Ever wonder who tidies up the church? We are a large and active community, so it takes a whole crew of people, from parishioners like you who pick up around themselves at the end of Mass to our parish custodian, from the weekly pew angels to Denis who has been helping keep the church clean for 35+ years.

Denis and his wife have many fond memories of the Catholic church in Long Beach that they attended in the early 1980s. However, when they started looking for a parochial school in 1985 for their children, Saint Irenaeus Church and Parish School just seemed like the right fit for their family.

Not long afterwards on a Friday night, Denis received some sad news: his mom was very sick. The next day, he attended morning Mass. Again, something just seemed like the right fit, and Denis began attending Saturday morning Mass every week.

After Saturday morning Mass, Denis would stay behind to pick up - tissues, fallen pamphlets, misplaced missals, donation envelopes. Denis says, "I wouldn't leave it on the floor of my house, why would I walk past and leave it on the floor of God's house." And in 2010 when he retired from his 40 year sales career, what had started as a once a week habit, became a six day a week devotion!

Today you will still find Denis searching the floors and pews for misplaced items, but you will also find him putting the kneelers back up, cleaning and arranging the devotion candles, walking the outside of the church to see if anything is out of place, attending to simple repairs, helping the sacristans, and keeping the parish office informed about larger maintenance issues. "He spots things that need to be done," says the parish business manager, Carlos, "If he can't do it, he let's us know so we can get it taken care of. We are very grateful for his help!"

Denis asks that we all keep him in our prayers as he continues his ministry. Thank you Denis for all you do!