In Loving Memory of Kathryn Potts, November 19, 1947—July 22, 2020

Kathy From our Pastor

     Beloved daughter of God, our Father, born into this life and cherished by Arthur and Lenore (Tillman) Pouget. Loving mother to Jeannine (Jim) McCarty. Beloved sister of Rev. Richard Pouget (deceased), Robert Pouget, John (Kay) Pouget, Denise Tietze, Barbara (David) Engler, Patricia Gonyeau, Andrea (Stephen) Roddy, Brian (Beverly) Pouget, Mary Pouget, Anita (William) Kennedy, and Jane Elizabeth Pouget (deceased). Loving aunt to Melissa, Emily, Claire, Anne, Cynthia, Amy, Matthew, Paul, Jacquelyn, Shawn, Fr. Patrick, Allison, Adam, Megan, April, Brendan, Kevin, Christopher, and Rachel. Cherished great-aunt to many nieces and nephews. She was blessed with “bonus” grandchildren Candice and Kenny, and great-grandchildren Shaelyn, Kendra, RaeLynn, and Colton.

     Kathryn was a woman of great faith who dedicated her life to the Catholic Church, both with her beautiful voice as a cantor and almost 30 years of bookkeeping. We are confident she was no stranger to Jesus when He welcomed her home.

 Kathryn was not only our bookkeeper, but also our friend and coworker. Kathryn was the type of woman who always took the time to stop and chat with you about your family as well as what was going on with her family. She joined our “team” in 2009 and became a permanent Tuesday fixture working many Tuesday’s to the wee hours of the morning. Her expertise and knowledge was appreciated by all. She assisted the parish and the school as well as all the staff members. Kathryn was well loved and will surely be missed by many at St. Val’s, as well as all the other parishes she assisted. Rest in peace dear Kathryn.

Let not your hearts be troubled, believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, would I have told you that I go and prepare a place for you? And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

Gratitude is the memory of the heart

Kathy From our Pastor

On November 15th, 2012, I landed on American soil and St. Valentine Parish welcomed me that night (Thanks to Fr. Suresh for his willingness to accommodate me) and I remember very well that first night I spent here at St. Valentine. I was invited to the Entrée with Padre dinner with men of the parish. It was an enjoyable evening with foods I had never eaten before! I stayed at St. Valentine until June 2013. Ever since, St. Valentine Parish has been a home away from home for me. I will always feel at home here at St. Valentine. My initial stay here with you was a great learning experience. You were amazing and very welcoming. When I received a call from the Archdiocese to move to St. Valentine, I was so happy to come here and spread the love of God.

It has been a wonderful experience to be with you, learning and growing in the Lord. These few lines of mine come to you in a special way to express my heart felt gratitude and thanks for all that you have been to me, during my stay here. What a blessing and honor to minister here at this amazing parish. I am so grateful to Fr. Socorro for accepting me to do my ministry here at St. Valentine. It is great to be with you. As you know, Fr. Socorro is a great shepherd. I have learned many great things from his way of leading a parish. You are an awesome priest. You are humble, simple, and down to earth. Your way of keeping in touch with parishioners and your availability to them is inspiring.  I thank you for the freedom, support, encouragement, love, and concern. I always felt at home with you. My two years of stay with you gathered a lot of experiences for my ministry. I am grateful for your generosity of time and sharing of your experiences. 

Special thanks to Sue Daly and Bonnie Danic for your friendly atmosphere. Thanks for understanding me and supporting me in learning things here. You are an amazing staff and I am humbled to work with you all. You are spirited, efficient, capable, people oriented, and friendly nature is greatly appreciated. I felt at home and had good company with you all. Thanks a lot for encouraging and supporting me in my priestly ministry.

My sincere gratitude to Bonnie for your great help to me especially running the Faith Formation program. Thanks to all the teachers and volunteers in Faith Formation for your generosity of time and talent.  

Dear parishioners, it is great to know you. I am blessed and honored to be with you at St. Valentine. It has always been my joy and happiness to celebrate mass with all of you. You are all amazing and faithful, loving and caring. I am sure; I am enriched by being here with you. Your openness, community spirit, simplicity and generosity are exemplary. Thank you so much for making it possible for me. Forgive me for my long homilies and my crazy English accent. St. Valentine Parish remains always a home away from home. You are affectionate, open, and hospitable.

