Mask-only Mass, Holy Week, and Easter

Dear friends at Saint Mary’s Immaculate Conception Parish and Saint Frances Cabrini Parish:
Praised be Jesus Christ!
I have new updates to offer about our liturgies for the remainder of the Lenten Season, for Holy Week, and for Easter Sunday.

Masks Required for the 4:30pm Saturday Mass
•    Effective this coming Saturday, February 27th, everyone attending the 4:30pm Mass at Saint Frances Cabrini will be expected to wear a mask, without exceptions.  •    Free masks will be provided at the entrances for those who might forget to enter with one. 

•    This policy will be in place through the Saturday after Easter, April 10th. 

•    In early April we will review the situation and consider extending the policy if needed.  

•    This will be the only change from the existing expectations and practices at that Mass, which continue to include recommendations to keep distance, wash hands, and if you choose to receive Holy Communion on the tongue, to come to the end of the Communion procession.  
What Led To This Change In Our Liturgies?
•    You recall that I recently published a notice asking for more people to wear masks as an attempt at extended hospitality during the Lenten Season which is a time when many seek to return to worship.  

•    Even after that notice was published, I have continued to receive concerned comments from parishioners at both Saint Mary’s and Saint Frances Cabrini about how difficult it is for them to attend our liturgies with so many people not wearing masks.  

•    In an attempt to try and allow as many people as we can to be at Mass and to feel comfortable, I am making the decision to designate one Mass out of the seven that we currently offer on a weekend between the two parishes as a mask-only Mass.  

•    For a variety of reasons, the Saturday 4:30pm Mass at Saint Frances Cabrini seemed the most logical choice, knowing that there is no way to satisfy everyone’s particular preferences on this persistently controversial topic. 

•    I wish to emphasize my hope that anyone from Saint Mary’s Parish will feel welcome at the Saint Frances Cabrini 4:30pm Mass, even though it is not their home worship space. For many years now the 4:30pm Mass has taken on a shared quality to it between our partner parishes. Additionally, the Saint Frances Cabrini worship space is larger and allows greater opportunities for distancing.  

•    There continue to be a large segment of our worshipers who have strong oppositions to wearing masks, or who for medical reasons cannot wear one, and I ask that they please attend any of the other six weekend Masses between the two parishes besides the 4:30pm Mass.  There are plenty of options in this situation. 

•    Most of our current worshipers and parish population, based on several months of Mass counts, do not have strong feelings either way on this topic and will feel at home at either the mask-only 4:30 Mass, or at any of the other Masses.  

•    I would like us all to view this as a compromise for the good of the whole system, of both parishes, in the interests of trying to get as many people back for Lent and Easter as possible.

Holy Week and Easter Liturgy Schedule
The schedule for the liturgies for Holy Week and Easter appears below, largely unchanged from 2019, when we were last able to gather for Holy Week.

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10:00am Mid-Morning Prayer and Blessing of Easter Food Baskets
8:00pm Easter Vigil

Easter Sunday: April 4th
Masses at 7:30am, 9:30am, and Spanish Mass at 12:00pm


Please note these additional points about the schedule and the liturgies in terms of masks:
•    The 12:30pm Good Friday Liturgy at Saint Mary’s as well as the 9:30am Easter Sunday Mass at Saint Mary’s will offer additional "Mask-Only" seating in the gymnasium, where there is maximum space to distance.  

•    The 7am Easter Sunday Mass at Saint Frances Cabrini will be a mask-only Mass.
Will There Be Any Other Changes to the Holy Week Liturgies?
•    The Vatican recently issued a statement allowing dioceses around the world their own flexibility in adjusting Holy Week liturgical rituals for public safety based on their local circumstances. 

•    The same statement explained that the modifications proposed for 2020, for example the omission of the procession with the Blessed Sacrament at the conclusion of Holy Thursday Mass, would still be valid this year if deemed necessary on the local level. 

•    At Saint Frances Cabrini and Saint Mary’s we will be omitting the ritual of the Washing of the Feet at the Holy Thursday Masses this year due to the fact that it has always been optional anyway, and also to avoid the difficulty of finding participants given our current circumstances. 

•    Other than that, I anticipate few changes to the customary liturgical practices at our two parishes. For all rituals, people are welcome to participate based on their own level of comfort.  

I do appreciate everyone’s cooperation and understanding with regards to all of the details of this update.  Know again of my prayers to all for a grace-filled Lenten journey.

-Father Nathan