March 26, 2020
Dear Friends,
We hope you are well and holding up okay in these strange times! We would like to pass on a few updates in light of our continued response to COVID-19.
Cancellation of Holy Week and Easter Liturgies. We regret to inform you that the Archdiocese has made the decision to cancel public celebration of Holy Week and Easter Masses. This was announced on Tuesday of this week and the full text is available here. Hearing this may break your heart; please know that we are right there with you.
After consultation with our parish staff, we would direct you to these alternate ways of entering into prayer during Holy Week:
- Palm Sunday – recorded Mass celebrated by Fr. Tim and Fr. John, which will be posted to our parish YouTube channel.
- Holy Thursday, Good Friday, & Easter Vigil – we invite you to watch a livestreamed broadcast of thesecelebrations, which will be held at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist and presided by Archbishop Listecki. We will provide more information as we get closer to the actual dates.
- Easter Sunday – recorded Mass celebrated by Fr. Tim and Fr. John, which will be posted to our parish YouTube channel.
Other Cancellations. We would like to pass on information on a number of other postponements or cancellations, as a result of the Archbishop’s 3/24/20 communication.
- The Chrism Mass has been postponed until a later date.
- All public daily and Sunday Masses continue to be suspended until further notice.
- The April 1st 12 hours of Reconciliation throughout the Archdiocese has been postponed.
- The baptism of the Elect and the receptions into full communion has been postponed (not canceled) until a later diocesan-wide, common date.
- Confirmations and First Communions are now postponed until the health crisis is over.
- The Love One Another Capital Campaign is being suspended, with the hope to resume the campaign when there is a return to financial stability.
This week’s video message from Fr. Tim and Fr. John. We celebrated and filmed a Mass this week for this upcoming Sunday (3/29, the 5th Sunday in Lent). It was a privilege to celebrate private Masses at each of our four parishes last Sunday and to pray for you in that way! But it was really hard too, as we deeply miss gathering with you for Sunday worship. We hope that this Mass is another way for us to be connected with you during this time. The video can be found here on our parish YouTube channel.
Old Saint Mary no longer open for private prayer. Out of an overabundance of caution, we are no longer making the church available on Sundays for private prayer. We look forward very much to being able to resume our regular schedule of prayer at all of our four parishes! In the meantime, we encourage everyone to commit to at least one devotional prayer found on our websites to unite us in common prayer while we are physically apart.
Please do not hesitate to contact either Fr. Tim (Cell: 414-762-7986; kitzket@archmil.org) or Fr. John (Cell: 414-305-3824; baumgardnerj@archmil.org) if you need anything! Be assured of our love and prayers.
Sincerely, with love,
Fr. Tim and Fr. John
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