Pastors plan different ways to celebrate Holy Week in time of coronavirus

Pastors around the Archdiocese of Baltimore are adapting to celebrating Mass without the presence of the faithful, but several admit that Holy Week this year will be very different as they adjust to continued restrictions in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Without the congregation, it’s not as joyful,” said Monsignor Joseph Luca, pastor of St. Louis in Clarksville and St. Francis of Assisi in Fulton. “We feed them from our side of the altar, but they feed us – their joy and inspiration. It’s a mutual relationship.”

In late March, the archdiocese released guidelines on Holy Week and the Triduum and the response to COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, which spread worldwide.

The chrism Mass normally held on the Monday of Holy Week, April 6, at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen – during which the clergy of the diocese renew their vows and sacramental oils are blessed – will be postponed to a later date. Priests can continue to use the current oil stocks until new oils are distributed at the chrism Mass.

As the suspension of public Masses continues, the archdiocese announced March 30 that all churches would be closed, even for private prayer, as of 8 p.m. March 30, due to the stay-at-home order issued by Maryland Gov. Larry J. Hogan. Holy Week services may be celebrated by parish priests and assisted by the parish deacons. The minimum number of assisting ministers may be invited.

Vatican guidelines 

Palm Sunday Masses may be livestreamed or recorded. Palms cannot be distributed.

Guidelines released by the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments grant an exception for this year only for parishes to celebrate the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday without the presence of the people, in a suitable place. Archdiocesan guidelines say that “while a ‘suitable place’ is permitted, it is preferred that this Mass be celebrated in the parish church or the chapel of a religious community associated with the parish.

The washing of the feet, already optional, will be omitted.

The Mass may be livestreamed. For parishes where livestreaming is not possible, they can use a recorded Mass, provided that the recorded Mass doesn’t begin earlier than 5 p.m. April 9.

One such parish is Divine Mercy in Frostburg, where Father Ed Hendricks, pastor, has been recording Masses for later broadcast on the parish’s web page and Facebook page, because the church is not equipped for livestream.

He said in his 43 years as a priest, even when he was a chaplain at Frostburg State University, he has always been a part of Holy Week in a parish.

“It’s really out of the ordinary for all of us. I cannot imagine not having a parish celebration for Holy Thursday, but we have to because of the health concerns,” Father Hendricks said.

He hopes that families are watching the Mass and praying together. At the end of his homily, he asks questions and makes some suggestions for family discussions.

Noting that a lot of families don’t spend time together or don’t have dinner together, Father Hendricks hopes some of the conversations that have been happening during the virus continue afterward.

In most years, parishes remain open all through the Triduum of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday for private prayer and other services such as Stations of the Cross. This year, all churches will remain closed until the governor lifts the stay-at-home order.

Call to prayer 

Father J. Kevin Farmer, pastor of St. John the Evangelist in Frederick and St. Joseph on Carrollton Manor in Buckeystown, said people want to be in their churches and receive the sacraments. “In our heart of hearts, for everyone’s well-being, it’s better not to bring them together,” he said.

“It’s so counterintuitive to what we would normally do. It’s killing us.” He said as an urban church at St. John’s, they are usually able to keep the church open all week long. “This is different. There was no way to keep it clean between visits, even though people would like to be in their churches.”

He said it is similar to snowstorms, when some people, especially those who are older or more vulnerable, would try to come to Mass even when they shouldn’t.

Father Farmer said he hopes this is building a hunger in people. Those who had come weekly who may have slipped to every other week and those who are unchurched may realize what they are missing. “We don’t know what we have until we don’t have it. I hope we’ll see people back in great numbers,” he said.

Even livestreamed daily Mass has been receiving 300 views, and he hopes to be able to continue to use the technology to make daily Mass available to those who cannot attend because they have to commute to work or other reasons. He doesn’t want to stop using what the parish has put in place “rather quickly and albeit maybe imperfectly,” but wants to build on it, so the parishes offer “both/and rather than one or the other.”

