Please go to: https://vermontcatholic.org/covid-19/
Dear Parishioners of St. John Vianney,
Please note here on our parish website a copy of the August 7th Memo from the Diocese of Burlington about Governor Scott’s mandatory face covering order.
Prior to now, we stressed with great encouragement everyone in church should wear a face covering, of which extras were offered complimentary. However, the use of face coverings was still technically voluntary. However, our directives from the Diocese will be in keeping with the brand-new mandatory mask order of the state. A Memo from the Diocese on August 7th stated,
“In consideration of Governor Scott’s August 1st order requiring facial coverings/masks for indoor public gatherings and outside gatherings, Bishop Coyne is directing all parishioners to wear facial coverings/masks when entering and leaving church buildings, including for the celebration of Holy Mass.”
Although from week-to-week in Vermont it has seemed that there was little or no chance of an acute COVID19 “outbreak,” for which face coverings would be an absolute necessity to prevent spreading infection, all along it has been a most salutary practice (by spirit of both precautionary discipline and also of penitence) for those, who without obligation choose to attend Mass, to use face coverings consistently.
These precautions have been especially important when we wished to enhance and intensify our prayer with music, singing some of the Mass parts or a limited selection of song verses. As we continue with our precautions, both social distancing and mandatory mask wearing eliminate the risk of spreading contagions through ordinary respiratory droplets in the air, such as is more frequent when there is vigorous singing without face coverings. Whether or not our singing could have been called “vigorous” prior to this time, it has always been prayerful, and it lifts our spirits in ways sometimes much needed. We will continue our pattern of using song and chant in limited fashion during the holy Sacrifice of the Mass, all current COVID19 precautions being followed carefully.
A final note, while Vermont churches are now allowed to accept 50% of capacity, this is only for those churches that have pew spacing ample enough to allow uniform social distancing while “half” of seating capacity is used by households. A small expansion of the total allowed number per Mass might be possible, but as a practical limit we still cannot entertain any more than a third of our ordinary “seating capacity.”
In summary, if you attend public Mass in church, you must wear a mask throughout the Mass. (Regarding outdoor Masses, I would ask, if you plan to hear parts of the Mass without a face covering in the open air, you keep 16 feet of social distancing.) If you are searching for a worthy intention for which you could offer up the penitential aspects of these circumstances, I suggest they be born willingly in reparation for those who have committed sacrileges against the sacraments.
Let us pray to the Blessed Virgin Mary, assumed into heaven, for health of body and soul, for ourselves and for all those we love.
Sincerely, in Christ, with Mary,
Fr. Tim Naples
8/11/20
The following are highlights of the measures being taken in all our Catholic Churches to eliminate the risk of spreading COVID-19. You may download the full describption of policies on this page.