A Pastorate of Five Parish Churches in the Chippewa Valley
Our Lady of the Falls Catholic Community is a single pastorate made up of five historic parish churches across Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin: Holy Ghost on South Main Street, Notre Dame on Allen Street, Saint Bridget on North 110th Avenue, Saint Charles Borromeo on Pearl Street, and Saint Peter the Apostle out on County Highway Q. The community's name honors the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title Our Lady of the Falls, a tribute that links the spiritual motherhood of Mary with the parish histories of the Chippewa Valley.
The mission, as the community states it, is "to invite all people to encounter Christ and inspire them to become saints." Pastoral leadership for the pastorate is provided by Fr. Daniel Sedlacek as pastor, with Fr. Alex Kren, Fr. David Nowicki, and Fr. Tim Welles serving as parochial vicars. Three deacons, Kevin DeCook, Sean Hanson, and Dan Rider, assist at the altar and in ministry across the parishes, while Sister Yvonne Hiess of the School Sisters of Notre Dame serves as pastoral minister at Saint Bridget. The Diocese of La Crosse, led by Bishop Gerard Battersby, provides the wider diocesan home for this community.
Anyone new to the area quickly notices that Our Lady of the Falls is not a single building but a wide network of churches. Parishioners are encouraged to register at the parish nearest their home and to make any of the five churches their regular place of worship. The central offices at Notre Dame and Saint Charles Borromeo handle administration, finances, and sacramental records for the whole community.
Weekend Mass Across Five Sanctuaries
The first thing most visitors want to know is when and where Mass is offered. Twelve weekend Masses are celebrated across the five parishes, beginning Saturday evening and running through a Sunday evening Mass at Notre Dame.
On Saturday, the vigil Masses are celebrated at 4:00 PM at Saint Charles Borromeo, 4:30 PM at Notre Dame, and 6:30 PM at Saint Peter the Apostle. On Sunday morning, the schedule begins at 7:30 AM simultaneously at Holy Ghost and Saint Charles Borromeo, with Notre Dame following at 8:00 AM, Saint Peter at 9:00 AM, and Saint Bridget at 9:15 AM. Two later morning Masses run at 10:30 AM at Notre Dame and Saint Charles, with Holy Ghost closing the morning at 11:00 AM. The Sunday schedule ends with a 7:00 PM evening Mass at Notre Dame.
The 8:00 AM Sunday Mass at Notre Dame is livestreamed on the community's YouTube channel for those who cannot attend in person. The Sunday 8 AM Mass and the Saturday 4:30 PM Mass at Notre Dame draw the largest congregation, and both are celebrated with full choirs and congregational singing.
Daily Mass and the Sacrificial Rhythm of the Week
The weekday schedule is intentionally compact and clustered, so that working Catholics, school families, and visitors all have realistic times for daily Mass. Monday brings an 8:00 AM public Mass at Saint Charles Borromeo celebrated with the school children. Tuesday has a 6:45 AM Mass at Notre Dame and an 8:00 AM Mass at Holy Ghost. Wednesday offers an 8:15 AM Mass at Saint Peter the Apostle with the school children and a 6:15 PM evening Mass at Saint Charles Borromeo where religious education students regularly attend, with Confessions heard from 4:00 to 6:00 PM that afternoon. Thursday has a 6:45 AM Mass at Notre Dame and an 8:00 AM Mass at Holy Ghost with the school children. Friday's single daily Mass is at 8:00 AM at Saint Charles Borromeo, and on Saturday morning there is an 8:00 AM Mass at Notre Dame.
Two special traditions attach to two of those weekday Masses. The 8:00 AM Mass at Saint Charles Borromeo on the first Friday of each month is followed by a brief period of exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, ending with Benediction. The 8:00 AM Mass at Notre Dame on the first Saturday of each month is followed by exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and the sacrament of Confession until Benediction at 11:00 AM.
