March 28, 2010

This morning we send our condolences to the family of Birute Vedegys, who passed away this week after a protracted battle with cancer. Birute was a quiet, but active member of St. George and St. Casimir parishes, and her company, Biruta Designs created First Communion dresses worn by many young girls in the Cleveland area. The funeral mass for Birute Vedegys was held yesterday at St. Casimir. The full obituary is available in the News-Herald.

The Holy Week schedule for St. Casimir Parish is as follows: Holy Thursday mass at 7:00 pm on April 1st, Good Friday Commemoration at 7:00 pm on April 2nd. Holy Thursday and Good Friday liturgies will be in Lithuanian and English.

The Blessing of Food will be held on Saturday, at 1:30 pm.

The Easter Vigil will be celebrated at 9:00 pm on Saturday, April 3rd, in English. Easter Sunday morning masses will be on April 4th at 8:00 am in Lithuanian, and 12 noon in English. There will be no 10:00 am mass on Easter Sunday. Confessions will be heard at 6:00 pm on Holy Thursday and Good Friday evenings.

The Cleveland Lithuanian Academic Scouts Filisterai invite you to a concert by soprano Virginija Bruozyte Muliolis entitled Welcoming Spring, on Saturday, April 10th in the upper hall at St. Casimir. Virginija will be accompanied on piano by Michael Borowitz, and together they'll perform works by Schubert, Mendelssohn, Grieg, Dvorak, Puccini, Rachmaninoff, Lerner & Lowe, and others. Tickets and information are available by calling 216-631-2010.

On Sunday, April 11th, the organization "Child's Gate to Learning" invites everyone to lunch, served immediately after 10 o'clock Mass in St. Casimir’s Parish lower hall. “Child’s Gate to Learning” works with neglected and abused children in Lithuania. It has established 10 after school centers, where children can come and spend a few hours each day. The children get help with their homework, are taught good behavior, and are able to spend a small part of their day in a normal and loving environment. Proceeds from the lunch will benefit these after-school centers.

Also on Sunday April 11th, the traditional Children's Easter will be held after 10:00 am mass in the lower at St. Casimir. All pre-school age children are invited to this fun event.

Don't forget that Juventus is coming up on April 24th. This event will feature 168 dancers from Gintaras of Toronto, Grandis of Chicago, Spindulys of Lemont, and of course our own Svyturys performing both traditional and new Lithuanian folk dances. The dance performance will be followed by dinner catered by Europa. The evening concludes with an opportunity for you to get out on the dance floor. Tickets and information are available by calling Ricardas Sirvinskas at 440-749-2121.

As a new parish, St. Casimir's is trying to identify parish programs that would be beneficial and interesting to all members. If you have an idea for a new parish program, please contact Teresa Craighead at 216-469-6088 or by email at tcraighead@aol.com.

Toronto will be the host city for the 9th Lithuanian Song Festival, July 1st, 2nd and 3rd. 1,100 singers from North America and all over Europe are expected to participate, and the guest artist will be Marijonas Mikutavicius. Tickets and information are available at dainusvente.org.