Saint Mary Catholic Church

St. Mary's Catholic Church

Dear Parishioners,

THERE'S MORE INFORMATION BELOW ON WHAT TO DO TO ATTEND MASS ON SUNDAY (AND THROUGHOUT THE WEEK).

IF YOU'RE NOT READY TO COME BACK TO CHURCH
(THE OBLIGATION IS CURRENTLY LIFTED)
Join us for Mass via Facebook Live!

Sundays
11:30 am (Ordinary Form)
5:00 pm (Extraordinary Form)

It's not the same thing as being here in person but I hope it will help you honor your duty to God in these difficult circumstances!

Also, sing up for flocknote by clicling the little sheep in the upper right hand corner of your screen!
We send out updates about once a week, sometimes more as necessary.

God bless you,
Father Cibelli

Click here to learn more about job openings.

UPDATE FROM June 18, 2020

Click Here to sign up for SUNDAY Mass.

UPDATE FROM June 18, 2020

Click here to sign up for DAILY Mass.

Dear Parishioners,

If you intend to come to Mass this Sunday (Saturday evening), please read this message carefully.

Please remember that there is risk for catching this virus whenever you leave your home.
You are not required to attend Mass.
We will continue to live-stream Mass.
Folks who are more vulnerable should especially consider staying home (65 years of age and older, those of any age with underlying medical conditions)
- The CDC guidelines on this point can be found here.

We will use our regular St. Mary’s Sunday Schedule:

5:15 pm (Saturday)
7:30 am
9:30 am
11:30 am
5:00 pm

Please keep in mind that, depending on the size of each household, we will only be able to fit 60-70 people in the nave (main body of the church).

There are 14 pews that we can use.
The maximum number of people that can sit in the nave is 100.
The maximum number of households that can be seated in the nave is 27.
Both of these numbers will probably be smaller depending on the size of each family.

It is possible that we may have to turn people away at the door.

Please be patient with us. We are very eager to have you back, but it is a challenging task to do this right/safely. It is well worth the effort, but it might not go perfectly.

I ask you to please bear these sufferings and inconveniences patiently, in union with the Lord’s Cross.

Before you leave home

Take your temperature
Stay home if it reads 100 or more
Use the bathroom
- The bathroom at church will be available, but it would be better to minimize its use.
  - You need to wipe down all the surfaces you touch.

Arrival

Please arrive 30-15 minutes before Mass begins to allow extra time to be seated
Please put your mask on before exiting your car
Come to the “cry room” entrance
All other entrances are locked form the outside, but can be used as emergency exits.

Ushers will seat you (you probably won’t be sitting in your preferred place)

Front to back
Wall side first, then center isle side
Only 14 pews are available
One pew can accommodate
- Four (4), possibly five (5), members of two (2) different household
- Up to eight (8), nine (9), or ten (10) of the same household

The Cry Room can only be used by four (4) people either

To wait for the bathroom OR
To calm children for a few minutes
The vestibule can be used by one parent to calm children for a few minutes.
- As soon as the child is calm, please come back to your seat in church.
- If the child can’t seem to be calmed after a few minutes, please step outside, but know that we want you back in church with us as soon as posssible!

Instructions will be given before Mass about singing and the distribution of Holy Communion

No Pew Missals or hymnals will be available.
If you wish to follow the texts of the Mass please bring a hand missal or an electronic device to access these.
If you still need a hand missal, click one of the links below.
We are working on possibly providing something for future Masses.

At the end of Mass

Dismissal will be from back to front.
You might be in church a little longer than normal, so think about how much you have missed being in the Lord’s Real Presence! Take this time to have a good conversation with Him.
Those who are staying to help clean are asked to wait outside or off to the side, six feet away from other households.
- With four (4) volunteers, cleaning should take only 10-15 minutes (more volunteers should mean less time)
- Thank you for your help!

Please reply with any questions and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

Thank you for your eagerness to return to Mass, but please be safe and patient. And remember, the struggles, sufferings, and inconveniences we expense in these circumstances area a real and important part of our path to holiness, that is, greater union with God.

God bless you,

Father Cibelli

UPDATE FROM MAY 21, 2020

Congregational singing has been determined to spread the coronavirus more rapidly, so please realize that if we do sing, it will likely be selections that are not easily sung by the congregation.
1. This a good opportunity to learn music, including Latin, by listening so that when the congregation is permitted to sing again, you will be more familiar with some beautiful liturgical music.
2. We have removed the Pew Missals, hymnals, and other items as they are "high touch surfaces."
3. Please consider purchasing a daily Roman Missal of your own with which to follow along the Mass. Ordinary Form. Extraoridnary Form.
We need volunteers to call parishioners without email/internet access to share this information. Please reply to this note if you are willing to help.

