Dear Friends,
By way of reminder, next Sunday Father Sam John, now assigned to St. Thomas the Apostle and St. Timothy Parishes in West Hartford, will be back with us. He is scheduled to celebrate the 10:30 AM Mass at St. Agnes and a reception in his honor will follow the Mass in Father Callahan Hall, ending at 2:00 PM. I hope that as many of you as possible will stop by to thank Father Sam and wish him well.
The recent news surrounding COVID-19 has been encouraging, to say the least. With that in mind, I am happy to announce further steps to our return to normalcy here in our parish, all of which will go into effect for the First Sunday of Advent, November 27-28.
The Book of Prayer and Remembrance, which before the pandemic was placed in the side alcoves on the right of both churches, will once again be made available for parishioners to write the names of those whom they wish to remember in a special way. For the time being, however, no pen will be available. You are asked to use your own writing instruments.
We will once again have holy water available in the fonts at the doors of both churches. The risk of contracting COVID-19 from the use of holy water is minimal to non-existent. As they say, “Follow the science.” That being said, there is no requirement to use holy water. It is entirely optional. By way of reminder, too, holy water should be used only on entering the church and never on leaving, as holy water serves as a concrete reminder of the waters of baptism which gained us entrance into the Church as members of the Body of Christ.
We will resume the bringing forth of the gifts of bread and wine for the Eucharist. If you would like to bring the gifts forward, let one of the ushers know or speak to one of the priests or deacons. Finally, at all Masses with a deacon, we will resume the use of the Book of the Gospels,
which will be carried solemnly in procession, placed on the altar, and then brought to the pulpit (ambo) by the deacon, who will proclaim the text of the Gospel reading from it.
Looking ahead, as things stand now, we are planning for a normal Advent and Christmas schedule, unlike that of last year, which had to be greatly curtailed due to restrictions on numbers in church. As Advent approaches, we will be keeping you informed.
Have a good week!