What’s distinctive about your parish? What is your parish’s charism? St. Leo the Great is commonly referred to as “the great” parish by parishioners and clergy alike because of many attributes, including the quality of its liturgy and social ministry services. St. Leo brings Christ’s presence to Fairfax.
When visitors enter the light-filled vestibule, they first encounter a lovely statute of St. Leo handmade for the parish several years ago. The baptismal font also has a place of importance in the vestibule, and a statue of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus. In the semicircular nave, all the pews are centered on the Eucharist. The large crucifix in the sanctuary is a beautiful reminder of the sufferings of Our Lord. The sanctuary is spacious, elegant and filled with light. Jean Jacques Duval designed the stained-glass windows in the Dalle-de-Verre or slab-glass style. Read more about the windows and their meaning on the website, stleofairfax.com.
How are you supporting the faith journey of particular cultures represented in your parish? Masses are filled with people of all ages. Many young adults and families regularly attend Mass, including weekday Masses, and confession and exposition. We are a very ethnically diverse parish with many different groups including Hispanic, Vietnamese, Filipino, Korean, African and Indian. Our celebrations for these groups include the Simbang Gabi devotion of the Filipino community and the Our Lady of Guadalupe celebrations of the Hispanic community. We also have regularly scheduled Masses in Spanish, both on Sundays and Wednesdays. Religious education classes and the RCIA process are offered in both English and Spanish. Even though we do provide some culture-specific activities, it is important to note that this is one parish — all cultures are invited and welcomed at all events.
We have confessions six days a week and two large annual penance services in Advent and Lent. Each of the penance services makes the sacrament available to more than 300 penitents. The sacrament is alive and well here at St. Leo.
What’s something we should know about your clergy? One of the unique things about the parish is that all parish priests go out to greet the parishioners after Sunday Mass. It is an illustration of the welcoming nature of the parish. Even though we are large, we try to be as welcoming and friendly as possible. We have three deacons who are very involved in the life of the parish. They teach, preach and reach out to the community.
How do new parishioners get involved? For those who would like to be involved in the liturgies, there are many opportunities and many people already participating. We have sacristans, choirs, cantors, Extraordinary Ministers of holy Communion, lectors and altar servers. For more info on these opportunities, contact the parish office.
What are some longstanding traditions or other ministry activities? Some of our annual events include the Forty Hours devotion that takes place around St. Leo’s Nov. 10 feast day, a Lenten mission usually in March and the parish picnic in September. We have had many noted preachers for our Forty Hours and parish mission including, Father William Casey, Father Dwight Longenecker and Father John Trigilio. We also have had representatives from several religious orders such as the Benedictines, Dominicans, Fathers of Mercy, Franciscans and Passionists.
There are many active groups at St. Leo including the Knights of Columbus, the Mothers’ Group, Young Adults and Social Ministry. Many services and social opportunities are provided by these groups.
In addition, St. Leo has a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence for children in preschool through eighth grade. The school children attend Mass twice a week and are offered confession monthly.
Would you like to share anything else about your parish? Over the years, St. Leo has hosted many diocesan activities. These include the annual altar server picnics, holy hours and meetings for the Office of Catholic Schools and the Office of Child Protection. We are always open to serve the bishop and diocesan offices.
We also serve pilgrims from outside the diocese when they visit the Washington area, including those who have come for the March for Life since 2010. Groups from New England, the Midwest and the Southeast have been the recipients of the hospitality of our parish community. We give them a spiritual home with Mass and Exposition as well as a physical home by providing meals, snacks, fellowship and a place to rest their heads.
St. Leo is a very active parish, both sacramentally and socially. We have the souls of the people of the City of Fairfax entrusted to us and we try to do everything we can to bring them to the kingdom of God.
Quick Facts
St. Leo the Great Church
3700 Old Lee Highway, Fairfax
703/273-5369
Website: stleofairfax.com
Social Media: facebook.com/groups/stleosfairfax
youtube.com/channel/UCoGr0W4778Nadt6vmAIhhow
Pastor: Fr. Juan Puigbó
Parochial vicars: Fr. Jonathan Fioramonti, Fr. Thomas Nguyen
Permanent deacons: Ping Averia, Jose Lopez, Marques Silva
In residence: Fr. Thomas Azzi, OP
Transitional Deacon: Andrew Clark
Mass schedule:
Saturday Vigil: 5 p.m.
Sunday: 7:30 a.m., 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m. (Spanish), 5 p.m.
Monday – Friday: 6:15 a.m. and 9 a.m.
Wednesday: 7 p.m. (Spanish)
Saturday: 9 a.m.
Confession:
Monday, Wednesday: 6:45 a.m., 9:40 a.m.
Tuesday, Thursday: 6:45 a.m.
Friday: 6:45 a.m. and 7 p.m.
Saturday: 3:30 p.m.
Year Established: 1957
Total parishioners: 10,146
St. Leo the Great School
3704 Old Lee Highway
Fairfax, VA 22030
703/273-1211
saintleothegreatschool.org
Pre-K-8
Principal: Erica Palaza
