Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
The announcements of the Prime Minister last night (confirmed by a message from the Cardinal this morning) mean that I will now close the Church building entirely. We had hoped to have the building open for private prayer but the new restrictions mean we cannot do that. Please note my careful use of ‘Church building’ there: the Church, the people of God, the community of faith goes on, even if the physical place of our meeting is unavailable for the duration of this pandemic. Our life of prayer continues; our caring for our neighbours continues. Clearly digital and electronic means will be an important way of supporting our community life during this difficult time. My intention is that once a week I shall send a e-newsletter like this one, which will take the place of our usual printed newsletter. If you have items for inclusion please e-mail me a short notice. The reasonable assumption is that all things which involve gathering of peoples and most Church activities are cancelled or postponed.
Distance, Digital and Spiritual Participation in Mass.
These circumstances oblige us to make the best of what is quite clearly not the best of situations. Not least, even though we cannot participate in mass in the way we would wish, we can read the readings of the day if we have a printed missal and offer prayer from our own homes in union with the Church. Amongst resources which can assist us with this are: https://universalis.com , http://www.wednesdayword.org and https://www.catholicireland.net/readings/ .
There are several available live-streams of mass: please see either https://www.churchservices.tv or https://rcdow.org.uk/news/how-to-participate-in-mass-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/ for many links and times.
In our own parish our current experimentation has so far been through two channels, either a live-stream via Facebook or recording the mass and posting it on Youtube. The quality of sound and picture is obviously better on the Youtube channel but there was something very moving on Sunday of all being together in real time. My intention is therefore to continue to offer a mix. I will post recordings of weekday masses on Youtube and hope to have those recordings uploaded by the usual times of weekday masses (7:30pm Tuesday and 9:15 am Wednesday, Thursday, Friday). However, I will again try to live-stream Sunday masses at 9am (bandwidth permitting). This pattern is not set in stone and we will keep it under review.
I would encourage you all to participate in this by making an act of Spiritual Communion.
Act of Spiritual Communion:
My Jesus,
I believe that you are present in this Holy Sacrament of the altar.
I love you above all things
and I passionately desire to receive you into my soul.
Since I cannot now receive you sacramentally,
come spiritually into my soul
so that I may unite myself wholly to you now and forever.
Amen
Food Bank. It is not completely clear how the food bank will be able to function during these restrictions but the need is very much there. The ‘pink box’ will be outside the sacristy door for any contributions you may be willing to offer.
Sacrament of Reconciliation. I am available to celebrate the sacrament of reconciliation, while observing the limits of social distancing. At the present time this is best arranged by appointment. I will give more information next week of how I may be able to be available for reconciliation in Holy Week.
Holy Week. Usually at this time of year we are seeking volunteers to prepare and assist with the Holy Week liturgies. 2020 is going to be very different from the usual. However, it would be very helpful to have contributions from you to our unusual keeping of the Triduum and Easter. Not least it would be very helpful to have video contributions from readers for Stations of the Cross on Good Friday and for the Easter Vigil. If you are willing to do this and have the technology to allow you to record yourself offering a station or reading a vigil reading (or singing a Psalm!) please let me know as soon as possible, and we can share out the readings between us.
Prayer with Pope Francis
Pope Francis has called on us all to pray with him on the Feast of the Annunciation. He addressed all Christians in Sunday:
Dear brothers and sisters,
In these trying days, while humanity trembles due to the threat of the pandemic, I would like to propose to all Christians that together we lift our voices towards Heaven. I invite all the Heads of the Churches and the leaders of every Christian community, together with all Christian of the various confessions, to invoke the Almighty, the omnipotent God, to recite at the same time the prayer that Jesus, our Lord, taught us. I, therefore, invite everyone to do this several times a day, but all together, to recite the Our Father this coming Wednesday, 25 March, at noon, all together. On that day on which many Christians recall the annunciation to the Virgin Mary of the Incarnation of the Word, may the Lord listen to the united prayer of all of His disciples who are preparing themselves to celebrate the victory of the Risen Christ.
With this same intention, this coming Friday, 27 March, at 6:00pm, I will preside over a moment of prayer on the sagrata of Saint Peter’s Basilica, before the empty square. I invite everyone to participate spiritually through the means of communication. We will listen to the Word of God, we will lift up our supplication, we will adore the Blessed Sacrament, with which at the end, I will give the Urbi et Orbi blessing, to which will be connected the possibility of receiving the plenary indulgence.
Rededication of England as ‘Dowry of Mary’
You will recall from the Cardinal’s Pastoral Letter of a few weeks ago, that the 29th March has been planned as a day to rededicate England to our Blessed Mother. Our parish plans were to have an act of rededication in our Church building. However, that is no longer possible. I would encourage as many who can to join in with the prayers that will be happening at Walsingham. These will include a live-stream of the act of rededication. More information and resources may be found at https://www.behold2020.com
May God’s blessing stay with you all. Fr Philip
St Thomas of Canterbury Royston 