St. Mary's Church of Pecatonica

Welcome to the website for St. Mary's Church of Pecatonica, the Roman Catholic church located in Pecatonica, Illinois, and covering portions of Winnebago and Stephenson Counties, including the municipalities of Pecatonica, Ridott (partially), Seward, and Winnebago.

CCD CLASSES ARE CANCELLED FOR JANUARY 16TH.  THIS IS DUE TO THE CURRENT PANDEMIC SURGE.  WE PLAN ON HAVING CLASSES START UP AGAIN JANUARY 23RD.  PARENTS SHOULD LOOK FOR EMAILS FOR MORE INFORMATION.  IF A PARENT DID NOT GET AN EMAIL, SEND THE PARISH AN EMAIL SO WE CAN RESPOND.  OUR PARISH EMAIL ADDRESS IS STMARY-PECATONICA@ROCKFORDDIOCESE.ORG.  GOD BLESS!

A mailing went out on December 2, 2021, to all the parishioners for whom we had an address.  If you received the mailing, please fill out the parish registration form that was included in that mailing, and return it to us in the envelope that was also included in that mailing, either in the box marked for that near the back of church or by mail.  This will help us keep our database up to date so that we can serve you better.  If someone in your household is Catholic and you live within the boundaries of this parish (which you can determine by going on the website for the diocese (www.rockforddiocese.org) and looking under "Parishes" and "Search by Boundary" and typing in your street address), and you did not receive this mailing, please print out the parish registration form from the link below, and fill it out and send it to us either when you come to church here or by mail to: St. Mary's Church, P.O. Box 656, Pecatonica, IL  61063.

To see our annual financial report for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2021, please go to the tab for that under the "About" heading.

NEW RULES FOR SERVICES

1. IF SICK, COUGHING, SNEEZING, OR HAVE A FEVER, DO NOT COME IN.  YOU ARE EXCUSED FROM ANY OBLIGATION TO ATTEND MASS THIS DAY.

2. UNLESS YOU HAVE A MEDICAL CONDITION THAT PREVENTS YOU FROM WEARING A MASK, OR YOU ARE LESS THAN TWO YEARS OF AGE, YOU MUST WEAR A MASK OR FACE COVERING WHETHER YOU HAVE BEEN VACCINATED OR NOT.  (WE HAVE SOME MASKS AVAILABLE ON THE TABLE IN THE VESTIBULE IF YOU DO NOT HAVE ONE.)

3. HANDICAPPED AND COMPANIONS MAY SIT IN THE VERY FRONT ROW.

4.  EVERYONE ELSE MAY SIT IN ANY OTHER PEW IN THE CHURCH THAT IS NOT TAPED OFF.

5.  THERE WILL BE NO MORE SIGNING UP FOR SLOTS: IT WILL BE FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED.  HOWEVER, EVEN IF YOU GET TO MASS EARLY, PLEASE DO NOT SIT IN THE PEWS RESERVED FOR THE HANDICAPPED IF YOU ARE NOT HANDICAPPED OR WITH A HANDICAPPED PERSON.

Our goal is to remain, and have all people perceive our church to be, a safe place to worship God and to receive God's grace to help us on our pilgrimage of life. 

Thank you for your cooperation as we navigate the changing landscape of the pandemic.  May God protect us all, and bring us all to eternal life, beginning in this life and blossoming in the next.

For some links on life matters, see the links below.

Please contribute to the 2021 Diocesan Annual Appeal (sometimes called the Diocesan Appeal or the Diocesan Stewardship Appeal).  We have reached our pledge target for this appeal year (May 2021 through April 2022) of $13,000.  However, we would appreciate additional donations to push our actual, collected pledges above our target.  This money goes to meet the financial needs of the diocese, including the diocesan administration, seminarian education, religious education support, programs for the poor, and other programs.  Any funds raised in excess of the target come back to the parish.  So, reaching or exceeding the target helps the diocese and helps the parish.  Please respond to the diocesan mailing for this appeal, either by dropping off or sending your donation to the parish, or sending it directly to the diocese.  If you send it directly to the diocese, please make sure you indicate that you want our parish credited with your contribution. Thank you for your generosity.

Thank you to everyone who has continued to send in envelopes. Feel free to continue to do so. The diocese has ended the ability to use their online giving system to donate to the parish.  We intend to be getting an online giving solution accessible from our website sometime in 2022.  Thank you for your patience in this matter. 

Thank you for your generosity, which has allowed our parish to be financially sound despite the pandemic and its restrictions.