FROM THE PASTOR’S DESK - NOVEMBER 11, 2022

Happy Feast of St. Martin of Tours!

I’ve wondered why our parish was named after this very popular European saint. It’s not like Gaithersburg was a big landing spot of European immigrants at the turn of the last century. But our first pastor, Fr. Cuddy, after whom the bridge over the railroad tracks is named, was a chaplain in the First World War. In fact, he was able to secure the first building for our church, which was a retired Army mess hall transported from Northeast D.C. Knowing that the War came to an end on November 11 (Veteran’s Day), which is also the Feast of St. Martin, who is the patron saint of soldiers, it all makes sense. Fr. Cuddy probably had a large part to play in the naming of the parish. Thank you to all of our parishioners who are veterans, for whom this day has a doubly special significance!

I hope that many of you are able to join us this Sunday for our trilingual Feast Day Mass at 5:00pm. Please remember that there is no 6:30pm Spanish Mass that evening.

I want to thank all of you who last month pledged to Take the Next Step in increasing your offertory donations. With every parish family pledging to contribute a little bit more on a weekly basis, that makes a huge difference in sustaining our operating budget. For those who haven’t yet considered Taking the Next Step in increasing your weekly or monthly contributions, I humbly ask you to consider doing so. One of the important means of maintaining a consistent weekly offertory is by signing up for Faith Direct, our on-line service of giving through direct deposit or by credit card. You can find more information for signing up for Faith Direct in the bulletin or by stopping by the parish office during the week.

In Christ,

Fr. Dave