peace delivered,
a hope restored,
and a love freely given.
Christmas Eve Masses: Dec. 24
2 p.m. · 4 p.m. · 6 p.m. · 8 p.m. · Midnight
Christmas Day Masses: Dec. 25
7 a.m. · 9:30 a.m. · 11:30 a.m
Communion Procession
A Communion procession will take place following each Mass (except Midnight).
Receive Eucharist from the safety of your vehicle.
Enter off Washington Blvd.
Virtual Live Assembly
We invite you to join our Virtual Live Assembly during our Livestream Masses, conducted on Zoom. Bring your Christ Candle to light and bless with our priests live during Mass.
Click Here to Receive a Link for the Virtual Live Assembly!
Christ Candle
Christmas Offertory Gift
Support the Youth of Our Sister Parish in Kenya
Did you know that Africa has the largest concentration of young people in the world? We are thrilled to share that through our Sister Parish, Holy Cross Dandora in Kenya, we provide vital relief and expanded our support for students and young adults.
Since Msgr. Torgerson made his first trip to Nairobi, Kenya in 2002, our community has played an important role in our Sister Parish in Dandora, a poor neighborhood of the country’s capital. While we could not visit this year, we have done our very best to support those most in need: since the beginning of the pandemic, we have sent over $20,000 to Dandora thanks to your generosity!
Relief Efforts for Our Sister Parish
The pandemic hit Africa especially hard, with an already high unemployment and pervasive challenges to deliver aid where it’s most needed. Holy Cross Africa Ministry [HCAM], through a close partnership with the Holy Cross Mission Center in Notre Dame, did not miss a beat. We have provided relief where it was most needed:
- Deliver food support to 220+ families in small Christian communities between August and October
- Provide food and rent support to 50 youth members between August and December 2020
- Supporting the Holy Cross Parish & School with salaries for teachers and staff
- Providing assistance to the community of sisters (the Daughters of St. Theresa of the Child Jesus)
- Expanding our food program through Veronika’s Place between September and November
Continuing our Scholarship Reach
While students are out of session this year, we continue to maintain our support with full scholarships, while also providing support to teachers and staff at the St. James School. We are committed to funding scholarships for 20 primary school students, 17 high school students, and 6 tailoring school students. Your support ensures we can provide for these scholarships.
Empowering the Local Youth
In the last year, the Youth have inaugurated two important initiatives: a renovated basketball court, which helped the team grow to nearly 200 members (from 50 last year!), and the completion of upgrades to the Church’s music equipment that allows the community to celebrate Mass, while ensuring physical distancing. The youth are now exploring an idea to start a local café – modeled after Holy Grounds – and your support will allow us to keep empowering them!
Be Part of Our Outreach
Our work would not have been possible without dozens of generous donors from our parish who have made all of this – and more – possible. We thank those that have continued to support this vital ministry for our brothers and sisters in Kenya, and there are still ways that you can make an impact! Whatever you can give during our 2020-2021 Africa Education fundraiser will go a long way to support students, youth, and educators in our sister parish in Nairobi, Kenya.
We continue to offer our prayers for our brothers and sisters in Kenya, that we may be able to make a small impact, with prayer or generous donations, to the cause of education and empowering the youth in our global community.
-Monica Fernandez, Theresa Haley, Jakub Hlávka, Mary McLoughlin
HCAM Education Committee
Click Here to Donate to the HCAM Education Fund!
For more information, contact Delis Alejandro: or (310) 566-1530.
Election Day: Candlelight Novena for National Peace and Unity
We continue to pray for our Nation; for peace and unity during these uncertain times, and beyond, as we work as a citizens who vote with our hearts and minds. We are called to be faithful citizens and reflect/pray on the importance of casting our votes for the future of our Nation.
We will host a special prayer service, which will be offered daily Outdoors in unity and peace for our country. In addition to the Novena, the prayer service will include Benediction and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
Below, you will also find an Election Day Prayer, courtesy of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and more information and resources on Faithful Citizenship.
Pre-reservation is required for those attending the Candlelight Novena, Outdoors. We ask that you bring your own candle, in addition to wearing a mask and following social distancing guidelines.
For those of you following along at home, make sure to have your candle ready! *Only the first night of the Novena will be available via Livestream.
Pray with us, for this Election Day, for faithful citizens, and for our Country to come together in unity and peace.
