It was Friday, May 22, 2020, the Feast of Sta Rita of Cascia. We attended the 8:00 am Holy Mass at St Claire of Assisi at Surprise, Arizona. The church is a 30-minute drive from our place in Goodyear. As usual, few parking spaces for the disabled near the church entrances were occupied by a couple of cars.
The designated location of parking spaces for Person With Disability (PWD) is always planned near to every building, not alone in churches but in other establishments too. Cars found in the regular parking lots were few, which I believe belongs to churchgoers who will also participate in the same mass schedule. I do not belong to this parish but only came for the mass.
While walking towards the church, I noticed most landscape areas were tied up with yellow-caution tapes to prohibit crossing. These tapes look the same as the one used by the police in the crime scenes. The door on the right side (viewing the front) is open for our access until we reached the Narthex with two main entrance doors. There were entrance and exit signs on the side of the door.
Upon passing the interior door to the nave, I could see rows of seats also tied up of the same yellow -caution tapes that could bar persons from entering. There were two rows in between the row of seats allowed for seating.
Early churchgoers were already on their seats with probably an average of six feet ( 2 meters) away from each other. We sat on the last available row along the central aisle while hearing the leader saying ” the fourth sorrowful mystery of the Holy Rosary.” Most are seniors and the elderly. There was a family of three, and likely married couples sat beside each if not one seat apart. Almost all were wearing masks.
Some few minutes after the Holy Rosary, my maximum right peripheral vision noticed somebody standing at the back of the nave. He was the Presider of the mass, we waved at each other when I got to acknowledge him. He was not wearing a mask.
The bell sounded, and the priest started to walk alone in the central aisle. There are no altar servers nor a deacon in the sanctuary.
After the Collect, a reader from the nave approached the ambo for the First Reading until Responsorial Psalms.
The Preparation of the Gifts was carried out by the Presider himself. The wine and water and other liturgical vessels needed were already set in a place behind. I was not sure if it was placed on a credence table.
Communion time, Extraordinary Ministers came up to the sanctuary for the distribution of the Holy Communion. It was visible from my seat when one of the lady ministers took a hand sanitizer for her hands before taking the ciborium from the priest.
I knew extraordinary ministers were serving in other stations in front of the sanctuary but I only spotted two communion stations. Those who wished to receive the Holy Eucharist by the hand should proceed to the central aisle for the priest and a minister in front of the sanctuary. But for those to receive by mouth, should move to the right side where a kneeler was readily positioned.
Later, the Presider put back to their place all the liturgical vessels after communion. I noticed a lady opening the three doors to the Narthex one by one some minutes before the mass ends. Only to know later that the church had to close some minutes before the mass would start
Instructions to the assembly on the flow to exit were given after the Final Blessing. For those at the middle nave should pass the central aisle and use the main door, and those on the side naves should use the right side door where we first entered.
Yellow-caution tapes run along between the entrance -exit concrete pathways of the church and at the edge of the outdoor landscape leading to the roadway.
On their church website, parishioners are given all of the information about how to observe the safety protocol and address the risks brought by COVID-19. Below is a reminder from the website when leaving the church after the mass :
“Please wait until after the final blessing. We will dismiss one section at a time to help maintain physical distancing. Be aware that as you are leaving, others may be arriving to receive Holy Communion in the Narthex.
Be patient. This is hard on all of us. There is no perfect solution. It is new to all of us, and the staff and clergy are trying their best with a difficult situation. We will make mistakes, and we will learn from them.”
For more information please visit ( https://www.saintcofa.com/)