Confession Before Every Mass, and Far More Often
Confession is heard half an hour before every weekend Mass at each parish, so anyone arriving early can step into the confessional before Mass begins. The full Sunday lineup includes 7:00 to 7:20 AM at Holy Ghost and Saint Charles Borromeo, 7:30 to 7:50 AM at Notre Dame, 8:30 to 8:50 AM at Saint Peter, 8:45 to 9:05 AM at Saint Bridget, 10:00 to 10:20 AM at Notre Dame and Saint Charles Borromeo, 10:30 to 10:50 AM at Holy Ghost, and 6:30 to 6:50 PM at Notre Dame.
Confession is also heard on weekday mornings before each Mass, with extra sessions on Wednesday from 4:00 to 6:00 PM at Saint Charles Borromeo, and on Saturday morning from 9:00 to 11:00 AM at Notre Dame for those who want to make a longer confession before the weekend. Community penance services are offered in Advent and Lent, and appointments can always be arranged through the parish office.
The Goldsmith Eucharistic Adoration Chapel: 120 Hours a Week with Jesus
The Goldsmith Adoration Chapel at 123 Allen Street, just steps from Notre Dame Church, is one of the most distinctive features of Our Lady of the Falls. The chapel is open for adoration seven days a week, twenty hours at a stretch, for a total of around 120 hours a week: Sunday at 7:00 AM through Friday at 3:00 PM. Adorers commit to one specific hour each week so that the Blessed Sacrament is never left unattended in the monstrance.
The chapel, originally the convent chapel that served the School Sisters of Notre Dame for generations, was renovated in recent years and now opens onto plans for a fully accessible Chapel Annex with an elevator, accessible restrooms, and a small parking lot with handicapped spaces. The annex will also provide a more accessible way to visit the tomb of Fr. Goldsmith, the pioneer priest credited with founding many of the area's Catholic parishes, which lies beneath the chapel.
The community is actively recruiting new weekly adorers with the goal of opening the chapel around the clock. Substituting for a missed hour is easy through a text-based substitute system, and the chapel's evening and overnight doorbell or code access makes even the late-night hours available for the dedicated.
On the first Saturday of each month, the Blessed Sacrament is exposed at Notre Dame after the 8:00 AM Mass, with Confession offered throughout the morning until Benediction at 11:00 AM. On the first Friday of each month, the 8:00 AM Mass at Saint Charles Borromeo is followed by exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, ending with Benediction.
The Sacraments, From Baptism to Anointing of the Sick
Seven sacraments are celebrated across the pastorate, with preparation programs tailored to each. Parents of infants are asked to contact the administration office three to six months before the birth to plan baptism preparation, and baptisms are typically celebrated during or after weekend Masses. First Reconciliation and First Eucharist are prepared in second grade, with First Reconciliation celebrated in December and First Eucharist at the late morning Mass of each parish in April. Confirmation is prepared for older teens through the youth ministry and faith formation programs.
Couples preparing for marriage are asked to begin at least nine to twelve months ahead of the wedding, with preparation including a fuller marriage prep program designed to help couples reflect on their vocation together. Weddings can be celebrated at any of the five parishes. Anointing of the Sick is available for the seriously ill, the elderly, and anyone facing surgery or significant health events, with priests visiting homes, hospitals, and care facilities when called. Annual communal anointing is offered in the fall and during Lent.
The community's overall sacramental identity is rooted in what the Church calls concomitance: that the Real Presence of Jesus Christ, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, is wholly present in each species. Reception of Holy Communion under one kind is a complete reception of Christ, and Precious Blood from the chalice is offered four times a year (the Sunday after Christmas, Holy Thursday, Divine Mercy Sunday, and Corpus Christi) so that the sign of the Eucharistic banquet is more clearly visible on those days.
To Jesus with Mary: A Seven Year Spiritual Journey
In the spring of 2026, Our Lady of the Falls launched a seven year spiritual journey titled To Jesus with Mary, running through 2033, when the Church will celebrate the 2,000th anniversary of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Each of the seven years is anchored in one of the Seven Sorrows of Mary, beginning with the prophecy of Simeon ("and you yourself a sword will pierce").
