Parish Events and News
Eucharistic Holy Hours
Each Tuesday of at 7:00 p.m., St. Mary’s Church hosts a Holy Hour for Illinois Valley Catholics.
There is time for silent prayer, adoration, and confession.
**Please note that the Holy Hour on December 19th & 26th is cancelled.
Christmas 2023
Mass Schedule
Celebrate the birth of Our Savior!
Masses will be offered on:
Sunday, December 24th @ 4:00 p.m. & 10:00 p.m. Monday, December 25th @ 9:00 a.m.
** Please note that for the 4th Sunday of Advent, we will only offer Masses Saturday @ 5:00 p.m. & Sunday @ 10:00 a.m.
Growing Disciples - Pastoral Planning
For the latest information regarding the Growing Disciples Pastoral Planning process, please visit the link below.
Timeline
Winter 2024 - Core Team incorporates feedback from priests and the laity into a final set of parish models.
Spring 2024 - Pastoral Planning Commission shares its feedback. Then the Presbyteral Council makes a final recommendation to Bishop Tylka.
Pentecost 2024 - Bishop Tylka announces his decision on new parish structures for the Diocese of Peoria.
Implementation of the new structure begins and occurs between May 2024 and May 2026.
Mass and Sacraments
Mass Schedule
Saturday Vigil Mass: 5pm
Sunday Masses: 8 and 10am
Weekday Masses: 7am
First Communion
& Confirmation
Arranged through our CCD program for children. Adults please contact the church.
Confessions
Online confession guide here.
Saturday: 4-4:45pm
Sunday: 7:30-7:45am
First Friday: 5:15-6:00pm
Anointing of the Sick
Please contact the church anytime day or night.
Holy Matrimony
Contact the church to schedule and begin preparation at least eight months before the wedding.
Baptism
Contact the parish office to schedule an infant baptism.
For adults, our regional RCIA program meets in the fall.
On Holy Thursday, April 11, 1675, Francis Jacques Marquette offered the first parochial Mass in the Illinois Country at Utica in the presence of 5,000 Native Americans. Father Marquette and his companion Louis Joliet, took possession of this land in the name of Jesus Christ and founded the Mission of the Immaculate Conception. A monument in his honor stands in the northeast corner of the property.
That mission eventually became the Church of Saint Mary. In 1858 a small frame church was built which was destroyed by fire seventeen years later and a brick and stone church was built on the site of the former Saint Mary School.
In 1883 the Reverend Charles Xavier O'Neill was appointed the first pastor of Saint Mary's but never took up residence there. The Reverend Canon Jeremiah Moynihan was appointed the first resident pastor in 1884. The Reverend Francis J. O'Reilly succeeded Canon Moynihan in 1888 and in the same year erected the present church.
Take a look at the Memorial's 1951 Commemorative Booklet.
Historic St. Mary's
