St. Leo Catholic Church

PUBLIC CELEBRATION OF MASS REOPENING MESSAGE

By approving our Action Plan for the reopening, our Bishop has officially given us the green light to resume public celebration of Masses in our parish on Saturday, May 23, 2020. He insists that we have to maintain the strict guidelines and protocol of six feet of distancing and wearing of facemasks at all times during public celebration of the liturgy. The Bishop still left the dispensation from the obligation to attend Mass effective and strongly recommends that those 65 and older and/or those with underlying health conditions should stay home.  If wearing a mask causes you discomfort or anxiety, do not forget the dispensation is still effective. After due consultation with the leadership of the major ministries in our parish, we are limiting the public celebration of Mass in our parish to weekend liturgies at this time. Our Mass schedule for  weekends is Saturday, at 5:00 pm and Sunday, at 10:00 am.  As I have done throughout the lockdown, I will continue to celebrate and livestream all our liturgies (weekend public liturgies and weekday private liturgy from my little chapel in the rectory). Given the exigencies of this time, our current Mass schedule is subject to change at any time. If there is any change in any of our upcoming liturgical schedule, we will keep you posted through our Facebook page, parish website and push notifications. Please stay tuned!

Because of the lack of cleaning and sanitization supplies for our pews (non-Clorox, bleach or alcoholic wipes/supplies) our Bishop has approved our request to use our Fellowship Hall as our main worship space on Saturdays and the Knights of Columbus Hall as our overflow site. Adhering to the guidelines of six feet of social distancing, our Fellowship Hall has been set up to accommodate a maximum of 50 people at a time while the Knights Hall will accommodate a maximum of 25.  Volunteers will be available in our Fellowship Hall and the Knights Hall to seat people 30 minutes before mass, beginning with the front rows first. Wait to be seated and dismissed! To gain entrance into the worship space, parishioners MUST be willing to abide by the rules of social distancing, wearing of facemasks at all times, and queuing up on the social distancing marked sidewalk in front of the Fellowship Hall leading to the door sign “ENTRANCE ONLY”. When we reach our maximum capacity for the Fellowship Hall, our volunteers will direct the remaining group to the Knights Hall, where they will be seated to watch the livestream Mass on the screen in the hall. Those wishing to enter the Knights Hall to watch the livestreamed Mass are also expected to abide by the rules of social distancing, wearing of facemasks at all times and queuing up in the designated area in front of the Knights Hall with floor marking that leads up to the door sign “ENTRANCE ONLY”.

On Sunday mornings, we will have Mass at 10 AM in the church. All of the same protocols will be in place: face masks, 6 feet of social distancing, being seated and dismissed by our ushers. Seating capacity in the church is 150.

Everyone (over the age of 2) coming to Mass must wear a mask or face covering-there are NO EXCEPTIONS! Do not forget to come with your own facemask. If you forget your facemask at home, based on availability, our parish is willing to provide you with one from the limited supplies given to us for this preliminary phase of the reopening by our Diocese. For the major part of the Mass, Deacon Brian and I will not be wearing masks – not because we are healthier than everyone is. Rather, by being in the sanctuary area and maintaining six feet of social distancing from each other and the congregation, we are already at a safe distance from one each and the congregation. Thus, wearing a mask would muffle our speech when offering prayers, proclaiming the Word and preaching. However, we will definitely be wearing a mask when distributing Holy Communion and at any other time, we will be in close contact with people. For example, celebrating Baptism, Confirmation, Anointing of the Sick etc. I urge you to be patient as we get used to this new way of celebrating Mass.

Prior to the distribution and reception of the Eucharist, I will give instructions on how to receive the Eucharist during this Phase II of our response to COVID-19. Our Bishop has not allowed any form of parking lot Masses or drive through communions! I will be distributing communion in the Fellowship Hall, while Deacon Brian will bring the Eucharist to those in the Knights Hall. The aisles have been marked for social distancing and there will be volunteers to assist everyone for the reception of the Eucharist. The weight of medical opinion recommends reception of communion by hand instead of the tongue. While I understand the right of the communicant to decide whether to receive communion by hand or on the tongue, I would recommend that for the safety of everyone (minister of communion included) that we receive communion by hand. Keep in mind that when you come up to receive communion everyone (including Deacon Brian and I) MUST wear a mask. When Deacon Brian and I process out after Mass, you need to wait to be dismissed row by row by the ushers/volunteers (beginning with back row first) and use the door with sign marked “EXIT ONLY” to exit the worship space. Collection baskets located at the back of both the Fellowship Hall and Knights Hall have been clearly marked so you can put your envelopes or donations. A receptacle bin has been placed on the table in the gathering space in the Fellowship Hall and Knights Hall where you can put your used worship aids for recycling.

I understand that the points I have itemized above for our reopening are quite unusual. The reason we are adhering strictly to the guidelines and protocols put out by our federal, state, local and church officials is to keep everyone safe by containing the spread of the virus. While the tasks involved in this reopening phase may seem daunting and overwhelming, with your prayers, patience, support and help from our volunteers, our proposed plan will go as smoothly as possible. If you have any further questions, do not hesitate to contact me at [email protected], call the office and leave a message at 304-229-8945, email Lisa Feeley at [email protected] or contact the staff via Facebook Messenger. Thank you for your prayers and support! Remain blessed,

– FR. ALFRED OBIUDU