The Ascension of the Lord, Thursday, May 14th, Holy Day of Obligation
Mass Times: St. Elizabeth’s Church, EDG 8:00 am,
St. Augustine’s Church, VH 12 noon or 6:00 pm
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85th Annual Catholic Appeal begins May 1st through June 30th: Let It Begin With Me
We encourage you to support the Appeal as generously as you can. You can make a one-time gift or a pledge with convenient payments throughout the year. You can give by mail, using a contribution card that has been mailed to you from the Fall River Diocese (we will have extras located in the church), or make your gift or pledge online at https://www.catholicfoundationsema.org/appeal/ where you can also watch the 4 videos–one from Bishop da Cunha and three of the ministries that your donations support.
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Prayer for Priests – St. Thérèse of Lisieux
Join us every Thursday in praying for priests.
Jesus, I pray for your faithful and fervent priests;
for your unfaithful and tepid priests;
for your priests laboring at home or abroad in distant mission fields;
for your tempted priests;
for your lonely and desolate priests;
for your young priests;
for your dying priests;
for the souls of your priests in Purgatory.
But above all, I recommend to you the priests dearest to me:
the priest who baptized me;
the priests who’ve absolved me from my sins;
the priests at whose Masses I’ve assisted and who’ve given me Your Body and Blood in Holy Communion;
the priests who’ve taught and instructed me;
all the priests to whom I am indebted in any other way, especially our pastor Fr. Joseph, Fr. Edivar, & all priests who have served on Martha’s Vineyard.
O Jesus, keep them all close to your heart, and bless them abundantly in time and in eternity.
Amen.
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National Eucharistic Pilgrimage June 29th-30th within the Diocese of Fall River
June 29: Opening Pilgrimage Mass 12:00 PM-1:00 PM celebrated by the Most Rev. Edgar M. da Cunha, S.D.V., Stonehill College grounds at the Father Peyton Center, 518 Washington St. North Easton, MA 02356
Easton Eucharistic Procession 1:00 PM-3:00 PM to Immaculate Conception Parish, 193 Main St. North Easton (approx. 1.5 miles)
New Bedford Eucharistic Procession 6:15 PM-7:30 PM starting at Our Lady of the Assumption, 47 S 6th St., to Our Lady of Guadalupe, 233 County St., to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, 230 Bonney St. (approx. 1 mile)
Mass & Evening of Eucharistic Encounter, Confession available 7:30 PM-9:00 PM at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, New Bedford.
June 30: Fall River Morning Mass 7:00 AM-8:00 AM at Church of the Holy Name, 709 Hanover St.
Fall River Eucharistic Procession 8:30 AM-11:30 AM to Santo Christo Parish, 185 Canal St., ending at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption, 327 Second St. (approx. 2 miles)
Concluding Pilgrimage Mass 12:00 PM-1:00 PM celebrated by Bishop Edgar M. da Cunha, S.D.V. Light hospitality will be offered after Mass behind the Cathedral (weather permitting).
Financial Support for the O’Connell House & the Sisters of Good News

This is the first 13-room residence in MA which provides comprehensive services to women who have been sex trafficked. These women may be pregnant and/or have a small child. It is a place where dignity will be restored and healing can occur. The unique 24/7 “Sister Care Model” delivers trauma-informed care which supports their complex needs with compassion, while being the loving nurturing presence the women so desperately need.
The November Gala was a huge success! See the difference your support has made this year (January – October 2025):
Parishioner Deb O’Hara-Rusckowski, co-founder of The O’Connell House and delegate for the United Nations representing the Order of Malta said: “Many thanks to our friends and supporters on Martha’s Vineyard! We so appreciate all of you!! Thank you for keeping our women, and their children, in your prayers as they heal from the horrors of being trafficked.” 🙏
Visit their website: http://theoconnellhouse.org or follow them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheOConnellHouseMA
Checks can be made out to The O’Connell House, Inc. and mail to: The O’Connell House, P.O. Box 9568, Lowell, MA. 01853.
Please keep them and all victims of human trafficking in your daily prayers!
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Good Shepherd Parish History—Fun Fact: Do you remember or perhaps wonder about our parish’s history? On May 2, 2004, Bishop George Coleman consolidated the three parishes into one new parish, The Good Shepherd Parish, with three Churches to worship in, St. Augustine’s Church in Vineyard Haven, Our Lady Star of the Sea Church in Oak Bluffs and St. Elizabeth’s Church in Edgartown. The coat of arms, designed by Fr. Nagle a few years later, represents the unity of the three Churches as one: the image of Jesus the Good Shepherd at the center; Our Lady Star of the Sea–boat on the sea following the star; St. Elizabeth’s–basket of bread (which she fed to the poor); St. Augustine’s–the flaming, pierced heart; and the flowing water is from the Diocese of Fall River’s coat of arms, as uniting our communities as one parish to the diocese.








