Four days of Christmas? Not twelve?

Four days celebrating the Mass of Christmas Day!

A brief survey suggests that many people hope to come to Mass at St. Anthony's and at St. Paul's Chapel this Christmas. How wonderful! Happy news!

Practical problem: we still have limited seating capacity. Therefore:

We will continue to celebrate Christmas Mass during the weekend after Christmas, to give people more options and, hopefully, to spread things out a little. Here is the complete schedule:

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2020

• 5:00 P.M. - Mass of Christmas Eve - St. Anthony's
• 8:00 P.M. - Mass of Christmas Night - St. Paul's Chapel
• 10:00 P.M. - Mass of Christmas Night - St. Anthony's

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2020

• 9:00 A.M. - Mass of Christmas Morning - St. Paul's Chapel
• 10:00 aA.M. - Mass of Christmas Morning - St. Anthony's

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2020

• 5:00 P.M. - Mass of Christmas Day - St. Anthony's

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2020

• 7:30 A.M. - Mass of Christmas Day - St. Anthony's
• 9:00 A.M. - Mass of Christmas Day - St. Paul's Chapel
• 10:00 A.M. - Mass of Christmas Day - St. Anthony's

As you can see, that gives you nine Masses to choose from!

IN ADDITION -

On Sunday, December 27, Friar Bob will remain in the nave of St. Anthony's from Noon until 6:00 p.m. to distribute communion quietly. If you still should not attend Mass with crowds but desire communion, you may receive privately in this way. No reservations or anything, just come - although I do ask you to respect other people's privacy and to avoid creating a crowd. I believe that this is a more appropriate alternative than a drive-by communion service.

Is all this allowed? Yes. Actually, we have done this every year. In past years, we celebrated Christmas Masses at Northern Lakes and Lakeland (now Aperion) nursing homes and at Cameron Woods Senior Living Community some time between December 20 and December 29, as those home's schedule allowed. This year, sadly, the parish will not be able to celebrate Christmas Masses outside our actual church buildings - but we still have latitude to offer more Masses.

The survey suggests that the three Masses of Decemberr 24 will be the most crowded. If you are worried about crowds, please consider coming to one of the other six Christmas Masses. Thank you and God bless you. May the Lord of Life keep us all safe!

Fr. Bob


NOTES:

• Our posted capacities in keeping with covid-19 safety protocols are 215 people at St. Anthony's and 100 at St. Paul's.
• Bishop Kevin Rhoades has extended the dispensation from the obligation to attend Mass for an indefinite time ("until further notice"). Christmas is truly a holy day, a holiday, a happy day - but is not a day of obligation this year.
• You are, of course, free to come to as many of these Masses as you choose! If you come to a mass on December 24/25, you are very welcome at any Mass on December 26/27. We are hoping that attendance will spread itself out naturally so we never have to turn anybody away. Hopefully.
• This decision entails that we will not celebrate the Mass of the Holy Family this year.

COVID-19: OUR CONTINUED RESPONSE

In the readings for the Feast of Christ the King, the Lord God says:

I myself will tend my sheep.
On the day of dark clouds they got scared and ran.
I will rescue them from every place where they are hiding.
The lost I will seek out,
the injured I will bind up,
the sick I will heal.
(Ezekiel 34:12,16)

Right now it feels like we are still in the middle of "the day of dark clouds". The big, bad wolf of a coronavirus is attacking our county, our region with a ferocity not yet seen. So many of our parishioners have been quarantined, or are sick with covid, or love someone who is. We know the sun is out there, but the clouds are dark and threatening right now.

I cannot emphasize enough the power of prayer in times of trouble. St. Bonaventure (+1274) said, "When your heart is panting for peace, you must find a balance between intense prayer and caring for other people. ... There is no other way to find God but by opening your eyes in prayer." (Soul's Journey into God)


MASS CONTINUES -
NON-LITURGICAL ACTIVITIES SUSPENDED

On Wednesday, November 18, 2020 the Indiana State Department of Health officially placed Steuben County on condition red for covid-19 cases (link). 0.7% of the county's population is now infected, with hospitalizations and deaths mounting.