Candlelight Novena for National Unity and Peace
Wednesday, Nov. 4 - Thursday, Nov. 12 | 5:30-6:30 p.m. | Outdoors
Click Here to Register for the Candlelight Novena for National Unity and Peace
As faithful Catholics and citizens living in a democracy, we must exercise and cherish the opportunity to participate in extending God’s reach in this world. When living faithfully to Jesus’ gospel, we contribute most effectively to promoting civil order and the common good. Visit the following websites and find information and study guides to help you make an informed decision in November.
The California Catholic Conference is the staff office of the California Catholic Conference of Bishops. It is the official voice of the Catholic community in California's public policy arena.
California Bishops have taken a no stand on two propositions. For more information and analysis on all of the state propositions visit https://cacatholic.org/2020_propositions
Learn more:
California Catholic Conference
United States Catholic Bishops Resources on Faithful Citizenship
Awaiting in Joyful Hope: Advent Small Groups
Waiting … we have grown accustomed to waiting. Waiting for the pandemic to crest, waiting for a vaccine, for reopening and for countermeasures. Waiting at home, waiting to see loved ones, family and friends. But, hope springs eternal. 
As 2020 draws to a close, we hope to enter into another form of waiting: preparing the way for our Savior, Jesus Christ. While we sit with our fears, losses and our hopes and move forward into the new year, we can rest assured of the certainty that God will be there, too, through all of it. For us it is a time of waiting in joyful hope.
We welcome new, and seasoned parishiones to gather with us in waiting prayerfully and reading our parish-wide chosen booklet, Daily Reflections for Advent & Christmas: Waiting in Joyful Hope 2020-2021. With scripture, reflections, meditations, and prayers every day of advent, coupled with weekly small groups to share what we prayed and reflected upon, we hope that the experience will bring the scriptures alive in our conversation and within our daily lives.
Authored by chemistry professor, Michelle Francl-Donnay, the introduction highlights our need to find the light in the darkness: “I find in Advent not so much a refuge from the demands of my life and of the world as a series of mysterious contradictions that leave me slightly off balance. The Scriptures of this season promise us light in the midst of the darkness, but they also make clear the demands the kindling of such a light place upon us. They disrupt my preconceptions about what it means that God has come to dwell among us, forcing me to come face-to-face with what it means for me, here and now, to encounter God in human form. These readings put flesh on hope.”
There is not cost to register for Advent Small Groups and there are many convenient and cost-effective ways to obtain a copy of our chosen text.
Let us all begin the preparation process and ring in a new year, together, more spiritually prepared than we were before!
Click Here to Read More and Register for Advent Small Groups!
Oasis Women's Retreat
It started as a simple conversation, during a zoom session with Women of St. Monica. The question was asked of the group of assembled women leaders in our community: “Why couldn’t we do a virtual women’s retreat?”
There was a pause. Everyone, starring at their computer screens in
their respective homes; some with glasses of wine, others rushing from other rooms after putting their children down to sleep, still other young adults frazzled from work, school in the virtual world, all these women gathered each week to spiritually sooth their souls during this most unique time of Pandemic and uncertaintly.
Why couldn’t we develop a virtual retreat for women? What a perfect time of year to do so. Just before advent, when the Church is preparing to prepare.
Preparing to prepare? What a novel idea. They set to work, and what they have set in motion for the women of our community will be a truly remarkable experience.
Over the course of this time of Pandemic and Shelter-in-Place orders, we have all felt it: the dry desert. The lack of communication or over communication. Our spiritual landscape feels dry, like the Israelites in the desert. We need that Oasis – that novel, innovative man named Jesus, who came to prepare the way.
We invite you to spark your inner desert with a fount spring of spiritual guidance, faith-sharing, and connection from the wisdom-laden women of our community. Oasis of Grace: Encountering God’s Forgiveness and Mercy will debut Nov. 6 & 7 via zoom and will help you prepare for the holiday season in unique and innovative ways.
Click Here to Start your Journey with Oasis!
Calling all MOMS!
Our patron saint, Saint Monica, was one inspiring mother: she never gave up on her son, and over years of prayer, was able to help steer him toward God. As mothers in our community, we all want the same. We want to be there for our children. We want to provide support, security, love, and resources to foster our children's connections with God. This is a hard job! Sometimes, moms just need a venue to share with other moms and receive spiritual support on their journey with God. While the pandemic has not made our motherly journey any easier, it has provided new opportunities to grow and thrive together, virtually!
Mothers of Monica (MOMs) is stepping in to take care of the spiritual needs of the moms in our community. Led by Debora Sanchez and Cheryl Thode, this new ministry hopes to engage mothers in spiritual discussions, prayer, and fellowship opportunities. We will minister to each other, to help our fellow mothers by presenting them with opportunities to grow and thrive. MOMs will be a safe forum to reflect on our current states and needs as mothers, while also providing advice/resources on child-care, child rearing, and other related discussion topics that are important to moms.
