Last Mass Today

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Horton

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We have a noon Mass on Fridays and today was the last Mass until further notice. I was able to attend Mass today and receive the Eucharist. It was a blessing but sad to think I really don’t know when we’l be able to celebrate Mass again as a community.

Our church will remain open during the day for private prayer, devotions and adoration but no Mass. The priests will offer confessions but haven’t quite figured out how it will work.

It just seems strange to say “last Mass”.
 
Yes. Haunting.

…Father McKenzie, writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear. No one comes near.
…Father McKenzie, wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave No one was saved.
 
I don’t think we have to worry about our priests becoming like Fr Mackenzie any time soon. If anything they have too much work right now trying to keep their parish ships afloat with a skeleton crew. We must pray for them.
 
redal said:
The Mass and the Church will persevere.
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This is true. The priests are still saying all the scheduled Masses, whether people are allowed to attend them or not.

It’s not really so different from the Middle Ages when the priests said the Mass behind the rood screen or, where there was no rood screen, they said them in a little church and just about everybody attending stood outside in the church yard and didn’t receive Holy Communion.
 
On Tuesday our diocese cancelled Mass until further notice. We were told that churches should be open at the usual time for private devotions but that all hymnals were to be removed from the pews, all surfaces disinfected before and after anyone was in the church, and that we had to oversee social distancing.

The first question, “Who the heck is going to do that?” The people who normally clean the church are the volunteer women of the parish whose average age is mid 60s. Our pastor’s health has been iffy for several months so we don’t want him with potential virus shedders if it’s not necessary. The average age of those who attend daily Mass is low 70s, most of whom have serious health issues.

So far we have 3 cases in our small town, a traveller and two of her domestic contacts. But, one of those exposed a number of people at the community college so I think it’s just a matter of time before we see a major increase in numbers.

I started my day with Morning Prayer with Divine Office, I’ll add Evening Prayer, and end my day with Night Prayer as usual. I attempted to watch Mass from our Cathedral but the FB feed was lousy.
 
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I know we will get past this. It is just such a strange feeling to not know when the next public Mass will be. It is such a way of life to plan around going to Mass and other religious functions. Fortunately our church will be open during the day for private prayer, devotions, and adoration.

We have some of the youth coming in the church in small groups to disinfect the surfaces such as the pews and books.
 
While not the “Last Mass” It is still unsettling to think … I’m thinking on my next days off I may just go and sit on the stairs of the church and in a way sit with Christ. Say a prayer for those who have died alone, families that lost loved ones as well as medical workers pushed to their limits to save lives

Stay safe all
 
Eventually I “attended” Mass celebrated by the priest who had been a deacon for 6 months in our parish many years ago and whom I haven’t seen since. He’s now a military chaplain and live-streamed Mass from his Base Chapel in Alberta, Canada. I let him know I had finally “attended” a Mass he was celebrating and we had a great little chat online.
 
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