PORT ST. LUCIE | St. Bernadette Parish’s Council of Catholic Women held its last meeting of the year in early May, giving thanks to God. The members officially ended the program year by praying the rosary at the grotto on parish grounds.
Jevene Caracello, council president, presented a $2,000 check to Father Victor Ulto, St. Bernadette’s pastor, for the parish’s capital campaign. “This check will go towards the ‘Planting Trees for Those Who Come After Us,’” he said.
St. Bernadette Council is an affiliate of the Northern Deanery of the Palm Beach Diocesan Council of Catholic Women, and Our Lady of Good Counsel is the patroness of the National Council of Catholic Women and its U.S. affiliates.
“We look to the Mother of God as a mother and a role model and intercessor,” Caracello said. “We always try to follow in her footsteps.”
This year, the council women put together a large Marian display in the back of the church for parishioners to see. “Father Ulto had asked us to decorate it in honor of the CCW women with a statue of Mary, the Mother of God as the centerpiece,” she said.
Some of the members are involved with the parish Rosary Maker ministry, creating rosaries and distributing them “locally to other parishes for their baptisms, first holy Communion, confirmation, and nursing homes and missions,” member Barbara Maglione said. “I do this because of my love for God, and Mary is close to my heart because she is the Mother of God.”
The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines devotion to the Virgin Mary like this: “From the most ancient times the Blessed Virgin has been honored with the title of ‘Mother of God,’ to whose protection the faithful fly in all their dangers and needs.”
The St. Bernadette Rosary Makers and Divine Mercy ministries joined the council women in praying the sorrowful mysteries of the rosary at the grotto, giving thanks to God and Mary.
For more information on the St. Bernadette Council of Catholic Women, the Rosary Makers or Divine Mercy ministries, call 772-336-9956. To learn about the Palm Beach Diocesan Council of Catholic Women, visit https://pbdccw.org or email PBDCCW@gmail.com.