If you are a mother seeking to grow in faith within a loving community with other mothers seeking spiritual enrichment and friendship, then Mothers of Monica (MOMs) is for you!
If you are yearning for a deeper connection with Christ on your own personal journey through motherhood, or If you are willing to belong to a fellowship of mothers from all walks of life, then MOMs is definitely for you! We welcome moms of all ages and circumstances, Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m. beginning Nov. 10 - click the link below to learn more and register!
Click Here for more information on Mothers of Monica (MOMs)!
Catholic Charities Gala Honors Parishioners of St. Monica
M
iracles happen everyday. Especially during the Pandemic, hope been thin on the ground; many in need have turned to the support services that our parishioners provide in the greater Santa Monica community through Catholic Charities.
Catholic Charities of Los Angeles, Inc, invites you to their Annual Spirit of Giving Celebration where they will honor three inspiring Los Angeles-based programs: Good Shepherd Center for Homeless Women, St. Margaret’s Center, and St. Robert’s Center.
Our Community of St. Monica will also be honored for our outreach ministries that, for decades, have transformed the lives of the poor and vulnerable across Los Angeles and around the world. Our ministry directors and Msgr. Torgerson will accept the Sister Peg Dolan Spirit of Giving Award on behalf of our entire community, live during the event.
We cordially invite our St. Monica Family to be present virtually to accept this award and to raise much needed funds for Catholic Charities' work here in our home of Los Angeles. During difficult times such as these, our community has proven that their generosity knows no bounds. We are the place where miracles happen, and it starts with you!
It's a miracle that we can all gather together, as #StillStMonica #StMonicaFamily to honor the work of our community, in lifting up and tending to the least in our midst.
Click on the link below to find out more information, register, and bid! Be a part of the miracles in transforming lives today!
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR CATHOLIC CHARITIES SPIRIT OF GIVING!
November: Month of Remembrance
When you were baptized, you are given a name – by your parents, if you were an infant, or by yourself, if you came to Christ through RCIA. In death, your name is called out in the Church, as you are honored with a Christian burial through the Funeral Liturgy. At St. Monica, we honor you additionally, by proclaiming your name, one last time in the Church, during November: The Month of Remembrance.
Starting the weekend of Oct. 31 & Nov. 1, we will honor those who have died this past year from our parish community during our liturgies; those able to celebrate funerals early in the year, as well as the many who died during the Pandemic. We will call out their names, and we will let our prayers rise up like incense to our God, for our loved ones, whose names we reverence and hear in the Church one last time.
All Month Long, we will be accepting the names of your loved ones, whom you would like for us to offer up during our All Souls Novena. There is also an optional offering. We will continue to pray and hold you loved ones close to our hearts.
We will begin a Novena for Unity and Peace for Our Country on Wednesday, Nov. 4, which will include Benediction and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. This service will be available via Livestream as well as those wishing to attend in-person, Outdoors, for pre-registration.
The Homeless Memorial Service will be celebrated on Wednesday, Nov. 4 at 10:00 a.m. via Livestream, sponsored by The Westside Coalition and St. Monica Catholic Community, to remember those individuals that have passed away on the streets, in shelters, and in our communities, who experienced the pain of homelessness, as well as re-committing ourselves to the fight to end poverty and homelessness.
On Nov. 7, at the Saturday Vigil Mass at 4:30 pm, we will celebrate a special COVID Memorial Mass with the families from our community who were unable to celebrate funerals this year. For our celebration, we invite all of those families to come, worship our God, and give thanks for their fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, children, neighbors, and friends who have passed. This is a new addition to our collection of remembrance liturgies this month, called forth by the uncertain and unprecedented times we currently find ourselves.
Sunday, Nov. 15, during our Livestream Masses, we will celebrate our Mass of Remembrance: in a special way, we will honor all our loved ones with a special presentation. Parishioners are invited to submit digital photographs of their loved onse who has passed away, for us to remember. In addition, after the 5:30 p.m. Livestream Mass, the Bereavement ministers will host a virtual Remembrance Reception, with time to gather, tell stories, and share memories of the ones to which we have said farwell, the ones we miss, the ones we love, and who have loved us so dearly.
For more information about these and other events during the Month of Remembrance, click the link below.
Click Here for More Information on the Month of Remembrance.
Daylight Savings Time: Mass Schedule Updates
Fall is in full swing, which means that we are inevitably moving toward earlier evenings. It is growing darker and there will soon be a chill and wind settling in.
