Dear Friends,
As we near the middle of the Advent season, our thoughts turn increasingly toward the celebration of Christmas, especially its celebration in this most unusual of years. This is the year that saw the closure of schools, many businesses, and all churches for at least several months, in the case of churches, the middle of March to the beginning of June. By closure, I mean that there were no public services offered in churches. Both of our churches, however, remained open for long hours each day for private prayer and visits to the Blessed Sacrament.
We resumed public worship on June 8 with the return of weekday Masses as well as funeral Masses and weddings. We also resumed the celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, making confession available at its regular times. On the first weekend of July, we resumed the celebration of weekend Masses, albeit somewhat differently, with limited crowds, no singing, and some alteration in normal procedures, such as no processions, no passing of the collection basket, the wearing of masks or facial coverings, the use of hand sanitizers. We also arranged for the regular cleaning and sanitizing of the churches after Masses. The objective has remained the same since the return to church and regular worship: maintaining the health and the safety of all who come to our churches.
With that in mind, Christmas presents a particular challenge, a particular difficulty. In an ordinary year, using last Christmas as an example, we welcome over four thousand people, yes 4000 people, to nine Christmas Masses, six at St. Mary’s (including one in the school gymnasium), three at St. Agnes. This year, due to restrictions on churches imposed by Governor Lamont due to the COVID19 pandemic, we can allow no more than one hundred (100) people into church for any one Mass. That means that we will be able to have no more than nine hundred people for Christmas Masses. Even a conservative estimate would hold that more than nine hundred people will come to church on Christmas. Even if half our usual numbers come, we will be grappling with a serious problem, the problem of being forced to turn people away from church because a given Mass is filled. Some churches make use of sign up apps online or reservations for Mass attendance. The problem with those ideas is that many of the people who tend to come to church on Christmas do not come regularly during the year. They may not be aware of the need to register ahead or to make a reservation. The result of this could be chaos at the doors of our churches on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning.
All of this weighed heavily upon my mind (and my heart, too, I might add). Taking all of this into careful consideration and being mindful of the provision in the policy of the Archdiocese regarding the reopening of the churches, namely that “if one cannot open the church safely, one should not reopen,”I have decided that we will not offer public Masses this year on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day at either St. Mary’s or St. Agnes’ churches. There is simply no possible way to do so safely. The churches will close at 2:00 PM on Christmas Eve (Thursday) and reopen at the normal hours on Saturday morning. Please note: this applies only to Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Otherwise, the regular parish schedule remains in effect for weekday and weekend Masses.
As was the case in the months when the churches were closed to public worship, the Masses scheduled will be celebrated privately by the priests, with the deacons assisting. All scheduled Mass intentions will be honored. We will try to arrange for a livestreamed Mass to be available, likely on Christmas Eve afternoon. That Mass will continue to be available for viewing afterwards as well.Of course, there will be televised Masses available from the Archdiocesan Office of Radio and Television, as well as on EWTN and the Catholic Faith Network from Long Island. Please note that I am not alone in making this difficult decision. There are other parishes in the Archdiocese doing the same thing, and indeed, this year the Holy Father will celebrate Christmas Mass from the Vatican without a live congregation. As always, I thank you for your continued cooperation and understanding.
By way of an update, the response to the Annual Collection has been excellent. As of last week’s accounting, already some $42,000 has been contributed. The proceeds of this collection will be put to good use in maintaining and improving our parish facilities. If you have made a gift, I offer my sincere gratitude. If not, I hope that you will consider doing so. All gifts, of whatever amount, are appreciated. Please make your gift no later than December 31 so that it can be credited for income tax purposes.