Saint Raphael

Allow me to introduce myself; my name is Fr. Bill Wadsworth and I am very excited to start here at St Raphael’s! I was born in Washington, DC and grew up in Rockville. I am an only child and my parents still live in the area. I attended public schools—Beall Elementary, Wood Middle and Rockville High—all right before they were renovated! For undergrad, I attended St. Mary’s College in southern Maryland and majored in History. After college I worked for a few years at a local bank before moving back up to the Rockville area. After I was accepted into the Formation Program for the Archdiocese I was sent to attend Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, MD and I spent all six years of formation there.

I was Baptized and raised in the Episcopal Church. The church my parents and I attended was located in DC and we would drive in every Sunday for the services there. I felt a call to the priesthood from an early age and it was something that was always present in some form as I was growing up. Over time I began to realize the Episcopal Church was not where God wanted me to be but I didn’t want to take the leap of faith.

Eventually the Holy Spirit made His will known to me that I needed to become Catholic and so I sought to be received into the Church. I decided to move back to Rockville and started the RCIA program at St. Patrick’s Parish in Rockville. Afterwards, I was received into the Church in March of 2008 and then entered Seminary in 2009. My father was born and raised Catholic but fell away from the Church. By God’s grace he came back to the Church when I entered and then my mother (who grew up a Lutheran) was received into the Church in May of 2010. It was a wonderful grace to come into the Church and I am very thankful that the Lord led me to put out into the deep and trust in his providence. I was ordained a priest in 2015 and served at St Andrew Apostle and St John Neumann before coming here to you.

A little about me personally: I have a great love for history, especially Byzantium and ancient Rome. I also have a great love for music. Growing up, my parish was very “High- Church” Episcopalian so the choir gave us a weekly dose of great sacred music from the history of the Church including Palestrina, Byrd and de Victoria. This instilled in me a deep love for beautiful sacred music and how it can enrich and lift up our worship of God. I also play the pipe organ a little and love the music of JS Bach (of course) as well as the French composers Vierne and Widor. I also love to listen to classical music and the composers Handel and Telemann are two of my favorites.

I love to get out and walk in nature, and try to get exercise when I can which usually means running (if you can call it that) through the neighborhood. I will also on occasion watch the Redskins (lose) and the Nats (win...after May usually... but not this year). My favorite book is Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather but I also like reading the works of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and P.G. Wodehouse.

I have a few special friends in heaven that I like to ask for help from time to time: Our Lady of Walsingham, St. John the Baptist, St. Athanasius, St John Chrysostom, St. Thomas Becket, St. Catherine of Siena, St. John Fisher, St. Thomas More, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, St. Jean Vianney, St. John Henry Newman and Blessed Stanley Rother (who graduated from my Seminary).

I hope to be able to meet you all in person soon! Know that you are in my daily prayers. It is such a great blessing for me to be with you and I am so thankful to the Lord for this great gift. May our Lady and St. Raphael bless and keep you and your families!

In accordance with Archbishop Wilton Gregory's decision (read the whole letter), on June 9 the church building of St. Raphael reopened and the parish resumed much of its normal schedule. 

The Archdiocese has recently issued an update regarding the second phase of reopening. Phase 2 has begun on June 19,2020 and Montgomery County parishes may resume public Mass at 25-30% capacity.  For St. Raphael this means that a maximum of 240 persons may be present at each Mass.

Sunday and weekday Masses are now celebrated publicly but are also live-streamed daily if you are not yet comfortable attending in person. 

To protect everyone's health during the reopening, in accordance with Archdiocesan guidelines, certain steps will still be necessary, including:

• Everyone is to check their temperature before going to Mass.
• Everyone is to wear a face mask while in the church.
• Everyone is to maintain social distancing (6 feet from anyone not in your household), including not sitting in pews that are so marked.
• Gatherings before or after events are not permitted.
• Respect the maximum of 240 persons per Mass.
• Follow the special procedures for Holy Communion.  
• Please bring your own copy of the Missalette.  You can download it here (or click on the menu under News & Events)

The church building is also open for private prayer (enter through the side door by the St. Joseph statue).  (Other buildings remain closed.)

• Confessions on Tuesday evenings and Saturday afternoons (indoors)
• Eucharistic Adoration on Tuesday evenings and Thursdays (see Parish calendar to reserve a time via Signup Genius)

Please read Fr. Mike's "Welcome Back" letter for all details.

Frequently updated pages during this time:

• Parish Status & Updates
   
• Communications from the Archdiocese of Washington
   
• Online Masses & More

• Ways to Help

• Religious Education 
   
• Adult Faith Formation

As you might know, for months parishioners and staff members have been contacted by con artists masquerading as Fr. Salah. The scam that was originally limited to emails has now spread to text messages. Please be aware that this is a fraud. These emails and text messages are NOT coming from Fr. Mike.  Do not reply to these solicitations to avoid falling victim to these scammers.