Beginning the weekend of Daylight Savings Time, on Saturday, Oct. 31 & Sunday, Nov. 1, we will move both our Vigil and Sunday Outdoor Masses to 4:30 p.m. until further notice.
Confession on Saturdays will also be moved to 3:30 p.m. until further notice.
We encourage everyone to bring blankets, wear warm clothing, and sweaters, etc. for your comfort during our Outdoor Masses.
In the event of inclement weather, our website will be updated with the latest information. We encourage you to contact the Parish Office at (310) 566-1500 for details on what changes may occur due to changes in weather.
Click Here to Reserve a Spot for Outdoor Masses
O God of Creation, you have blessed us with the changing of the seasons.
As we welcome the autumn months,
may the earlier setting of the sun
remind us to take time to rest.
May the brilliant colors of the leaves
remind us of the wonder of your creation.
May the steam of our breath in the cool air
remind us that it is you who give us the breath of life.
May the harvest from the fields remind us of the abundance we have been given and bounty we are to share with others.
May the dying of summer’s spirit remind us of your great promise that death is temporary and life is eternal.
We praise you for your goodness forever and ever. Amen.
-Prayer for Beginning of Autumn, University of Notre Dame
Prepare the Way with Scripture Encounter Part 2
During this Pandemic, it has almost been required to adapt to changes circumstances, when overnight we were all thrust into quarantine. Many of us will continue, even as our region slowly opens up and loosens restrictions, to participate virtually in Masses and events. Now, more than ever, taking care of our physically, emotional, and spiritual health is of utmost importance.
Scripture Encounter Part 2 will continue with you on this virtual journey. It is open to new participants as well as continuing seekers of wisdom from the Gospels. Current participants are especially excited to continue the revelation in God’s scripture, in an easily accessible online format.
Pia, a participant of our previous cohort, shared with us: “I love the interactions with other people, learning and growing in faith together. Especially with sheltering [during] COVID, these interactions are precious.”
Studying and sharing online can be challenging, but it can also afford new opportunity for growing and strengthening our faith. Our participants have found that facing the challenges, and resulting blessings, head on can be the best way forward.
Theresa, a participant from Indiana, stated: “Online allows me the flexibility to attend meetings no matter where I am and allows me the ease of joining meetings without traveling to another location. By having it online, it's a matter of clicking [a] link. It's easy and saves time. I love it!! Also, I find online works well for me, because there are no distractions. Because the person who is speaking comes up on the monitor, I'm finding that its easier for me to be engaged and focused. The breakout sessions are very helpful. I'm finding that participants are very open and they're all willing to share their opinions and experiences.”
Are you looking for new ways to engage in conversations about faith and ask for the intercessions of the saints in our daily lives? What better way than companionship on a journey that includes the passion, death, and resurrection of Christ, growing in faith alongside our community of learners and the disciples, as we let the Word of God speak to us. A perfect way to prepare ourselves for Advent and beyond!
There is still time to register, but space is filling up fast!
Updated: Women of St. Monica, Saint Monica Feast Day
Our devotion to Saint Monica is evident and strong in our parishioners, as we are all inspired by her #NeverGiveUp.
Saint Monica never gave up on her son, and she will never give up on us. We have updated our Women of St. Monica video, please enjoy as we continue to pray for our community members, gathered virtually and in-person, that we model the devotion and prayer life that Saint Monica lived.
Women of St. Monica, Feast Day from St. Monica Catholic Community on Vimeo.
View more on Saint Monica and our recent Feast Day Celebration: SAINT MONICA - OUR PATRONESS
Announcements
Mass
Mon–Fri, 7:00 am - Church
Mon–Fri, 12:10 pm - Church & Livestream
Sat, 8:00 am - Church & Livestream
Sat, 5:30 pm - Church
Sun, 7:30 am - Church
Sun, 9:30 am - Church & Livestream
Sun, 11:30 am - Church
Sun, 5:30 pm - Church & Livestream
Outdoor seating is available at all weekend Masses.
Confession
Mon–Fri. 5:30–6 pm
Sat, 4:30–5:00 pm
There are no confessions on secular holidays or other observances when the parish is closed.
Holy Days & Holidays
Holy Days: additional Vigil and evening Masses, 6:30 p.m.
Holidays: single Mass, 9:30 am with no confessions
Eucharistic Adoration
First & Third Fridays: 7:30–8:30 a.m. & 7–8 p.m. · Church
Second & Fourth Sundays: Noon–3 p.m. · Chapel
contact us
St. Monica Catholic Community
725 California Avenue
Santa Monica, CA 90403
310-566-1500 Contact Us
Saint Monica
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