Parishes Host World AIDS Day Prayer Services

Published: November 25, 2004

ATLANTA—World AIDS Day will be marked in the Archdiocese of Atlanta with a number of special events, including prayer services, an archdiocesan Mass and support to AIDS ministries.

An archdiocesan Mass for World AIDS Day will be celebrated on Wednesday, Dec. 1, at 7:30 p.m. at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, 48 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, SW.

During the month of November, the Shrine’s HIV/AIDS Ministry is sponsoring “welcome baskets” for clients of the Living Room, a housing information referral and financial assistance program for low-income individuals and families who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless due to HIV/AIDS. The baskets are home start-up kits with cleaning supplies, towels, washcloths, toilet paper and toiletries for clients when they move into their new homes.

In addition, the ministry will have panels of the Names Project Memorial AIDS Quilt on display at the Shrine from Sunday, Nov. 28, through Sunday, Dec. 5. Each panel, handmade by family members or friends and loved ones, remembers the life of a person lost to complications of AIDS and the sorrow, love and hope of those who made the panel. There are over 44,000 panels in the quilt.

The public will be able to view the panels during Mass times, which are at 8:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. on the two Sundays, and at noon from Nov. 29 through Dec. 3. The parish may be reached at (404) 521-1866.

Irene Miranda, HIV/AIDS Ministry coordinator for the Archdiocese of Atlanta, is coordinating the Dec. 1 Mass. She may be contacted at (404) 885-7207 or imiranda@archatl.com.

The AIDS ministry based at St. Ann’s Church, 4905 Roswell Road, NE, Marietta, is holding a prayer service on Wednesday, Dec. 1, at 7:30 p.m. Father John Gabriel, MS, will lead the prayer service and Ed Bolduc will lead the music. For information call (770) 518-6094.

On Tuesday, Nov. 30, at 7 p.m. the annual World AIDS Day Ecumenical Prayer Service will be celebrated at St. Philip Benizi Church, 591 Flint River Road, Jonesboro. Father Vincent Gluc, OFM Conv., parochial vicar at St. Philip Benizi Church, and Father T.J. Meehan, Catholic chaplain at downtown Atlanta hospitals, will lead the prayer service. The service will include a candle-lighting ceremony by members of the congregation for those who have died of or are living with HIV/AIDS.

In addition, two panels from the Names Project Memorial AIDS Quilt will be on display in the parish hall on Sunday, Nov. 28, from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. For information call the church at (770) 478-0178.

St. Oliver Plunkett Church, 3200 Brooks Drive, Snellville, will hold a Taizé Prayer Service on Tuesday, Nov. 30, at 7:30 p.m. Taizé sung prayer offers refuge from the hectic world, when there’s a need for some peace and quiet. The service intersperses the singing of beautiful chants with periods of prayerful silence and meditation.

For information call Diane Ricotta at (770) 554-8097.

The HIV/AIDS Ministry at Holy Cross Church, 3175 Hathaway Court, NE, will commemorate AIDS Compassion Sunday on Sunday, Dec. 5, to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and pray for the nations affected by the pandemic. For information call (770) 939-3501.

At Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, 2855 Briarcliff Road, NE, persons affected by HIV/AIDS will be remembered throughout the season of Advent.

At all Masses on Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 4 and 5, a large version of the “Mother of God, Light in All Darkness” icon from the National Catholic AIDS Network will be displayed with a candle and a special prayer for persons with HIV/AIDS in the narthex of the church, starting that weekend and continuing throughout Advent. 

Parishioners will be invited to put names of persons who have died of AIDS, those infected with HIV, and their families, friends and caregivers in a prayer basket. After each Mass, members of the AIDS ministry will offer small icon holy cards in English or Spanish and red ribbons to parishioners exiting the church. The prayers of the faithful will include intercessions for those affected by HIV/AIDS. A special flyer in English and Spanish will be inserted in the weekly parish bulletin. For information call Kathy Parker at (404) 634-5595.