Dear Friends,
The month of November is given over in the Catholic Church to prayer and remembrance of the dead. All of us, save perhaps the very young, have been touched by, and even had our hearts broken by the death of loved ones. While we must acknowledge death to be a part of life, for it comes to us all, our Catholic faith does meet the mystery, and the reality, of death faceon in our proclamation that death is not the end for us who belong to Christ by faith. Baptized into the death of Christ at our baptism, we have good grounds for hope that we will be raised from the death and share in the resurrection promised to us all by Jesus himself.
Our prayer for the dead keeps us in communion, in touch, with those who have gone before us. Our remembrance of them, our thoughts of them, our prayers for them, in a very real sense, keep them alive in our hearts, alive for us. While those who have died can do nothing now as regards their salvation, our prayer for them can be of help to them. We pray that God will take them to himself, grant them forgiveness of sin, purify and cleanse them from the effects of sin, and grant them eternal life where there will be no more sickness or pain, crying out or mourning, but only endless peace, joy and rest in that eternal state where we shall see God face to face.
With that in mind, we are celebrating our annual Mass of Remembrance for all the faithful departed this Wednesday, November 11, at 7:30 PM at St. Mary’s Church. The families of loved ones who died and were buried from our parish have all been invited to come. The names of those who were buried from Precious Blood Parish since last November will be read and a candle lighted in their memory. All are invited to come and pray. Regrettably, owing to restrictions imposed due to the pandemic, we will not be able to host a simple reception in Father Cronin Hall after the Mass.
If you have not already received one, you will be receiving in the mail my letter requesting support of the Annual Collection. Even in these unusual times, we are still responsible for maintenance and upkeep of our parish plants. Your support of this collection in the past has always been most generous. I am mindful of the times in which we live and that some may not be able to do this year what they have in the past. Nonetheless, I ask that you read my letter, consider my request, and do whatever you can do. Know that I remain grateful, not only for your support of the annual collection, but also for all the generous support you have given the parish through the years, and especially in these recent months when we have all faced challenges due to COVID19.
Regarding COVID19, we are evaluating when and if we can relax some of the restrictions we have placed on our liturgical life, restrictions which include the suspension of the Monday evening novena held at St. Mary’s, the recitation of the Prayer to St. Michael, and the recitation of Nicene Creed. We are watching carefully the uptick in the number of cases, noting that the numbers in Connecticut as of this writing seem to be bouncing around a bit. When things seem to be safe, we will return to some normalcy. Please understand that every decision has been made with one primary concern in mind: the health and the safety of all of us. I thank you for the cooperation and flexibility you have shown in the past months since we resumed public Masses.