GRAFTON - As a Christmas gift to parishioners and others, St. Patrick Parish will host a parish mission with Father Patrick Martin of Stafford Springs, Conn., Jan. 12 through 14.

To introduce the mission and invite all, Father Martin will preach at 6:30 p.m. Mass on Jan. 10 and the 8 a.m. Mass on Sunday, Jan. 11. The actual mission then runs Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evenings (Jan. 12-14) with Mass each evening and the homily of the Mass being the mission talk for that day.

During the mission Father Martin will be available in the church for two hours every morning for counseling and the sacrament of penance and reconciliation while the Blessed Sacrament is exposed on the altar for private devotion.

In the evenings of the three-day mission, Father Martin will be available again for another hour before each mission Mass for those who wish to see him.

Father Martin, one of 22 children, has been legally blind since age 9 due to meningitis. Upon his ordination, he was assigned to serve the handicapped. He was then asked to expand the scope of his duties to cover all parishioners. Father Martin has conducted over 600 missions throughout the world.

For more details contact St. Patrick's rectory at (618) 786-3512.