Sterling parish prays for two days

By Tanya Connor | The Catholic Free Press

    More than 250 members of St. Richard of Chichester Parish in Sterling responded to Bishop McManus’ plea for prayer about the coronavirus pandemic, according to the parishioner who coordinated the effort there.
    So they covered two days, instead of the requested one day.
    Bishop McManus had written to local priests, asking them to invite their parishioners to participate in a prayer initiative that would have someone in the diocese praying every hour from March 31 to Easter.
    Each parish was to choose a 24-hour period to have parishioners pray from home for “an end to the pandemic, the healing of the sick, the salvation of the dead and the protection if healthcare workers and those who keep the necessities of life flowing in our nation and throughout the world.”

    Cheryl Roy, the St. Richard’s parishioner who coordinated the sign-up there, said she learned of the bishop’s request when she saw The Catholic Free Press story about it on a friend’s Facebook page.
    “I said, ‘Oh, let me see if we can do it at St. Richard’s,’” Mrs. Roy thought.
    She got the go-ahead to coordinate it, and used SignUpGenius, a website which mothers like her frequent when arranging for activities, she said.
    “Here we are, stuck at home,” she said. “We can’t be together. … People could sign up for a 10-minute slot” to pray.
    She’d noticed that 150 people watched Sunday Mass celebrated by their pastor, Father James M. Steuterman, she said.
     “They were all really gung-ho about tuning in for Mass,” she said, so she figured they would want to participate in the prayer effort.
    Mrs. Roy said she and Erin Sikorski, who helps the parish with social media, sent The Catholic Free Press story along with St. Richard’s request for people to sign up for 10-minute prayer slots, or 20-minute slots from midnight to 4 a.m.
    “She sent it out at 6 p.m.” Friday, April 3, Mrs. Roy said. “By Saturday morning all the slots were filled and we had to add another day.” In all, 387 people were invited to take a slot, so St. Richard’s chose April 6 and 7, she said. She said 264 slots were filled over the two days.
    “I wanted to feel connected to a larger group,” said parishioner Sandra Foley, explaining why she participated. She said they can’t get to church, and she wanted “to try to contribute during this whole crisis.”
    She took two back-to-back slots around 5 a.m., before starting, from home, her stressful job with the state unemployment office, she said. She said she’s bombarded daily with people begging for help.
    “To do that prayer time and to pray for all the community-at-large – I thought it was a good way to start my day, to be part of something bigger than myself,” she said.
    “I felt blessed to join our parish family, praying as one group in continuous prayer around the clock,” said Carole Kinnee. “It is through our faith that we can fight the fear of this pandemic. This too shall pass.”
    “It really helped us feel a sense of connection … just to know someone was praying consistently” during that time, said Krystyjana Dwyer, whose family took two 20-minute slots between midnight and 1 a.m.
    She and her husband and children – a high school senior and first-year college student – sat together silently in prayer. This was the first time they had done something like this, she said.
    “It was very peaceful and meditative,” praying about the pandemic and contemplating the meaning of Easter, she said. “I would definitely recommend it to others, because I think it brings a sense of greater awareness and connection, connection with God … humanity and each other.”