Dear Holy People of God,
On May 18th the Governor unveiled the Phases to re-open the Commonwealth allowing Houses of Worship to re-open in Phase 1. A joint meeting of the Parish Pastoral Council, Heads of Ministries, Staff and representatives from the Cameroon and Filipino Communities was held on Friday, May 22nd to discuss plans to re-open the Church. After careful consideration, it was decided to begin celebrating Mass with the congregation on Saturday, June 6th and Sunday, June 7th.
Following the guidelines of the lesser of 40% of capacity or social distancing of 6 feet apart, there are 54 available seats per Mass. In order to accommodate as many parishioners as possible each weekend, Mass times are as follows:
Saturday: 4:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
Sunday: 8:30 a.m, 11:00 a.m., 1:30 p.m., and 5:00 p.m.
Going forward, it will be necessary to register for the Mass you wish to attend. Information on how to do this will follow. We will be sending out e-mail blasts to keep you informed, as well as posting the information here on our website and on our Facebook page. I encourage anyone who is not receiving an e-mail with the bulletin and the notice of the video-taped Mass to send their e-mail address to Annette in the Business Office at Annette.pezzulo@stannesalem.org. CLICK HERE FOR FURTHER DETAILS.
Masks will be required, as well as maintaining Social Distancing. There will be one entrance and exit. The doors of the Church will be opened 20 minutes before each Mass through the Courtyard. If there is a line, please stand behind the tape. An Usher will escort you to a pew, we will begin seating people at the front of the Church.
Daily Mass will be held in the Main Church beginning on June 8th at 9:00 a.m.
While we will be taking all of the precautions necessary, as outlined in the guidelines, people over the age of 65 and people who have underlying health conditions – who are at risk for COVID-19 – should continue to watch the Mass on TV.
Be assured that you have been in my prayers daily and will continue to be as we adjust to a new way of celebrating Mass and interacting with each other.
God Bless,
Fr. Maurice