Public Masses at St. Mary’s Church will resume at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 16th! If you are a vulnerable person who is worried about contracting COVID-19 due to a health or age concern, please stay home. The formal obligation to attend Sunday Mass does not yet resume on May 16. We will continue to exercise caution by leaving a pew open between you and the next family or person. Father will be distributing Holy Communion at each Mass. Father asks that you try not to sit in the back of the church.
Following are some points to keep in mind from the Bishop:
- The faithful will remain dispensed from the obligation to attend Holy Mass on Sunday until further notice. This measure is in place so that you can prudently discern your own attendance. If you feel unsafe, you should feel no guilt or shame in staying home. Similarly, you should feel a freedom to permit others who are comfortable attending to do so.
- We ask for your understanding: anyone who enters our churches or chapels are expected to follow the social distancing and personal hygiene practices so that we all respect the physical, psychological, and spiritual well-being of others who are also in attendance.
- We ask for your flexibility: these guidelines will remain subject to change. Changes will be based on the course of the pandemic and hospitalization rates. We will remain in contact with medical professionals and civic authorities so that we become aware of changing trends that may merit our reinstating restrictions on the public celebration of Holy Mass.
We urge all Catholics to pray for the sick and dying, for those caring for them, for the unemployed, and indeed for all, that the Lord may bring healing, courage, and the joy born of his love, and to especially invoke the intercession of Mary, Mother of the Church and St. Joseph, Protector of the Church.