Public Mass Guidelines

The plans for specifics regarding resuming public Mass at St. Agnes are currently being finalized. They will be posted here as soon as they are complete, likely early in the week of 5/31. Please read below for the guidelines that we will be following from the Archdiocese for a general idea of what things will look like.

General Points

• The obligation to attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation continues to be lifted during the Yellow Phase. You are not required to attend Mass at this time.

• Please stay home if you are sick.

• Please stay home if you are at higher risk of severe illness with COVID19.

Before coming to Mass

• Please wash your hands for 20 seconds using soap and water.

• Before entering the Church, please put on a face mask or cloth covering. Exceptions to this are “children younger than 2 years old, anyone who has trouble breathing or is unconscious, and anyone who is incapacitated or otherwise unable to remove the cloth face covering without assistance” (CDC Guidelines).

• Please do not come to Mass if you are sick or are at higher risk for severe illness with COVID19.

• Missalettes will not be in the pews during this period. You are welcome to bring your own missal/readings with you.

Entering Church and Finding a Seat

• Please respect social distancing of at least 6 feet within, while exiting, and outside of the church.

• Members of the same household, including families, do not have to maintain social distance with the people they live with. Families may sit together at Mass, provided that they remain 6 feet away from other parishioners.

• Specific instructions on how social distancing will be maintained in the church will be forthcoming.

• Paper worship aids will be available to pick up upon entering church.

 During Mass

• There will be no signs of peace during the Yellow Phase

• The Precious Blood will not be distributed at Mass during this time

• There should be no holding hands during the Our Father

Reception of Holy Communion

• Please maintain social distancing in the Communion line. Please keep several pews between yourself and the person in front of you while in line and when returning to your pew. At St. Agnes, we are working on finalizing our system of how we will distribute Holy Communion in our church given our unique architectural situation.

• During the Yellow Phase, the faithful are asked to receive Holy Communion in the hand as an act of charity towards your fellow parishioners

• Please remove your mask before receiving Holy Communion. More detailed instructions on how to do this will be given to you.

Exiting the Church

• At the conclusion of Mass, please exit the Church and proceed directly to your car. Please do not congregate for any reason.

• We will not be passing out bulletins at this time, but will have them sitting out on a table available for you to pick-up. Please take one with you or go onto our website to read the most recent bulletin with information from our parish.

• Please leave your mask on until you have exited the church and are away from your fellow parishioners.

Sanitation Measures

• The church will be sanitized in between each Mass. For this reason, there will likely be a change in the Mass schedule. Please make sure to check our website.

Live-Streamed Mass

• We recognize that at this time, it may not be safe for our parishioners to return to public Mass for a variety of reasons. You are still encouraged, however, to keep Sunday as a holy day. To assist you in this, we will continue to live-stream Mass from St. Agnes. Please check for updates on what our live-streaming schedule will be.