There are more details that we need to share with you, but I think this is enough for the time being. I don’t want to overload you!

For now, I ask you to consider this. Some will find the measures we are being asked to take excessive, others will find them insufficient in some way, and others will be content. If you feel burdened or inconvenienced, please unite this suffering to the Lord’s Cross. The Lord’s Cross was a burden and inconvenient, it certainly was unjust, but He freely accepted it for our salvation. If we accept these sufferings in union with His, they will help us become saints and reach our heavenly goal together.

UPDATE FROM MAY 15, 2020
Dear Parishioners,

1. Our church will be open beginning at 5:00 pm, Friday, May 15.

a. Please observe the necessary “physical distancing” of six feet between members of different households.
b. You will note that some of the pews are roped off to facilitate this.
c. While we will have volunteers on hand (and are in need of more) to help sanitize the spot used, as a courtesy, please bring along your own disinfectant wipes to clean the area at which you were sitting before you depart.
d. Only the cry room entrance will be open, so please enter there and make use of the hand sanitizer on the way in.
e. If you are able to navigate the steps, please use the side entrance to exit.
f. Please note that while the church will be unlocked form 6:00 am to 9:00 pm,

2.Confessions are Saturday at our usual times of 11:30 am and 4:00 pm

a. There will be two “confessionals.”
b. You will be able to remain anonymous.
c. Father Cibelli will be at the entrance to the Parish Center
d. Father Langan will be nearby at the “Primary Entrance” to the School.
e. You can pull up in your car, but please don’t go past the orange traffic ones.
f. Please wait in your car until the priest of your preference is available.
g. You can then get out of your car and sit or stand (or even kneel, but there will not be kneelers) at the indicated distance.

Please see the Archdiocesan Website for more information in the mean time.

Previous Updates

Learn more about the 33-Day Consecration to St. Joseph we made as a parish community from March 30 - May 1. You can do so on your own!

You can find more info and how to get a copy of the book by clicking here.

Listen to our somewhat-daily refelctions on Facebook or here.

Spiritual Communion:
I wish, my Lord, to receive you with the purity, humility, and devotion with which your most holy Mother received you, with the spirit and fervor of the saints.

I think it is important to understand why these precautions are being taken. While I will not pretend to be an expert on this matter, those age 60 and older and those with underlying medical conditions are the most vulnerable to this virus. These measures will help to both slow the spread of this virus (which seems to spread much faster than others) and reduce the chances of it being spread to the vulnerable. A slowed rate of transmission will make it easier for our health care system to respond to those with serious needs.

Your cooperation with the directives of the Federal and State governments as well as those of the Archdiocese and others that specifically apply to St. Mary’s is essentially an act of charity. By observing these safeguards, you are helping to protect those for whom this disease might otherwise prove serious and perhaps fatal.

With that in mind, please note the following:

If you have recently been on St. Mary’s or St. Michael’s campuses and also learn that you may have been exposed to the coronavirus or if you test positive for it, please inform us by phone (301-739-0390) or email (church@saintmarysonlien.org) so that we can take the necessary precautions.

If you know someone who is elderly/vulnerable and might need your help or just a friend to talk to, please reach out to that person by phone.

If you think of someone who might not have received this message, please contact him or her to share it.

While homebound, do not neglect your duty to God. Offer Him your time in prayer by reading the prayers and scriptures for that Sunday’s Mass, by praying the Rosary, and or meditating upon the Stations of the Cross. We may even be able to provide live video of Mass being offered here at St. Mary’s.

Home visits and hospital or nursing home visits will only be conducted by priests and will be made according to the urgency of the need. Those who have been bringing Holy Communion to the homebound are being encouraged to offer their prayerful support over the phone.

As further information becomes available, we will share it via Flocknote and on our Website and Facebook Page. Please forward this email to anyone you think might need it.

Please pray for all those most effected by this virus, especially those who are ill and those who working to aid the ill and remedy the problem.

Inclement Weather Policy

Can I miss Mass?

Thanks to a generous donation by the Pangborn Council of the Knights of Columbus, every member of our community now has access to a great online resource called FORMED.org. FORMED provides an impressive number of video, audio, and e-book resources directly to your phone or computer that cover just about any topic you can imagine on the Catholic Faith. They are high quality and very engaging from some of the most prominent names in solid catechesis today (and from the past too!) such as Edward Sri, Fr. Mike Schmitz, and Bishop Fulton Sheen. It’s often described as “Catholic Netflix”! I’ll be highlighting specific series or individual programs that are especially worth checking out. See below for how to create your own personal account, you can click on the flyer to take you to the set up page.

St. Mary Catholic Church