CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19)
Further advice of the Irish Bishops
- All non-essential pastoral gatherings and meetings, such as formation gatherings, retreats and seminars are cancelled.
- All Confirmations are postponed until further notice.
- Every Catholic is entitled to a dignified Christian burial. Attendance at Funeral services and Masses should be limited to close relatives and must not exceed 100 attendees within the church building.
- Similarly, Church weddings and baptisms may be celebrated on condition that the attendance in church does not exceed 100 people.
- In these difficult and uncertain times, people find strength, consolation and hope in prayer Churches should remain open for prayer each day.
- In the current emergency situation, all are dispensed form the obligation to physically attend Sunday Mass. Parishes should inform parishioners of the local possibilities to participate in Mass via local radio and online. It may be possible for some parishes to facilitate attendance at Mass while still observing the health authority’s limit of 100 people.
- This is an occasion for all of us – especially in families – to pray more intensely for each other and especially for those who have succumbed to the illness. We should pray also for those at the frontlines – especially doctors, nurses and medical staff and other carers including clergy – that the Lord will protect them as they place their own wellbeing at risk in the service of all.
PRESENT LITURGICAL NORMS
- Please use the hands sanitiser provided in the Church porch.
- For the time being, holy water fonts will remain empty.
- With regard to the offertory collection, parishes are presently seeking an alternative to the practice of passing collection baskets through the congregation. We Acknowledge your continued generous contributions during this time to the upkeep of the parish.
- Having received Holy Communion, and before and after distributing, the priest and ministers should sanitise their hands.
- We ask that Holy Communion be received in the hand until the current crisis has passed.
St. John Damascene:
“Let us draw near with an ardent desire, and with our hands held in the form of the cross, let us receive the body of the Crucified One”.
St. Cyril of Jerusalem:
“When you go to receive communion go with placing your left hand as a throne for your right, which is to receive so great a King, and in the hollow of the palm receive the body of Christ, saying, Amen”
- At this time, the Sign of Peace is not to be expressed by hand shaking
- We pray for those who are worried, anxious or sick at this time