The pastoral councils, the finance councils and the staff of St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Angola and St. Paul's Chapel at Clear Lake conferred by email and came to the following conclusions:

• Mass will continue as before, keeping the present safety protocol.
• We will continue distributing communion as we have been.
• The daily rosaries will continue, in English at 7:30 a.m., in Spanish at 6:00 p.m.
• All other in person activities will be suspended for two weeks, from Monday 23 November through Sunday 6 December.
• Exceptions include:
  • Confessions on Saturdays
  • Necessary meetings of the St. Paul's Mens Group to carry out the Thanksgiving Solidarity Drive
  • The collection counters - although this will be limited to staff members only (Finance Council members, stay home and stay safe!)
  • The AA group on Saturdays - they will make their own decision to suspend in person meetings or not
  • First Friday devotions on December 4, although confessions that evening might be cancelled
• At the latest on Friday 4 December, Fr. Bob and the staff will decide whether to continue that suspension of extracurricular activites for another two weeks, that is for the period 7-20 December.
• Groups are encouraged to hold virtual meetings. Fr. Bob and the rest of the staff, as well as the Holy Tony Geek Squad, will be available to help groups use the Holy Tony Virtual Meeting Room (v.gd/HolyTonyRoom)
  

  

At his weekly press conference of November 11, 2020, Gov. Holcomb declared that Indiana is no longer in Stage 5 of "Back On Track Indiana". Covid-19 cases have risen alarmingly all over Indiana for the last seven weeks. The governor has issued a decision limiting indoor gathering to 25 people in counties coded red, and 50 in counties coded orange. As of Nov. 11, Steuben Co. was coded orange.

The new policy explicitly exempts churches (and other categories of buildings that are built to handle larger groups). In keeping with the guidelines of the Roman Catholic Bishops of Indiana, our restrictions remain, therefore, unchanged. Here is a summary of our current protocols:

• Limit of 215 for Mass at St. Anthony's
• Limit of 100 for Mass at St. Paul's Chapel
  
• Masks must be worn
  
• Public books (hymnals, missalettes) have been removed
  
• The holy water containers and baptismal font are dry
  
• There is no congregational singing
  
• The congregation does not bring up the gifts at the offertory
  
• The ushers are not taking up the collection
  
• We will not shake hands or hug during the sign of peace
  
• We will not hold hands during the Our Father
  
• Communion is offered only in the form of the host, and only in the hand
  
• We clean the church after each liturgy, and once a week a professional company fumigates
  
• The bishops have extended the dispensation from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass indefinitely
  

Thank you for your continued cooperation! Together, we can come through this time of trial to a time of rejoicing. Blessings!


Peace and all good,
friar Bob Showers OFM Conv.

an article by Friar Bob & Friar Ray

In bygone days, the parish bought a paperback missalette called Breaking Bread, which we used both as a hymn book and as a missal with the Scripture readings and prayers of the day. Since March of 2020, we have set those books aside because passing paper from person to person can easily spread viruses and other microorganisms.

 
Fr. Bob wants to urge all parishioners to invest in their own personal missal. Take your missal with you to Mass and take it home with you after. Read it. Use it. Make it part of your life. Reading the daily Mass readings is one of the best ways to deepen your spiritual life.
 
Now is a wonderful time to be alive! Some centuries ago, a missal weighed 40 lbs., it took more than a year to produce one copy, and the final product cost more than a house. Now missals are available in all sorts of formats and in all price ranges, including lots of good options for free. Here are some suggestions from Frs. Ray and Bob. This list is certainly not exhaustive – they list some of the easiest to find options. The friars divide the suggestions up into three categories

• Apps for tablets and smartphones
• Paperback popular missals
• Hardbound missals and Mass books

 

 
APPS TO USE AT MASS
 
You may notice that Fr. Ray uses an electronic tablet when he celebrates Mass, because of his bad eyesight. Fr. Ray recommends the app “iBreviary”. Four of the most popular Catholic Mass apps are:

• myParish/St. Anthony of Padua in Angola – this is our parish’s own app, and we have all the Mass texts on it! Our app is limited but easy to use. If you don’t have it in your phone, get it now! More about our parish app
• iBreviary – published by the Franciscans of the Holy Land, this app is aimed at priests and religious, so all the texts are here, including all the Catholic liturgical books. It takes some practice to use. More about iBreviary
  

• Laudate – a free app, quite popular. Lots of ads, though. It does not do well offline.
  
• Universalis – an expensive app, but all the texts are here, and many other resources. A desktop version is available. It does not do well offline. More about Universalis
  

 
All of these apps are available from Google Play, the App Store, or wherever you get your apps for tablet or smartphone. If you would like help with these or other apps, contact the parish staff at webmaster@stanthonyangola.com, and we’ll get one of our “Holy Tony Geeks” to help you!
  

