From Friday of next week, 28th August, daily Mass will be celebrated at the Parish Centre at 9.30 a.m. each day. By then I’m sure that all the preparations and precautions that need to be in place will have been taken care of. Please note that ALL Masses will be at the Parish Centre until further notice.
Now as we can only accommodate 21 people in the hall at one time it will be necessary for parishioners to book a seat for a particular day of the week. That will then be your day for each week for the foreseeable future. I am trying to reserve the weekend Masses for those who work and who would not be able to attend Monday to Friday. I hope the rest of you can understand this and do what you can to accommodate each other. You can ring the Presbytery (02920 591503) to make your booking. Please be patient if you don’t get through right away as I cannot be there all the time.
As I’m sure you can imagine, Mass will be a little different from what you are used to. The idea is to keep people together in the hall for as short a time as possible - for hopefully obvious reasons. So there will be no homilies (you can always check the ‘Sunday Reflection’ page for a weekly homily), no intercessions, no collection, no singing, no offertory procession, no sign of peace and Holy Communion only on the hand right at the end of Mass. Once you have entered the hall and taken your seat there will be no moving about during the ceremony. Unfortunately altar servers will not be able to assist at Mass at least for the time being.
Collection baskets will be placed at the entrance to the hall where you can leave your contributions when you arrive.
For those of you with children, you can bring them along but you must be able to guarantee that they can stay with you in their seat for the whole of the Mass. No one can move about in the hall. An extra seat can be arranged right next to yours to accommodate children. Also there will be no Mass leaflets and for the time being no newsletters. I will put all the important information here on this website. Can you all please do your best to pass on any important news to those who do not have internet access. I may make a few brief announcements before each Mass to keep you all up to date with any important matters.
Here are some guidelines to ensure that things go as smoothly as possible.
Please arrive no sooner that 10 minutes before Mass begins (approx 9.20 a.m.).
Please maintain social distancing (6 ft) from each other at all times.
Do not stand in the lobby or the doorway talking. Move inside as soon as you can.
You will be given the opportunity to clean your hands upon entry.
After this you can note you name, address and telephone number for contact tracing if you wish.
Then go straight to your seat which will be pointed out to you.
For Holy Communion, after the prayer ‘Lord I am not worthy…’ the priest will say, ‘may the Body and Blood of Christ bring us to everlasting life.’ All answer ‘Amen’.
The priest will then receive Holy Communion after which he will say the Concluding Prayer of the Mass and give the Final Blessing.
Those who are not receiving Holy Communion will now be invited to leave. Please go straight out of the building, not onto the pathway but onto the pavement outside.
Those who remain will receive Holy Communion on the hand in silence. Remain in your place and the priest will come to you. As soon as you put the host in your mouth, you too should then leave the hall immediately and make your way out onto the pavement.
I know this might be a lot to take in but I think we will get used to the regime pretty quickly. It might be a good idea to come back and read this again before attending. Again, please help those who do not have internet access by letting them know about these restrictions. Maybe you could print them off and give them a copy.
One last point to note in answer to a question I have been asked, the question being; ‘Can I attend Mass more that once a week?’ To answer this I must first emphasise that you can only book Mass for one day. With the limited number we can admit, I need to ensure that you all have an equal chance of attending. However, should you wish to come along on any other day in the hope that there might be spare seats, then you can take your chances. Once 9.30 a.m. comes around, if there is room anyone waiting will be admitted. So don’t be late as even if you have booked a place for that day you could find it has be given to someone else who has been waiting outside.
Finally any questions you can ask when you call to book your place. Thank you for your co-operation and let’s hope that these arrangements won’t have to be in place for too long.
God Bless. Fr. David.