Churches open to joyful parishioners

By Tanya Connor | The Catholic Free Press

Marie LaPalm went to Mass at St. Stanislaus Parish in West Warren Saturday - armed with hand sanitizer, sanitizing spray, tissues, even a spare mask, for anybody who needed it.
“I am so excited!” she said, afterwards. “This is my birthday present to me. … I’m so happy to be here and to receive our Lord - in presence, not on TV. ‘Spiritually’ (as in Spiritual Communion) only goes so far.”
Sophie Starzyk, 89, walked – with her cane – down the street to the church.
“It meant everything … to talk to Jesus and hear him talk to me,” she said.
Father John F. Hamm, parish administrator, said he couldn’t have stopped her from coming to Mass.
“It’s sad to pray a Mass … in private,” he said of the previous several weeks, during which Bishop McManus had suspended public Masses due to coronavirus restrictions. After Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker said May 18 that churches could reopen, Bishop McManus set May 23 as the start-up date for parishes in the Worcester Diocese that were ready to meet safety requirements.
Father James S. Mazzone, pastor of St. John, Guardian of Our Lady Parish in Clinton, took that literally, celebrating a public Mass at midnight. He said he informed the police that at 1 a.m. May 23 the Hallelujah Chorus would be blasting out of church doors and windows, open to follow protocol.
The Mass was in honor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, “just because I think she’s helped us so much during this pandemic,” he said.
Thomas Boza, of Our Lady of the Angels Parish in Worcester, said he and about five others prayed the rosary there during the suspension of public Masses, when there was a 10-person limit on gatherings. When Father Charles F. Monroe, the pastor, celebrated his private Masses, they were allowed to stay.
Starting May 19, after the governor raised the limit to 40 percent of the capacity of each church, Father Monroe said, he let anyone who wanted to attend the weekday Masses do so, and the number stayed under 25.
He was concerned about accommodating the weekend turnout however, given the required six-foot distancing. If people were turned away he was prepared to offer Masses for them later, he said.
On Sunday he rejoiced that he didn’t have to face that yet. Observing the limits, the church could hold about 140 people at a time, plus 25 in the adjoining parish hall, where worshippers could watch the Mass livestreamed and receive Communion, he said. Attendance ranged from 33 to 57 per Mass, he said. He said he’d suggested that the elderly attend Mass during the week instead, when there are fewer people.
Father Patrick Ssekyole, pastor of Holy Cross Parish and St. Martin Mission in Templeton, said people had been calling and writing him saying they missed Mass and wondering when it would resume. When they returned last weekend they said it felt nice to be back.
He said he is keeping the same Lord’s Day schedule – three Masses at Holy Cross, and one at St. Martin’s – because they are two communities and because that helps him stay within the limits.
Father Enoch K. Kyeremateng, chaplain of the diocesan African Ministry, said the African community at St. Andrew the Apostle Mission and the Ghanaian community at St. Joan of Arc Parish, both in Worcester, will each have an extra Mass to keep worshippers safe and “care for their … souls.” Parents are afraid to bring their children out, but they have online Sunday school lessons, he said.
“Our Masses can last two-and-a-half to three hours,” he said. Now they will have hour-long slots but won’t have features such as congregational singing and offertory processions that take up more time.
St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Fitchburg can accommodate its African community with one Mass, he said.
A Facebook page for the North Quabbin Catholic Community said that, after careful consideration of the space at St. Peter Parish in Petersham, a tiny church, it was decided that Masses cannot yet be held there. For now, members can attend Mass at the other churches in the community, of which Father Edwin Montaña is also pastor: Our Lady Immaculate and St. Francis of Assisi, both in Athol.