REOPENING OF OUR ST. ANTHONY OF PADUA PARISH

Let us thank God that our Parish will be celebrating Holy Masses again as a parish community in the Parish Center on the first floor. We have chosen this place temporarily because it facilitates the cleaning required to avoid the spread of COVID-19.

We are happy that we are going to meet again and, together, we will praise the Lord. For us to continue meeting, we need to follow the guidelines and directions that we share below.

Regarding the number of people who can attend each Mass at the same time, the limited capacity indicated by the state is 40% of the total allowed of 350 people by the city of Chicopee. However, to ensure the social distance of six (6) feet we are limiting the number of people to 100.

WHEN:          From May 30, 2020 (Saturday)

WHERE:       San Antonio de Padua Parish Center – 1st floor

SCHEDULE: Saturdays 4:00 p.m. English * 6:00 p.m. Spanish

                        Sundays 10:00 am-English * 12:00 pm Polish

                        Tuesday to Friday 6:00 pm – English

The restrictions to continue in our Parish are:

• All parishioners must wear masks and put them on before leaving their vehicle.

• Bring your own hand sanitizer.

• The entrance doors of the Parish Center will remain open while we celebrate Mass.

• The use of the restrooms is on an emergency basis and limited to one person at a time.

• The holy water tanks will remain empty.

• We will place baskets at the entrance of the Parish Center so that the parishioners leave their envelopes and offerings upon arrival. We will not pass the baskets during the Mass for collections.

• Social distancing (minimum 6 feet) must always be met.  We ask to leave the chairs in the established place without moving them (marked with a red X).  Upon entering, begin to accommodate from the chairs in front of the altar without leaving empty spaces.

• At the moment, there will be no Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion nor altar servers. No Choir either, just an organist or guitarist and / or singer and a reader.

• The priest and deacon and those serving at each Mass do not need to wear masks in the sanctuary while maintaining a strict social distance.

• The procession with the offerings is omitted.

• There is no sign of peace. Stay in place to preserve social distancing.

• Communion will only be received in hand. If you are wearing gloves, please remove them to receive communion with dignity. Follow the arrows placed on the floor for traffic flow when receiving communion.

• At the end of the Mass, vacate the building keeping the distance and starting with the people sitting in the back seats. There will be no farewell greeting from the Priest.

We are making every effort to remodel the first floor so that parishioners with physical disabilities have access to the Parish Center and can participate in the celebrations.

We will continue to broadcast the Masses through our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/stanthonychicopee and on YouTube: https://youtube.com/StAnthonyofPaduaParishChicopeeMA (St. Anthony of Padua Parish Chicopee MA) or the televised Mass of the Diocese, the “Chalice of Salvation”. You may continue to send your offering envelopes by regular mail, deposit them through the mail slot in the Parish Rectory or the metal box outside the Parish Office or look in the Parish Bulletin for other ways to send your offerings. We will continue to send the Parish Bulletin to all parishioners weekly.

We continue with the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament through the window of the Parish House with new hours: Tuesday to Friday from 10:00 am to 5:00 p.m.

We will begin the Sacrament of Reconciliation on Saturdays at 10:00 am (June 6) in the lobby of the Parish Center. Only one person at a time in the confessional and wearing a mask.  Everyone else and while waiting outside the building must respect the social distancing or you can also wait in your cars.

Our Little Store for religious articles is closed to the public. To make your online purchases visit our website www.stanthonychicopee.com/shop. We will notify you when and how you can pick up your purchases.

For all parish matters, please contact the Parish Office by leaving a message at 413-992-8233 or sending an email to info@stanthonychicopee.com. At this moment, the office is not open to the public.

We love you and continue to pray that we will soon return to celebrate the Eucharist without any restrictions.