Dear Church,
It is heartbreaking to announce that the Diocesan decree, suspending public celebrations of the Sacrifice of the Mass and other public sacramental rites, must continue into the sacred celebrations of Holy Week and Easter.
Holy Week and Easter will go on. The saving mystery of the Death and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus is our Springtime. His joy and hope are the Paschal Fire that dispels the darkness of sin and the threatening gloom of this pandemic. We are sharing in the Cross. The saving work of Jesus is beyond the ability of anyone to suspend or alter it. What will change, however, is how we celebrate this Holy time. The global mortal danger posed by the coronavirus compels us this year to find a different way to participate in the Rites of Sacred Triduum and Easter Sunday.
The Congregation of Divine Worship of the Holy See has issued guidance to the bishops of those regions of the world afflicted by the Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, on how to conduct the Holy Week rituals in private.
Both Father Frank and I will celebrate the Triduum on the appointed days at the usual times for our parish; i.e. Mass of the Lord’s Supper is to be celebrated in the evening of Holy Thursday at 7:00 pm; the Good Friday liturgy will be celebrated at 7:00 pm, the Easter Vigil will be celebrated at 7:00 pm and Easter Sunday will be celebrated at 12:00 pm
If you have the internet, the Diocesan website www.bostoncatholic.org as well as our own website www.stpatrickstoneham.org will inform you of times of these liturgies so that all may participate in a spiritual manner, prayerfully uniting yourselves to your priests from your homes. Where possible, you may also participate via Boston Catholic television or EWTN. In addition, I ask you to please remember that in the best of times we are completely dependent on your generosity. Without Sunday Masses and the offertory, it has become exceedingly difficult to make ends meet. If it is within your means, I prayerfully ask you to remember us by mailing in your offertory or signing up for online giving which can be found here on the Parish website under the “Donate” tab.
As God’s people, we will gather spiritually, even if we cannot gather physically. We will recount the Passion of Our Lord, His death and burial. And, we will welcome the risen Christ and celebrate the glory of the Resurrection. As we do, let us offer our prayers in a very special way for the victims of this pandemic and their families as well as the doctors, nurses, first responders, clergy and other essential workers who cannot protect themselves through isolation.
As we come together with a deepened hunger for spiritual communion with the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, may this year’s celebration of Holy Week bring the amazing grace of God’s divine mercy. Please join us in bringing chastened, humble hearts to the sacred days of Christ’s death and Resurrection. He will call us each by name as He did for Mary Magdalene in the garden of tomb. (Jn. 20.11-18) He will come to us, as He did for the disciples hiding behind doors closed by fear, mercifully extend his pierced hands to us and say, “Peace be with you.” (Jn. 20.19-20)
Fr. Mario & Fr. Frank