KEEP READING FOR MORE INFORMATION ON RETURNING TO CHURCH FOR MASS THIS SUUNDAY (and Saturday evening).

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


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UPDATE FROM JUNE 5, 2020

Dear Parishioners,

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

Thank you for your responses and your patience as we work at a stable solution for getting as many people to Mass as possible. We’ve spent the past week collecting as much information as we can and I think we are closer to a solution that will be as simple and certain as possible. Still, I need to ask your continued patience. For the time being, it is probably better to look at coming to Mass as something that you do twice a month or maybe not always on Sunday. Of course, we’re all eager to get back to normal, myself included, but patience seems to be the virtue we need to cultivate right now. I’d like to specifically thank those folks who chose not to come to Mass (here) in order to allow someone else the opportunity to do so. Your selflessness is certainly a pleasing sacrifice ot the Lord.

We’re taking basically the same approach this Sunday as we did last. Your replies give us a good idea of who to expect. This week, we will give a quick reply to everyone who wants to come.

• Hopefully, that will simply be a confirmation. 
• However, if we reach capacity at a given Mass, we will ask specific people who were able to attend Mass last Sunday if they would be willing to give up their spot for this week or we’ll ask if someone can attend a different Mass time. 
• One way or another, please expect a short but specific reply so you know what to expect. 
• If you already said which Mass you would like to attend, there is no need to reply again. If you have not yet requested attendance at a specific Mass, you can reply to this message.

Next Sunday, we hope to implement an automated system provided by Flocknote that is accessible even if you’re not signed up for Flocknote. Just the same, please encourage people to sing up for Flocknote or please offer to help out a friend who doesn’t have internet access.

We will also resume one daily Mass each day starting tomorrow, Saturday, June 6 (we will also have our usual First Saturday Confession times, again, over in the parking lot).

The daily Mass schedule for the time being will be:

• 6:30 am Monday and Wednesday
• 8:30 am Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday 
• We’ll test out the sign-up system with daily Mass.
• I think this will include slots to sign up to help clean or usher.

I’d also like to thank everyone for their suggestions. All options are or have been given consideration. I want as many people to be able to come to Mass as possible, but there are some very practical considerations that may make otherwise-attractive solutions difficult or impossible. Some solutions may become more do-able with additional time to plan.

Finally, please keep scrolling to the UPDATE FROM MAY 29 to review the information about what to do when attending Mass. These are important to keep everyone as healthy as possible, especially the vulnerable.

Here’s a quick summary of what to do before leaving:

• Take your temperature
• Stay home if it reads 100 or more
• Use the bathroom
• The bathroom 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

Thank you again for your understanding, prayers, gratitude, and support.

God bless you,
Father Cibelli

UPDATE FROM MAY 29, 2020

• 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.

• 5:15 pm (Saturday) (This Saturday, May 30, it will be a special Vigil Mass of Pentecost with three extra readings).
• 7:30 am
• 9:30 am
• 11:30 am
• 5:00 pm

• 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.

• Currently, we have too many households signed up for the 7:30 am Mass.
  • If you requested the 7:30 am Mass and can attend a different Mass, please reply to this message and someone will get back to you.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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

• 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!

• 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.

• 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! 

UPDATE FROM MAY 21, 2020

1. There will be a limit on the number of people that can be in church. It will be 100 people in the name at most, but it may be a noticeably smaller number on account of “physical distancing.”
2. You need to bring and wear your own face covering.
   1. The obligation to attend Sunday Mass continues to be suspended, so if you do not feel safe or we reach our capacity and you can’t make it to another Mass, you have not sinned.
   2. At this time we are only making plans for Mass and Holy Communion in the Church. I cannot promise anything beyond that, but it is being taken into consideration.
   3. Please reply to this note if you plan to attend Mass and which time you would prefer, if we are able to observe our regular Sunday Schedule.
3. 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. We need volunteers to clean the church in between Masses. Please reply to this note indicating if you plan to attend Mass and, if we are able to resume our normal schedule, which Mass you would prefer to attend.
   1. However, this may be a good opportunity to learn music 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.
4. 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!

UPDATE FROM MAY 15, 2020
Dear Parishioners,

Thank you for patience in waiting to hear news form St. Mary’s on the re-opening process outlined by Governor Hogan in his press conference on Wednesday and addressed by Archbishop Lori in his Flocknote email yesterday. While I’m sure most of you are excited to know that the restrictions that have been in place are being loosened, I’m sure you can imagine the preparations that need to be made in order to comply with the current norms are rather time consuming.

I am very happy that we are able to resume hearing confessions, baptizing, and marrying as well as having the church open for private prayer. I am eager for the day the faithful are permitted to attend Mass again. I realize that there are many different opinions on these matters, but as Father Langan and I have said, our duty is to virtuously obey laws enacted by legitimate authority. This is an important part of the path to sanctity, as St. Peter explains in his first letter (1 Pet. 2:11-19).

There are a lot of details to be addressed, and it is not realistic to cover them all in this email, so I will speak to three of the most immediate questions at hand.

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. For the time being, please observe a limit of 10 people in church at one time. I will let you know as soon as I can determine what our maximum occupancy is in this phase.
• g. Please note that while the church will be unlocked form 6:00 am to 9:00 pm, 
• 1. the church will be closed from 10:00 am – 1:00 pm and 4:30 pm – 6:30 pm on Sunday 
• 2. the church will be closed and 7:15 am – 9:15 am Monday through Saturday.

2.Confessions will resume on 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.

3. We are making plans to resume “public” Mass on May 30. 

• a. More details will be forthcoming.
• b. But please note that there will be a limitation on the number of people that can be present and some of our practices will be noticeably different. The limitation on attendance may result in some people being asked to come back for a different Mass time. 
• c. We need to make sure that we can be adequately prepared to ensure a safe environment for all who choose to come to Mass, so technically there is a chance that we would need to delay the resumption of public Mass. Please pray that everything comes together in a timely manner, and let me know if you can offer your help in doing so!

Finally, please keep in mind that while we are all eager for our lives to get back to normal, the authorities are reminding us that there could be setbacks which may require certain restrictions to be resumed. The more careful each of us is, the more quickly we will get back to normal.

I realize I probably have not addressed all your questions. I may have even accidently left an important detail out. Please feel free to reply to this message with your questions and we will get back to you as quickly as we can.

Thank you for your prayers, support, and patience, as we strive to do the most we can in the present circumstances. Your salvation is our top priority, and your safety is right next to it.

God bless you and keep you in His care, and may the Blessed Mother intercede for you.

Sincerely, 
Father Cibelli

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!