He said he and his associates would normally have celebrated all the Triduum rites at both parishes. Instead, Holy Thursday and Good Friday will be livestreamed from St. John’s and the Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday Masses will be streamed from St. Joseph.

He said St. John’s has new bells in its iconic steeple that looks over all of Frederick. This has given the parish a chance to use them, not to call people to church as is traditional, but to call them to prayer in their homes.

Good Friday and the Passion

The Good Friday Passion of the Lord may be celebrated livestreamed or recorded for broadcast in the parish church or chapel. “All parishes, even those that are not livestreaming or recording the liturgy, should communicate the time of the parish liturgy to parishioners so that parishioners may prayerfully unite with the liturgy in their homes,” according to Archdiocese of Baltimore guidelines.

The faithful are encouraged to place a cross or crucifix in an appropriate place in their home as they unite in prayer, especially when viewing a livestream of the services. “Parishes may wish to livestream Adoration of the Cross until the parish’s customary time when the cross is removed in preparation for the Easter Vigil.”

Father George Gannon, who is new as pastor of St. Stephen, Bradshaw, in Kingsville, said this Holy Week will be different for everybody. “For the faithful, this is when they come out in huge numbers. These are the core days of our faith. It will be hard for them to not be able to do that.”

He said it may be especially hard for the homebound who usually only are able to get to church when children come to visit and can bring them.

He said he will miss “not being able to celebrate the sacraments with the faithful – the highlight of the year for us.”

“I was looking forward to my first Holy Week, my first Easter with the folks” at St. Stephen.

The parish has used a lot of methods to stay connected to parishioners, including livestreamed Stations of the Cross, and livestreamed daily Mass twice a day Monday through Friday and once on Saturday and Sunday. An upcoming baptism class will be done online.

Planned drive-through confessions with two priests had to be canceled after the stay-at-home order, as were all such reconciliation opportunities throughout the archdiocese.

“We’re trying to keep as much going as we can. We’re willing to try anything and learn from others.”

Vatican and archdiocesan guidelines for Holy Saturday note that the Office of Readings and Morning Prayer on Holy Saturday may be livestreamed. The Easter Vigil may be held without the presence of the faithful only in the cathedral and parish churches and can be livestreamed or recorded at an appropriate time for later webcast.

The archdiocese will livestream all Holy Week and Easter services from the cathedral with Archbishop Lori celebrating. Parishes with livestream or recording capabilities are encouraged to livestream or record an Easter Sunday Mass During the Day.

In Fulton and Clarksville, Monsignor Luca said he believes most people understand the public health aspects of closing the church. “We want people to be safe,” he said.

The parishes are reaching out in ways they have not always done. Phone calls were made by a team of more than 60 parish volunteers to more than 1,200 people over the age of 70 in St. Louis and 210 in St. Francis just to let them know the parish cares about them. “With all these messages, we’re reaching some of the unchurched,” he said, and many people – especially shut-ins – are getting more communication from the parish than they ever did.

Many people have expressed how much they miss the Eucharist, coming to church and interacting at the parish. Parishioners are offering to shop for others who cannot get to the grocery store.

The parish offered drive-through confessions that drew 91 cars. One man who had not been to the sacrament of reconciliation in a while said, “It’s been 57,000 miles since my last confession.”

Monsignor Luca said, “We would have never thought of celebrating the sacrament that way, but the less formal way seems to be helping draw people in. People drive away with tears in their eyes. They realize their priest cares for them.”

The longtime pastor sees a silver lining: “God is using this horrible virus that we’re dealing with to bring out the best in us. Isn’t that what Easter is about?

“Good Friday is represented by the virus. Easter is represented by the good that people are doing. Our God is good to his people.”

 

For information on livestreamed services from the cathedral and other churches, visit archbalt.org/online-mass. For more on the archdiocesan response to the pandemic, click here. 

 

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