The kickoff weekend featured devotions across all five parishes, special Masses, and the distribution of materials to help parishioners take the devotion into their homes and families. Subsequent gatherings during the year included a special Mass on the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows with praise and worship led by a musician with her own devotion to the Sorrowful Mother. Many parishioners are learning and singing the Salve Regina daily as their personal spiritual commitment, a practice encouraged by Fr. Sedlacek and the music directors.
The long arc of the journey includes the Seven Sorrows Rosary, daily Hail Marys offered for each sorrow, the Litany of Trust, and a deepening connection with the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion in Wisconsin, one of only sixteen Vatican-approved apparition sites in the world and the only one in the United States. The community is part of the larger diocesan and regional Catholic culture of Marian devotion, walking the seven sorrows one year at a time in preparation for the great jubilee of 2033.
Music that Lifts the Heart to Heaven
Music is treated as a serious apostolate at every parish in the pastorate. Mike Renneke directs music and liturgy at Notre Dame, Therese Butek at Holy Ghost, Curstin Lynch at Saint Charles Borromeo, and Mary Krall at Saint Peter the Apostle. Their shared goal is "to elevate the liturgy" so that the music carries the congregation not just into singing at Mass, but into singing the Mass.
The Notre Dame music program has invested in a pipe organ installed by Levsen Organ Company, complemented by a Saint Cecilia Choristers group that sings Gregorian chant in Latin for major feasts. Gregorian chant is given pride of place in the liturgies when the choirs can carry it, in keeping with the Second Vatican Council's instruction that Latin chant holds first place in the Roman liturgy. Sacred polyphony and hymns in English fill out the rest of the repertoire, all chosen to draw minds and hearts out of the everyday into the mystery of the worship being offered.
Music is woven into the prayer life of the community beyond Mass as well. The Chippewa Catholic Young Adults gather monthly at Notre Dame or Saint Mary's in Altoona for an evening of Eucharistic Adoration and live music followed by a social, an event the group calls Source and Summit.
Faith Formation for Every Age
The faith formation program serves families across the five parishes through catechetical tracks that run on Wednesday evenings and Sunday afternoons throughout the school year. Elementary catechesis for grades one through five gathers from 3:30 to 4:45 PM at Holy Ghost Elementary School, the historic school building on South Main Street. EDGE, for middle school students in grades six through eight, runs from 7:00 to 8:15 PM at the Saint Charles Borromeo Fellowship Hall. Life Teen, for high school students in grades nine through twelve, meets at the same time and place.
The director of youth ministries, Michael Van Hemert, works with middle and high school students across the community, coordinating retreats, service trips, and large group gatherings. Recent Confirmation cohorts have grown substantially as more young people from the public schools enter the Catholic formation programs through friends and family members.
Parents are not left out. The Rooted apostolate serves families with children from newborn through age six, helping them plant faith and fellowship in the home through simple rhythms and small group meetings. EPIC Families is a monthly potluck and evening of formation designed for the whole family, and there is a regular program of parent formation tied to the year of First Sacraments.
Walking Together as Disciples: Emmaus, Formation, and Catholicism on Tap
Emmaus Discipleship is a twelve-week formation course for adults that trains Catholics to know, live, and share the faith. Groups meet in homes and around kitchen tables throughout the pastorate, with separate tracks for men and for women, and follow-up small groups continue indefinitely. Coordinator Angie Katz and John Shakal, the director of outreach and evangelization, lead this work, supported by parishes that fund the program so that cost is never a barrier.
An adult Bible Study meets every Tuesday morning at 9:30 AM in the Mary Room of the Goldsmith Religious Education Center on South Prairie Street, with seasonal studies that have included Jeff Cavins' Bible Timeline: The Story of Salvation on Sunday afternoons from 4:00 to 6:00 PM, with childcare provided. Catholicism on Tap gathers adults monthly for a Catholic speaker event, often on the first Monday of the month, with topics ranging from apologetics to vocations to Eucharistic themes. The signature event for Catholic education is the annual MACS McDonell Area Catholic Schools speaker series.
