INTRODUCTION

We are very blessed and grateful to be able to be returning to the public celebraton of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. This extended hiatus has been a strain on all of us, and now we will begin to slowly transition to being able to gather once more at the altar to worship our Lord Jesus. We continue to pray for bigger and brighter days on the horizon. 

At St. Peter the Fisherman Parish we are committed to ensuring a safe return to the celebration of public Masses. In order to maintain everyone's safety, we will follow the guidelines set forth by our bishop, which are in compliance with the CDC guidelines for the state of Maine. Those guidelines are outlined below, and we expect everyone to do their party by choosing to comply with them when you come to Mass. Since the guidelines are not optional, failture to comply with them may result in the loss of one's reserved seat. Should you be blessed with good health, please comply with the guidelines for the benefit of those who may not share the extent of your blessing.

Please review the guidelines below, and if you have any questions, please feel free to contact Fr. Philip at the church office (207-255-3731) or by email. May God bless us and continue to care for our family of faith.
 

CURRENT MASS SCHEDULE
(subject to change):

Wednesday (Holy Name, Machias) @ 8:30 am

Thursday (Sacred Heart, Lubec) @ 8:30 am

Friday (St. Michael, Cherryfield) @ 8:30 am

Saturday (St. Timothy, Campobello) @ 3:00 pm (EDT)
Saturday (Sacred Heart, Lubec) @ 4:30 pm

Sunday (Holy Name, Machias) @ 8:30 am
Sunday (Holy Name, Machias) @ 10:00 am
Sunday (St. Michael, Cherryfield) @ 8:30 am
Sunday (St. Michael, Cherryfield) @10:00 am
 

*** Through the duration of the COVID-19 threat, the Mass schedule above is the Mass schedule the parish will be following.  Only when the threat is fully removed, or when further instruction is given, will we revert to the original Mass schedule. There will be an update given to all parishioners prior to this happening. Until then, we will follow the Mass schedule above for the indefinite future. 
 

GUIDELINES FOR RETURNING TO MASS

SUNDAY OBLIGATION: The Sunday obligation to attend Mass remains suspended by Bishop Deeley. This means that if you do not yet feel safe venturing out from your home, you are not obliged to attend Mass. You may remain home watching Mass online or on your television. 

LIMITED ATTENDANCE: Beginning in June, we are able to have gatherings of up to 50 people, BUT the six-foot social distancing rule still applies. Therefore, due to the small size of our churches, once we apply the six-foot social distancing rule, we can accommodate less than 50 people per Mass. This is why we will use sign-up sheets for each Mass. This will help us maintain our limit and should prevent walk-ups from being turned away. Each person wanting to attend Mass is being asked to attend only one Mass per week in order to have enough slots to accommodate all of our St. Peter the Fisherman Parish parishioners. 

ONLINE SIGNUPS: The ability to sign up for Mass attendance slots will be available beginning May 29th. In order to guarantee a seat for a given Mass, you must sign up for that Mass on our website. Please visit the homepage for the link. Failure to reserve a seat may result in you being turned away at the door. We apologize for this inconvenience, but it's the only way we can insure a safe and fair opportunity for all who would like to return to public worhsip at this time. 

MASSES AT ST TIMOTHY FURTHER DELAYED: Masses at St. Timothy will not resume until Maine’s twoweek mandatory self-isolation for travelers is lifted. This means that Fr. Philip will not be able to travel to St. Timothy for Mass, as traveling back into the U.S. would require a mandatory self-isolation for two weeks; and St. Timothy parishioners will not be able to travel to Sacred Heart church in Lubec because they would be required to enter an immediate mandatory self-isolation for two weeks. Therefore, Masses at St. Timothy church will resume only after the travel restrictions have been lifted by Governor Mills. We are very sorry for the inconvenience. Until that time, Bishop Riesbeck will continue to suspend the Sunday obligation for St. Timothy parishioners. St. Timothy parishioners may continue to watch Mass online or on television until Masses can resume at St. Timothy.

FACE MASKS TO BE WORN: While parishioners are in the church for Mass, a face mask must be worn. However, when a parishioner approaches for Holy Communion, the face mask must be taken off. If you choose to wear gloves while inside the church, they must be removed in order to receive Holy Communion. The priest celebrant will not wear a mask during the Mass. Should you wish to receive Holy Communion on your tongue, we will ask you to wait and come up for communion last.

NO LITURGICAL MINISTERS: In order to comply with the six-foot social distancing rule, the only person in the sanctuary will be the priest celebrant. Therefore, the celebrant will fulfill the roles of server and reader, and he will be the only one distributing Holy Communion.

NO MUSIC AT MASSES FOR THE MONTH OF JUNE: For the month of June, at least, there will be no singing at Mass. We have been asked to remove the missalettes from the church since they cannot be easily sanitized.

ONE MASS PER WEEK: When we begin our transition to having Mass in June, parishioners are asked to choose one Mass to attend per week. This should give everyone a chance to attend a weekly Mass. We have roughly 200 active parishioners, and we will be offering 225 slots for Mass each week. Should this need to be adjusted, we will address this concern as we go.

WEEKDAY VS WEEKEND MASSES: As you know, Bishop Deeley is continuing the suspension of the Sunday Obligation for Mass until further notice. Furthermore, the Saturday Vigil Masses and Masses on Sunday will accommodate only 150 people for Mass. The remaining opportunities for Mass will be Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Therefore, we are asking those of you who are retired or not working to please consider choosing a Mass during the week to attend so that those who work and cannot attend a weekday morning Mass will have ample opportunities to attend Mass. Let's promote as fair a process as possible.

SANITATION: St. Peter the Fisherman Parish is committed to cleaning and sanitizing all of our churches prior to parishioners entering them for Mass. Our committee has outlined in detail a sanitizing protocol to be followed at each church. If you would like to read the protocol, please click HERE.

Thank you for reveiwing these guidelines, and if you have any questions, please contact Fr. Philip Clement. We thank you in advance for following these guidelines and helping to keep everyone safe and healthy. May God bless you.
 

CLICK BELOW TO SIGN UP FOR MASSES