St. Lawrence the Martyr Parish – Hamilton

Where faith builds community | 125 Picton St. E., Hamilton, ON L8L 0C5

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Published / by St. Lawrence Hamilton

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Masses and other updates from St. Lawrence during Covid

Published / by St. Lawrence Hamilton

Over the last few months we’ve endured a long closure and the slow reopening of our church for Mass. There has been a lot of work involved but our goal has been to open the church, following the best health guidelines available to us so that those attending can feel safe.

Following health guidelines has definitely had an impact on the capacity of our church. While the guidelines state that 1/3 capacity of the church is allowed, the need to provide 6 feet of space between families limits us further. For Sunday Masses we’ve been able to accommodate about 75 people . Unfortunately we have had to turn away a few people on some Sundays when we hit our capacity.

Our Mass schedule has been amended to allow 72 hours between our Sunday Mass and our first weekday Mass to reduce the amount of sanitizing and cleaning we have to do, but the church is being fully sanitized in between our weekday masses and we’ve reduced seating at those masses to also make it easier to ensure surfaces are sanitized. Even confessions have added complexity. They’ve moved to the sacristy with a screen to allow for social distancing and to keep a barrier between parishioners and the priest. After each person that goes to confession, the chair is removed, sanitized and a new chair is put in it’s place.

The St. Lawrence Choir has been reduced down to only our Organist, and a Cantor or occasionally one person on guitar and voice. Our choir misses their ministry to the church for certain.

We recently celebrated the Feast of St. Lawrence, an event that usually is attended by the Deacons of our Diocese (in recognition of St. Lawrence’s role as Deacon), and involves a Solemn Mass, a procession and a reception afterwards. Unfortunately this year we could not extend our invitation to the Deacons, and we could not have a procession, but we were very happy to welcome Bishop Crosby who presided the Solemn Mass.

The Covid restrictions have also had other impacts on the Parish. We have not been able to rent our hall so we’ve missed the various celebrations of weddings, baptisms, and other family milestones. Even funeral receptions are not possible – it is a difficult time to grieve.

Our friends at Vivere Sani have not been able to run their weekly senior’s bingo – This is a weekly event that many of the seniors really look forward to and we always enjoy them being here – we pray that they will be able to return soon !

As things progress, we will perhaps see restrictions loosened, or if things go the other way, we may see additional closures but whatever the outcome, we thank our parishioners and benefactors for the ongoing support of the church during the last several months.

St. Lawrence Mass Schedule

Published / by St. Lawrence Hamilton

We are pleased to say that Mass at St. Lawrence Parish has resumed! Thanks be to God. It should be noted however that things are not back to the way they were before the closure so we encourage you, before you attend Mass, please read the letter from Bishop Crosby regarding the opening

Sunday Mass is at 11:00 a.m. – Under current municipal By-laws, anyone attending Mass MUST wear a mask that covers their mouth and nose for the duration of the time they are in the building.

NB: Please do not attend if you have traveled outside of the country in the last 2 weeks, or if you have had contact with anyone diagnosed with Covid-19, or if you have any symptoms consistent with Covid-19.

Our weekday Mass Schedule will be as follows until further notice:

Wednesdays – 7:00 p.m.

Thursdays – Mass is at 7:00 p.m. ,with Adoration and an opportunity for Confession starting at 6:00 p.m.

Fridays – 9:00 a.m.

Saturdays – 10:00 a.m.

Letter from the Bishop regarding re-opening of churches

Published / by St. Lawrence Hamilton

ANNOUNCEMENT FROM BISHOP CROSBY
On Monday, June 8, 2020, Premier Ford announced the re-opening of places of worship in the Province of Ontario in accord with the current directives of the health authorities, effective June 12, 2020. The Premier further noted that there will be a capacity restriction (30%) during this initial phase of re-opening our Parish churches.

In order to ensure that all of our churches are prepared to open for personal prayer and for Mass, and that all the requirements for health and safety are in place, churches in the Diocese of Hamilton can be open beginning on Tuesday, June 16th for personal prayer and weekday Mass. They can be open beginning on Saturday, June 20th for the celebration of
Sunday Masses.

Pastors and their teams are presently preparing the churches to welcome parishioners. They are cleaning, and setting up seating and floor markings to ensure physical distancing, and installing sanitizers and signage to provide, as much as possible, a safe environment for all who gather in our churches for worship.

We look forward to this first step in returning to the celebration of Mass and the Sacraments. While we recognize that not all will be able to enter our churches at this time because of the capacity restrictions, or due to personal health concerns, or out of fear, we continue to pray for one another. For the time being, the obligation to participate at Sunday
Mass is suspended.

Thank you for your patience during these difficult times and for your support to the Pastors and Parishes. I appeal to all the faithful of the Diocese of Hamilton, to observe the directives of our health authorities and patiently observe the temporary changes in the way we celebrate the liturgy during this phase of re-opening our churches.

(Most Rev.) Douglas Crosby, OMI
Bishop of Hamilton
June 10, 2020