Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church

A limited Mass schedule will return to St Mary this weekend.  No sign-up will be required, but there will be social distancing and masks required to attend Mass.  We will have a 5pm Vigil Mass on Saturday, then a 7am, 8:30am, 10:30am, 12:30pm, and a 2:30pm Spanish Mass on Sunday at St Mary.  We will also offer a 8:30am and 10:30am Sunday Mass at Holy Cross Academy using the boxes as we have the past month.  FOR MASSES AT HOLY CROSS GOING FORWARD, FOR THOSE AT RISK, WE WILL BE CONTINUING TO VERY STRICTLY ENFORCE MASKS AND AT HOLY CROSS COMMUNION WILL ONLY BE OFFERED IN THE HAND, SO IF YOU WANT TO COME TO MASS BUT WANT TO BE EXTRA CAUTIOUS, PLEASE CONSIDER HOLY CROSS.  There will be no sign-up required at Holy Cross starting this weekend.

In addition, our weekday Mass schedule will be resuming as normal on Monday June 15.  This means we will have a 6:30am, 9am, and 12pm Mass on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and a 6:30am and 9am Mass on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Daily Mass on Saturday will be at 9am starting Saturday June 20.  Social distancing and masks will be required for all Masses in the church.

The church will be sanitized after every Sunday Mass, as we have had at Holy Cross the past month.  This means when Mass is over, please leave promptly so the cleaners can wipe down all the surfaces.  Ushers will still be giving directions and seating people, please continue to give them respect and comply with their requests.  Please remember to leave 6 feet between people coming in and leaving Mass.  Because of the continued need for social distancing, the seating capacity will be greatly reduced.  No standing room will be provided.  Please arrive to Mass early.

Our streaming Masses will continue at 9am in English every weekday and Saturday for the foreseeable future, and at 8:30am on Sunday.  As always, they will stream on our Facebook page.  Click the link here to see the Mass Streaming Page.  A dispensation from your obligation to attend Mass remains in effect.  If you feel even a little unwell, or are in the high risk group, are the caretaker or live with someone in the high risk group, or feel apprehension about going out in public until the pandemic has passed, then please take advantage of watching the Mass on our live stream.

Dear Folks,

The sign up for the next week’s masses can be found at the bottom of this post.  Please read the following rules before signing up:

1. SIGN UP IS FOR SATURDAY AND SUNDAY ONLY FROM NOW ON–NO SIGN UP NEEDED FOR DAILY MASS ANYMORE. For the 12pm Daily Mass on Monday through Friday, we will no longer require a sign-up.  Instead we will be doing first come, first serve, until the building is full.  We have enough spots for 42 ‘households’.  We encourage you to arrive for daily Mass early.  If all the spots are filled, we will be turning people away for that day.
2. PUBLIC MASSES ARE AT HOLY CROSS ACADEMY: 250 Stafford Lakes Parkway.  This is to maximize possible attendance, allow for greatest health safety, and ensure we are able to abide by the directives from the bishop and governor for re-opening.
3. MASS TIMES ARE MONDAY THRU FRIDAY 12PM, 5PM SATURDAY, 8AM, 10, 12PM , AND 2PM BI-LINGUAL ON SUNDAY.
4. DO NOT COME TO MASS IF YOU FEEL UNWELL, OR HAVE FELT UNWELL IN THE PAST 14 DAYS. Even if you think it is only allergies, you could potentially put the health of your fellow parishioners, volunteer staff, and priests at risk if you come to Mass and don’t abide by this regulation.
5. EVERYONE MUST BRING A MASK AND WEAR IT AT ALL TIMES EXCEPT WHILE RECEIVING COMMUNION.
6. IF YOU ARE FROM A REGION IN PHASE 0 (NO PUBLIC MASSES PERMITTED YET), PLEASE DO NOT SIGN UP AND COME TO PARISHES IN PHASE 1.  This would put everyone at risk.  Traveling to different region to attend Mass defeats the whole purpose of the quarantine.
7. YOU WILL BE SIGNING UP FOR a ‘BOX of SEATS’. To keep with the social distancing instructions, and in order to accommodate the largest number of people, we have divided the school gym into taped-off sections.  One Box = One Spot = ‘One Monastic Cell’ = seating for One Houshold (2, 4, or 6 chairs).  You are not required to keep social distance from the people you live with, so the boxes allow us to seat households together.  If you are coming as an individual, please don’t hesitate to sign up for one ‘box/spot’, and have your very own space.  Likewise a family of seven would need to sign up for 2 ‘boxes/spots’ (of 4 chairs each) to have sufficient chairs and safely social distance.
8. DON’T SIGN UP AND BRING FRIENDS INTO YOUR BOX.  That would violate the CDC’s social distancing guidelines.  If you don’t live in the same abode as the person, don’t bring them into your box.
9. PLEASE RESPECT THE USHERS.  If the ushers give you an instruction, it is because of the governor and bishop’s guidelines that we are responsible for enforcing in order to open up.  Everyone who comes to Mass has the right to their good health and to ensure this as best we can, we enforce the best practices and rules that we sent to us by the relevant authorities.  If you cannot or choose not to abide by these rules, then please watch Mass on Facebook at home.  The dispensation from attending Mass is still in effect for all people in the Diocese of Arlington, whether your parish has re-opened or not.  The link to the FACEBOOK LIVE STREAMS IS HERE.

The Link To Sign Up to attend Mass in Person is HERE

St Mary’s will be closing the church and canceling Adoration every night until the curfew is lifted.  Right now the curfew is schedule to end on June 8.  The 5pm Mass on Saturday at Holy Cross will still be celebrated for those who signed up.