The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord (the day in which Joseph and Mary presented Jesus to the priests and elders in the Temple) is observed on February 2nd in the Church.

According to Luke’s Gospel, the presentation of Jesus and the purification of the Blessed Mother took place in the Temple on the same day.

According to Jewish law, the firstborn male child belonged to God, and the parents had to “buy him back” on the 40th day after his birth, by offering a sacrifice of “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons” (Luke 2:24) in the temple, thus the “presentation” of the child. On that same day, the mother would be ritually purified, thus the “purification.”

St. Mary and St. Joseph kept this law, even though, since St. Mary remained a virgin after the birth of Christ, she would not have had to go through ritual purification.

We can observe this feast with our families by:

• reading the Gospel account of the Presentation, Luke 2: 22-38.
• praying the Rosary, focusing on the 4th Joyful Mystery, the Presentation of the Lord.

Youth & Teens (from EDGE & HSYG) are invited to join us at St. Nick's 5:30-8:30pm on Friday, February 2nd!

RSVP in the form below for EACH youth & teen attending.

This will be an opportunity for the Youth & Teens to enjoy an evening together as they complete a service project for the Elderly & Homebound of our Diocese. Pizza will be provided.

The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord on February 2nd is also known as Candlemas Day.

This is a day on which candles are blessed symbolizing Christ who is the light of the world.

St. Nicholas parishioners are encouraged to bring any candles they would like blessed with them to the morning Mass on Friday, February 2.

Candles blessed on Candlemas are traditionally used for protecting the home and those who reside in it, such as during bad weather, during troubled times, during times of illness, etc.

Please remember, after candles are blessed they are considered sacramentals, so they are not to be disposed of, but rather burned or buried when you are finished using them.

Candles may also be blessed by request any time throughout the year by Father Welcome or Father Dominik.

Despite the frigid temps quite a few of our Youth & Teens attended the annual St. Nick's Bingo Night, and brought the FUN with them! Watch the video below to see how they do BINGO!

Many thanks to April Smith for providing our parish with another fabulous event!

Sadly, all RE classes were canceled due to temperatures exceeding -40°F.

Scroll up to the ANNOUNCEMENTS section for information and to RSVP for our next First Friday event for 6th-12th grade (EDGE & HSYG) Youth & Teens happening THIS FRIDAY, Feb. 2nd!

We will complete our 6th session of Symbolon, Mary and the Saints.

We don't have any videos to share this week and only a few photos (see below), but for great reasons!

We began with being thankful we have a warm cozy Youth Room, caught up on what everyone had done during the past week, and shared stories of our experiences with the extreme temps and the earthquake.

Next we had a quick recap of our last session, God Is Alive, then moved on to begin God Is Active.

This sparked a magnificent discussion with the Teens ranging from the main topic of how they can witness the Holy Spirit with them in their daily lives, to the Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit in the Cathecism, and to Confirmation and all of the Sacraments. They filled their time together completely engaged in this discussion until I had to remind them parents were arriving!

Their faith and insight continues to astound me, and while they may not realize it, I see and hear the Gifts and the Fruits of the Holy Spirit flow through these wonderful Teens every time we are together!

Scroll up to the ANNOUNCEMENTS section for information and to RSVP for our next First Friday event for 6th-12th grade (EDGE & HSYG) Youth & Teens happening THIS FRIDAY, Feb. 2nd!

Special thanks to 'Jack's Dad!' (aka, Rob Blackburn) for assisting.

We will begin our fifth session of the God Is... Collection, God Has Suffered.

Rehearsals begin this Saturday, Feb. 3rd.

Contact Sister New Eve at iccsecretary@cbna.org

Summer Oratory June 5-14.

No class this week.

Next class will be on Sunday, Feb. 11th.

For all Children and Youth (ages 5-17) from all parishes.

Every Saturday at Sacred Heart Cathedral from 1pm-2:45pm.

Per the Diocese policy for the safety of everyone, a minimum of 2 adults are required to be present for all Youth Ministry activities.

Ideally we would have at least 4-6 volunteers (preferably more), allowing for at least 1 assistant present for the HSYG one Sunday per month. We are also still in need of at least 1 more assistant for the EDGE class.

While the search to locate others who have current certification with the Diocese is ongoing, we have reached a point where we need to request that parents assist on a rotating basis so that we can continue to safely offer HSYG.

Please consider completing your certification, and/ or asking individuals who you think would be a willing volunteer. Or, you can submit suggestions for me to contact.

All youth ministry volunteers must have current certification for the course of Serving Vulnerable Populations and a Criminal History Record Check on file with the Diocese. More information can be found by visiting Adult Training on the Diocese of Fairbanks website. Diocese of Fairbanks - Adult Training - Fairbanks, AK

Call or Text 907-978-4786

Email stnicksym@cbna.org
Office hours are as follows:

Sunday 10am-7pm

Wednesday 3:30pm-5:30pm

It is a privilege to work with St. Nick's Youth!

As always, please never hesitate to contact me for any reason.

I pray you are having a blessed week.

In Christ's love, Beth