Dear Brothers and Sisters,
We have all heard the proverbial saying, ‘Famine or Feast’.
Over the last month my email account has been bombarded daily with diocesan
updates, health and safety requirements, instructional attached documents to be
read, Bishops Conference Covid-19 procedures and temporary legal directives.
This week there has been a mailbox famine (thank goodness!) and only two items
have been sent through from the Bishops Conference of England and Wales. They
are as follows:
Social
Distancing - IMPORTANT
Worshippers should
limit their interactions with anyone they are not attending church with, i.e.
if they are attending corporate worship with one other household, wherever
possible they should maintain social distancing with anyone outside of this
group.
Face Coverings
Face coverings are
currently mandatory on public transport and will be mandatory in shops and in
supermarkets from 24th July 2020.
People are also
strongly encouraged to wear face coverings in enclosed public spaces where
there are people they do not normally meet, such as a church.
Mgr. John Daly has also emailed the clergy to say: ‘Please
further note that the Salford Diocese is still maintaining a 2-metre rule re
social distancing.’
Thanks to our volunteer stewards I am able to celebrate Mass
publicly on these further dates.
Tuesday 4th August 6pm – Saint
John Vianney (Memoria)
Wednesday 5th
August 10am – Votive Mass of Saint Joseph
Thursday 6th
August 10am – Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord
Friday 7th
August 6pm – Votive Mass of the Sacred Heart
Again, following government directives, Bishops Conference
conditions and diocesan requirements people are asked, for the time being, to
book a place for Mass. See below for more details.
Preparation
•
We are all still dispensed by the Bishop from
the Sunday obligation.
•
The government and the Bishop have limited the
number of people attending the Holy Mass at our church to 30 people.
•
In order that we comply with this requirement
and maintain social distancing, a temporary phone booking system will be in
place. This is not ideal but we do not live in ideal times at the moment. I
would like to thank Ursula Heyes who has kindly volunteered to undertake this
temporary work.
•
To book please ring Ursula on Wednesday 29th
July from 5pm - 6pm or on Friday 31st July from 5pm – 6pm on 232
433. For those parishioners that you know, who do not have access to the parish
website, could you kindly pass this information on.
•
People can also book online via the parish
website under the title ‘Bookings’. These further new Mass dates will be added
in the coming week. Again, you can only book for you or your household.
•
When you book you will be asked for personal
contact details in regards to the government’s NHS Test & Trace system. In
line with GDPR those details will be held securely for one month and then
destroyed.
•
When you book, it will be for one particular
Mass at a specific date and time, you are not booking a Mass for
perpetuity.
•
Families may sit together. Please state this
when booking as all household members contact details will be required.
•
You cannot book on behalf of another person. One
household, one booking.
•
The stewards can only allow entry to those who
have booked.
•
There will be no public toilet facilities for
the time being in church.
• The frequency of Masses and liturgies available is entirely dependent of the generosity of time that volunteer stewards are able to give. The more stewards the more Masses. If you would like to volunteer please contact Jennifer Pickles at jennifer.pickles@virginmedia.com
Mass
This next section deals with the requirements and conditions
for celebrating the Holy Mass by both the diocesan authorities and the Bishops
Conference of England and Wales. I am grateful to our Dean, Fr. Stamp at St.
Anne’s, for writing this down in a clear and concise way and allowing me to
copy it.
•
People are asked to come to church in plenty of
time before Mass begins in order to make life easier for the volunteer
stewards.
•
As you enter church please wait at the back,
social distancing, and a steward will greet you and direct you to your
allocated seats. Mgr. Daly has reminded us to say: ‘Advise all that their
‘usual seats’ will not be available.’
•
There will be no Sacristans, Altar Servers,
Readers, Choirs, musicians or Extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion. The
Bishops have made clear that for the celebration of Mass, no-one except the
Priest is permitted inside the Sacristy, only the Priest should touch the
chalice, vestments and sacred vessels, and no-one should approach the Priest
while he is on the Sanctuary.
•
There will be no Prayers of the Faithful
(Bidding prayers).
•
There will be no Sign of Peace.
•
Holy Communion will be distributed by the Priest
at the end of Mass instead of at the usual time. Stewards will direct
parishioners, row by row, to come forward for Holy Communion, after which they
will direct parishioners to leave the church via the one-way system. This is in
order to avoid the danger of people gathering together in the church after
Mass, to relieve pressure on Stewards to police this (remember they are already
kindly giving their time) and to ensure the church can be cleaned and
disinfected straight after. This is the method for receiving Holy Communion
recommended by the Bishop's Conference at this time.
•
There will be no singing or music during Mass.
•
Priests have been asked not to sign any Mass
cards to discourage anyone coming into the Sacristy before or after Mass. If
you would like a Mass offered, please write the priests name on the card and
post the donation with the intention through the presbytery letter box.
•
We have also been asked not to display any
notices at the back of church except the poster with details of the Parish
Safeguarding Representatives in case this causes people to 'bunch up' whilst
reading or looking at notices.
•
Social distancing of 2 metres will be observed
by all who are not living in the same household or sharing the same social bubble.
This removes the requirement for the congregation to wear masks, but anyone who
wishes to wear a mask and would feel safer doing so is welcome to wear their
own mask during Mass.
•
There will be no access to toilets or sinks. If
you require water during Mass, please bring your own bottle of water with you.
God Bless and keep praying
Fr. O’Brien