By decree of the Archbishop, for reasons of public health and safety, all public events and Masses are cancelled to April 5th (Palm Sunday). In the words of the Archbishop:
“It is with regret that we must temporarily suspend all public celebration of the Mass and other gatherings of Catholics in the Archdiocese. This extraordinary step is being taken out of concern especially for the most vulnerable to the deadly Coronavirus in our families and our society and in cooperation with the requests made by those responsible for public health in our region, province, and country.”
A decision will be made in the coming weeks about celebrations for Holy Week and Easter. You can access the decree by opening the link below:
At Saint Clement’s, the church will be open at our usual mass times for private prayer, confessions, and visits to the Blessed Sacrament. Out of charity for the common good, anyone who feels in any way sick should stay home.
We will also make ourselves available for visits to the sick in emergencies.
Rest assured that the priests will continue to offer their daily masses privately for the good of souls.
Please unite yourself in spirit to our private masses with your families through the following of the daily readings, the recitation of the Rosary, and by making a spiritual communion.
You can be assured of the prayers of your priests at St. Clement’s as we face this extraordinary situation together.
Prayers of protection can be found in the posts which follow on our Home Page of the website.
Keep safe and pray the Rosary. Our Lady will surely help us if we invoke her assistance.
Let us pray every day as well the Memorare of St. Bernard (below):
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thine intercession was left unaided.
Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me.
Amen.
To keep this difficult decision in perspective, a similar situation happened with the Spanish influenza outbreak in 1918. For example, in the city of St. Louis, Missouri the city Health Commissioner shut down the city. This included schools, theatres, places of amusement and churches, anywhere where large crowds gathered. That earned him the ire of Archbishop John Glennon, who protested that decision; however, he soon complied and temporarily suspended the weekly Mass obligation for all Catholics. Busy downtown department stores operated under restricted hours, and public transportation was restricted as well. All of these actions resulted in St. Louis experiencing one of the lowest influenza rates of cities compared to its size. Of the 31,500 who got sick in St. Louis only 1,703 died. By contrast the city of Philadelphia, which went ahead with the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in support of the war effort — ignoring warnings — had one of the biggest death tolls of the Spanish flu, with over 16,000 deaths and 500,000 people sick.
The Archbishop’s decision was not made lightly. He is truly concerned for us. He very much enjoyed his recent visit to our parish, where he Confirmed 44 souls with a beautiful Pontifical Mass. As we continue our Lenten observances, it is an additional cross for us to be sure. As your pastor, I ask you to please accept it in a spirit of penance. At the same time, I would remind you all of the importance of sanctifying Sundays especially through family prayer, the Rosary, and by reading the Sunday readings from your missal at home, followed by an act of Spiritual Communion. Prayers for Spiritual Communion can be found on another post on our website. I also have some daily prayers for protection posted on the website, invoking the Precious Blood of Jesus.
Let us pray that this extraordinary situation be short-lived, so that we can gather together as a community once more very soon.
Information on the approach of the city officials of St. Louis Missouri during the influenza crisis can be found here: