The 2023 Lenten season began Ash Wednesday and once again, we have the opportunity to join together as a parish family in giving alms and assisting people in need. Several projects focus on the paramount need of our time, namely helping struggling mothers who choose life for their babies; but also remembering the needs of children, the hungry, and those displaced by war. 

• Baby Bottle/Change Collection for Mary’s Mantle: During Lent, gather up the loose change around your house or set aside savings from your Lenten sacrifices, and join it with the coins your fellow parishioners collect. Together, we can build a parish donation to Mary’s Mantle, a local Catholic residence for homeless pregnant women. Members of the Knights of Columbus, St. Nicholas Council 7011, distributed baby bottles at the beginning of Lent. Fill your baby bottle with coins and dollars and return it on Palm Sunday weekend, April 1-2. Together, our individual bottles of change will offer real assistance to this important pro-life ministry.

• Baby Shower for Image of God Crisis Pregnancy Centers: Celebrate Life! at the parish Baby Shower/Fellowship on Sunday, March 26, after the 9:30AM Holy Mass in the Fr. Mikus Hall. Show the moms and babies served by Image of God CPCs your love and care for them by helping to shower them with much needed baby items. Bring new baby items to the Parish Hall or drop them off before any Holy Mass from March 24-26. All donations are appreciated, but the most needed items include: diapers sizes 4 & 5; baby bathtubs; boppy pillows; nursing coverups; diaper bags; baby grooming kits; hooded towels; lotion; baby monitors; potty chairs; crib sheets; snow suits.

• St. Joseph’s Table/Non-perishable Food Collection for St. Christine’s Christian Services: Join in this venerable Church custom of providing food for the poor on the Solemnity of St. Joseph. Drop off your donation of non-perishable food at one of the church entrances when you come to Holy Mass the weekend of March 17 -19. Fr. Libor will bless our donations on Monday morning and they will be delivered to St. Christine’s Christian Services food bank in northwest Detroit. Any non-perishable food (no glass jars, please) is appreciated, however, items most needed at this time are: hearty soups (such as Progresso brand), jelly, pancake mix and syrup, and toilet paper.

• Easter Baskets for Children at St. Dominic’s Outreach Center: Each year, St. Dominic’s Outreach Center provides the families they assist with everything they need for a special Easter dinner, including an Easter basket for each child. This year they have asked our parish to provide 50 baskets for the children. Each basket should include: candy, a toy or stuffed animal, and a religious story book, coloring book, or puzzle. Baskets should be wrapped with cellophane for easy transport to St. Dominic’s. We will be collecting the baskets before all Holy Masses March 24-26. If you plan on donating a basket, please sign up on the list near the Lenten Giving Projects poster in the vestibule, email Erin Rybicki at ChristianService@saintcyrils.church or call the Parish Office by March 17.

• Monetary Donations to Parish Christian Service Fund:  Help local organizations serve local people in need with a monetary gift. Donations made to the parish Christian Service fund during lent will be divided between:
  • ¨Gianna House: Disaster struck this local residence for pregnant teens on December 26. Near zero temperatures caused the pipes of the home’s fire sprinkler system to burst, causing extensive damage to the entire building and  rendering it temporarily uninhabitable. Most of the furnishings are a complete loss, as well as all the baby items that had been donated for the teen moms and for moms in the Gianna House neighborhood. Financial assistance is needed to help Gianna House recover from this catastrophe so they can return to providing a home to teens and support services for neighborhood moms.
  • ¨ St. Vincent de Paul Camp Ozanam Camper Scholarships: A week at summer camp can be the highlight of the summer and a source of treasured memories, especially for children whose families are struggling. This summer, for the 100th year, St. Vincent de Paul Detroit will be offering five weeklong overnight camp sessions for boys and girls ages 8 to 14 at its Camp Ozanam, on Lake Huron. Daily Mass, prayer and catechesis are built in to the program along with swimming, crafts, sports and other outdoor fun. The campers all live in southeast Michigan, and the majority are from families in financial need. Some are in foster care, or have experienced emotional hardship such as the loss of a parent.  All campers attend camp at no cost to their families.

Make a donation to the Christian Service fund online using PushPay or place your cash donation or check made payable to Ss. Cyril & Methodius in a white Lenten offering envelope and put it in the Sunday collection basket by Easter Sunday, April 9. If you prefer, you can give directly to Gianna House at giannahouse.org or mail a check to: Gianna House, 21357 Redmond Ave., Eastpointe, MI 48021 or give directly to to St. Vincent de Paul at stvdpdetroit.org or mail a check (memo: camp) to: Society of St. Vincent de Paul Detroit, 3000 Gratiot Ave., Detroit, MI 48207.

International Project: Help students at Slovakia’s Catholic University help Ukrainian refugees in Ruzomberok, a city in south central Slovakia. The refugees are having difficulty finding jobs and supporting themselves. Many experienced trauma at home and now must adapt to a new culture and language. In the past year, the students have assisted 200 families with food, humanitarian aid and many activities to help them adjust. Lenten donations from our parish will go toward assisting mothers with children, seniors, and the disabled; assisting those who are struggling to find work; and  providing a community-building family fun day for Ukrainian and Slovak families. If you would like to make an individual, direct contributions for these international initiatives, please use the QR code below:

Give the Gift of your Time: With our busy schedules, giving our time can truly be a sacrifice; and it is essential for the success of the baby shower, food drive, and the Easter baskets. Bring a friend or gather your family, and make delivering  or collecting part of your Lenten sacrifices. Drivers and helping hands to deliver donations are needed on: Monday, March 20, at 10:00AM to deliver food to St. Christine’s in northwest Detroit; Monday, March 27, at 2:00PM to deliver baby items to Image of God CPC in Madison Heights; and Tuesday, March 28, at 10:00AM to deliver Easter baskets to St. Dominic’s in Detroit. Helpers who can collect the items that are dropped off before Mass and move them to a storage room are also needed before all weekend Holy Masses, including Friday evening, the weekends of March 17-19 and March 24-26. Sign up on the sheets near the Lenten giving poster in the vestibule. Or email Erin Rybicki christianservice@saintcyrils.church or contact the Parish Office at (586) 726-6911.

Please remember to include in your Lenten prayers all the people who will be assisted by our donations as well as the staff and volunteers of the ministries caring for them.

~ Thank you for your consideration and sacrifices for our needy brothers and sisters this Lent ~