And finally, but not least, I had a fabulous time with the children at our school. I greatly appreciate Principal, Rachel Damuth and all the staff. I will miss seeing the children’s smiles and energy. Thanks a lot for everything. I will be ministering at St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Monroe. Kindly continue to pray for me that the Holy Spirit may guide me in my new ministry. I will miss St. Valentine Parish. You are amazing. I assure you my prayers. God bless you all.

My new address:

Fr. Kishore Babu Battu SAC
St. Michael The Archangel Parish
502 W Front,
Monroe, MI 48161

 With love and prayers,

Fr. Kishore Babu Battu SAC

Change in Mass Times & Confession Times

At St. Valentine beginning Saturday, August 1st Mass will change from 5 pm to 5:30 pm. On Sunday, August 2nd Mass times will be changed to 8:30 am and 12 noon. Daily Mass at St. Valentine will be on Thursday and Friday’s at 8:30 am in the Church.

At this time confessions will be held ONLY at OLL on Saturday from 3:15 pm—3:45 pm.

At OLL Mass times on Saturday will be at 4 pm and Sunday Mass at 10 am. Daily Mass will be on Monday and Tuesday’s at 8:30 am.

Farewell Wishes to Fr. Kishore

Kathy Archdiocese, From our Pastor

 I want to thank Fr. Kishore for his assistance and for his ministry with us for the past two years. We were privileged to have him at least for two years.  His presence helped me in various ways, although being a pastor for two parishes I did not have to worry about too many things. He took care of most of the things including the Sacraments at St. Valentine. Being the Director of Religious Education program at St. Valentine he truly took his responsibilities seriously and did whatever was entrusted to his care. He met with parents whose children were preparing to receive the Sacraments, he met with children of those receiving Sacraments, and helped with the confessions at the School and the Religious Ed Students.

With his presence with us I could enjoy my vacation without worrying about both the parishes knowing for sure that things will be taken care of, and he did. He did so many baptisms, visited the sick, helped me with taking care of funerals, helped with the Sacrament of Penance and the list could go on. Knowing of the things that he has done here I am confident that he will be able to handle his big responsibility as Administrator of St. Michael the Archangel Parish and later on as its pastor. He is going to Monroe  with rich experiences of ministering in three different parishes. Let us assist him with our prayers.

On behalf of St. Valentine Parish I want to thank you Fr. Kishore for your presence amidst us and for all the help you gave me in my ministry.

I was blessed to have the assistance of both Fr. Henry and Fr. Kishore for 7 years. And now the real fun begins, if I think of all the things that I have to do by looking at the whole year it could be overwhelming so I will just take one day at a time and help minister to people of both the parishes as best as I can. I will need your help through prayers.

 CSA 2020: Theme: “Rise, Be Not Afraid”

 CSA SUNDAY AT PARISHES – the weekend of September 12/13 Weekend after Labor Day.

 This year the Archdiocese is going to handle all the mailings so you should  be receiving your CSA letters during the fourth week of August. The CSA goal has been reduced by 15% of its original goal, so the goal for St. Valentine is $39,100.00 

  With all that said what is also important is that you take care of yourself. So continue following the rules that we are all called to follow, social distancing, wearing masks, staying healthy. Let’s continue holding one another in our prayers.

Blessings on all,

Fr. Socorro

It is Hard to Say Good-bye

We really DO NOT want to see Father Kishore leave. And, we wish to let him know how much we care and will miss him! So, please join us on Sunday, July 26th after the 9:00 a.m. Mass in front of St. Valentine to say good-bye and enjoy a DONUT with him.       

Wanted: Football Heroes

St. Michael in Livonia is calling all 3rd  – 8th grade student athletes from surrounding parishes. To register for the Fall 2020 season follow this link:

https://church.livoniastmichael.org/apps/form/Sports-Registration-Fall2020

Registration is open from July 1 to July 31. We offer 3 football teams:

Freshman (Grades 3-4) Head Coach: Steve Goward

Junior Varsity (Grades 5-6) Head Coach: Brandon McCormick

Varsity (Grades 7-8) Head Coach: Mark Pelton

In order to proceed with having a team, a minimum roster size is required by  the July 31 deadline.

For questions, contact Bob Rowland, A.D. at 313-598-5350 or email

browland@stmichael.org