For young adults, Chippewa Catholic Young Adults (CCYA) welcomes Catholics in their twenties and thirties with weekly sports leagues (softball, basketball, frisbee, kickball depending on season), monthly Source and Summit evenings, pilgrimages, game nights, service projects, and an active GroupMe chat. The group is rooted in the idea that "life with Christ is a wonderful adventure," a quote the community returns to often.
Works of Mercy: Saint Francesca Resource Center, Agnes Table, and Sojourner House
Our Lady of the Falls runs or partners with three major works of charity that reach well beyond the parish walls. The Saint Francesca Resource Center, named for the patron of the diocese's social service arm, distributes food, clothing, baby items, and household goods to families in need, with volunteers greeting each guest with a calm welcome and a steady ear. Volunteers are needed weekly to keep the shelves stocked and the doors open.
Agnes Table offers a free community meal to anyone in need, with regular volunteers preparing and serving food in a setting that treats guests with dignity. Sojourner House, run in partnership with the wider Catholic Charities of the Diocese of La Crosse, provides shelter and supportive services for women and families facing homelessness. The community also maintains a robust Knights of Columbus council and a Saint Paul Street Evangelization chapter that takes the Gospel to the public square in downtown Chippewa Falls.
Hope Village is another outreach partner affiliated with the pastorate, supporting transitional housing and wrap-around services in the Chippewa Valley. The Mission Coalition, a fellowship of area churches and ministries, coordinates joint service projects throughout the year.
McDonell Area Catholic Schools: Pre-K through 12
McDonell Area Catholic Schools (MACS) is the pastorate's PreK through 12 Catholic school system and one of its largest apostolates. The system includes a growing preschool program, Holy Ghost Elementary on South Main Street, Notre Dame Middle School, and McDonell Central Catholic High School. MACS is one of the largest single parish Catholic school systems in the Diocese of La Crosse and one of the largest Catholic school systems in Wisconsin.
MACS is animated by the mission of forming students "Rooted in Christ, Formed for Life." The school embraces a Catholic liberal arts curriculum that integrates faith across every subject, with weekly school Masses that draw together students of all ages from across the pastorate. Tuition assistance and the parish MACS Memorare Army (a daily prayer team of parishioners who pray ten Memorares for students and staff) help make a Catholic education accessible.
The pastorate also partners with Saint Peter Catholic School in Tilden, a parish and school community just outside Chippewa Falls that shares in the Catholic vision for education while retaining its own identity. Together, the schools are a primary site of evangelization for the community, drawing families into the parish through the formation of their children.
Welcoming Newcomers and Building for the Future
Newcomers are warmly welcomed. A downloadable parish registration form is available for any of the five parishes, and the staff invites new families to meet with the priests and staff for a welcome packet and conversation. Hospitality Sundays, with refreshments after weekend Masses, are regular opportunities to meet other parishioners. The pastorate's annual Festivals of the Falls (the Laissez Faire at Notre Dame in September, the Holy Ghost Picnic, the Saint Charles Boar-O-Mania in August, the Saint Peter's Shin-Dig in July, and the Saint Bridget Picnic) double as reunion weekends for the wider Catholic community.
Building campaigns have invested heavily in the future. Notre Dame's Inspired by the Spirit campaign funded a new pipe organ, the Goldsmith Adoration Chapel renovation, the planned Chapel Annex for accessibility, and the eventual building of a new parish center. Saint Charles Borromeo has built a new fellowship hall, replaced crumbling front steps and sidewalks, installed a rose window above the sanctuary, and replaced the pews with new seating. Holy Ghost built a new gathering space and confessional under the choir loft, restored the south nave and choir loft stained glass windows, and prepared for interior plaster and painting work. Saint Bridget has replaced the church windows and refurbished the nave, with more painting to follow. Saint Peter continues to grow as a smaller rural parish in a strong Catholic tradition.
Everything, from the chapel renovation to the new organ, the marriage prep program to the Goldsmith Chapel's round-the-clock Adoration, the youth ministry to the Saint Francesca food pantry, points toward the same goal that defines Our Lady of the Falls: helping each person who passes through these five parish churches meet Jesus Christ, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, in the Holy Eucharist, and walk with Mary toward the great Jubilee of 2033.