THE PASTORS ADVENT LETTER - CLICK HERE

Parish News 

We are currently allowing approximately 80 people entry to the church for the 9:00 Mass each Sunday. 

So that we can maintain proper protocols regarding social distancing, we will ask you to sign up online or by phone.  We will be registering those wishing to attend online by clicking here.

If you know someone who wants to attend and doesn’t have the internet, they can call the office at 978.774.7575 Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday and register there.

We would prefer not to tie up the phones, so please use the link if you can.

Please be assured that we are profoundly serious about maintaining the health and safety of our parishioners, staff, and volunteers.  We ask that you comply with our process if you are coming to Mass to help us with this.

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We strongly encourage people in vulnerable populations, especially the elderly and those with complicated physical conditions, to continue to watch Mass from their homes, LIVE on our parish’s Facebook page, our Website, and DCAT, or later in the day on our YouTube channel.

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What guidelines do parishioners need to observe while in church?

If parishioners can bring their own bottle of hand sanitizer to the church, they should. Otherwise, they can use sanitizer provided by the parish and positioned at the entry to the church.

• Everyone entering the Church will need to wear masks.

• There will be no social gatherings either before or after Mass.

• There will be no offertory procession or collection.  Please drop your donation in the basket upon entering or use our Online Donation app on our website.

• There will be no altar servers.

• The bathroom should be used only if extremely necessary, as we cannot disinfect it between users.

• Congregational singing will not be allowed. All hymnals and missalettes have been removed from the church. 

• There should be no holding of hands during the Our Father.

• There will be no invitation to participate in a sign of peace.
   

In the sanctuary, the priest, and the lector will respect strict social distancing. They will not wear masks in the sanctuary unless they are closer than 6 feet apart.

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For the distribution of Holy Communion:

• Communion will be distributed from the back of the church as you leave Mass. Row by row exiting, starting from the back, will be directed by the trained volunteers.

• Parishioners may well decide not to receive Holy Communion if they feel the risk is too high, and that decision will be honored and respected.

• The communicants and the priest will wear masks.

• Neither the priest nor the communicants should wear gloves during the distribution of Holy Communion.

• The priest will hold the consecrated host over the communicants’ outstretched hands and drop the host into their hands without touching their hands.

• Communicants will receive the consecrated host in their hands, exit the church, lower their mask, consume the host, and proceed to their car.

• In the case of unintentional contact, the priest will sanitize his own hands immediately.

As much as each of us wants to be in the Lord’s house once again and receiving the Holy Eucharist, we must not be selfish, and must continue to think of how we can help protect others from this pandemic.

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As a reminder, Cardinal Sean has continued the dispensation from the obligation to attend Mass for all Roman Catholics in the Archdiocese of Boston for the foreseeable future. 

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May God continue to bless you,