 
MISSALS IN MAGAZINE FORM
 
Many people prefer having a booklet made of paper in their hand, so they can read the Biblical readings and follow the texts of the liturgy both before and during Mass. These are called “liturgical periodicals” and usually appear monthly. Here, in alphabetical order, are the three most popular one in the United States:

• Living Faith. Daily Catholic Devotions. – published four times a year by Bayard, the same publisher as the next magazine below. This little magazine (in stapled pamphlet format) concentrates on personal prayer more than public Mass. For each day, there is a meditation. The chapters and verses for the Mass readings are listed, but you must use your own Bible for the text. $15.00 per year. Also available in Spanish and in large print, and for the Amazon Kindle, the Nook and on the iBookstore. www.livingfaith.com
• Living with Christ. Your daily companion for praying and living the Eucharist. – published monthly by Bayard, a well-established Catholic publishing house. The paperback magazines are bound with glue. For each day, there is a brief morning and evening prayer, the Mass readings and a brief reflection. Each issue has the complete Order of the Mass. There is a special issue for Holy Week. $25.95 per year. www.livingwithchrist.us
• Magnificat – Has morning, evening and night prayer for each day, the Mass readings and prayers, a Gospel reflection by a recognized Catholic theologian, and a saint’s life. There is a monthly artwork with reflection, a hymn of the month and a Marian antiphon with a theological commentary, and various blessings, essays and prayers. This magazine seeks to be a complete spiritual companion but is perhaps a little harder to use than Living With Christ. $47.00 per year (which includes both the paper and the electronic edition). Also available in multiple languages, as a children’s version (Magnifikid), etc. www.us.magnificat.net

 

 
HARDBOUND MISSALS AND MASS BOOKS
 
Some people prefer the weight and feel of a real, old fashioned hardbound book instead of a magazine or an electronic device. In the 1880’s, the Benedictine monks introduced the “popular missal”, a book for lay people with all the readings, prayers and other texts of the Mass, in Latin and the vernacular, so everyone could better follow along. (See Fr. Bob’s blog on this, "Listen to the Music of the Angels"). You have to learn how to use an old fashioned book, of course, but it’s worth the effort! Here are a few readily available modern missals.
 
NOTA BENE: Be sure to buy an edition published 2010 or later, so you have the current translations of the prayers.
 

• New St. Joseph Sunday Missal. Catholic Book Publishing Company, app. 1600 pages. $20 - $40, depending on the binding. The complete 3-year Sunday cycle in one volume. Many of the prayers are repeated to minimize page turning. The sewn cloth edition includes beautiful full color illustrations. A large print version is available. A two-volume weekday edition is also available.
  
• St. Paul Sunday Missal. Daughters of St. Paul. About 2700 pages. $25 to $50, depending on the binding. Like the missal above, it has all the readings, prayers and responses for every Sunday and Holy Day of the three-year cycle, but this edition also has a meditation/commentary for each Sunday and a “treasury of prayers”, so that it is also a personal prayer book for everyday use.
  
• Daily Roman Missal. Our Sunday Visitor. About 2500 pages. $45 to $90, depending on the binding. This missal has both the three-year Sunday cycle and the two-year weekday cycle in one volume, plus many Masses for special occasions, including all the saints’ feasts, funerals, weddings, etc. Includes English and Latin side by side. 200 pages of devotions and prayers. A big, heavy book that can be used every day of the year for a lifetime.

It was a happy event: St. Anthony's congregation gathered once more to celebrate Mass on Saturday, May 23 and Sunday, May 24, 2020 - the Feast of Christ's Ascension.

How many?

Saturday at 5:00 p.m. = 59
Sunday at 7:00 a.m. = 88
Sunday at 9:00 a.m. = 89
Sunday at 11:00 a.m. = 32

IN TOTO = 268

Perhaps not the huge numbers from "the before times", but a good start.

On May 23/24, we will return to congregational Mass, but it will be with lots of restrictions (see article below). The question arises -- Is it a real Mass if there is absolutely no singing? Is it Catholic tradition to nod to people six feet away while wearing a mask? Is this the Mass I knew and loved?

I am convinced that the predominant feeling, when we gather for Mass again, will be JOY! Overwhelming joy! It is a happy, happy moment. Underneath the happiness, though, will be a feeling of "weirdness". So many things will seem odd, maybe just plain wrong. We might even wonder if the whole thing seems sacrilegious.

It is not. 

Two centuries ago, the Benedictine monk Anselm Schott OSB, the inventor of the missalette, used to say, "The most important part of every Mass is the part that GOD does. Every Mass is God's Mass, not ours."

This is a central Catholic teaching. The real Mass is the one sung in heaven by the angels before the throne of God (see Rev. above). The Bible makes clear - when we celebrate Mass on earth, we are participating, "indistinctly, as in a mirror dimly" (1 Cor 13:12), in the Eucharistic Feast of Heaven. Mass on earth is a valid Mass only if it participates in the heavenly liturgy. That is why there must be a validly ordained priest, real bread and real wine, and so on. As the 1st Eucharistic Prayer says,

The classic expression of this truth is the hymn Holy Holy Holy, verse 2:

Holy, Holy, Holy!
Lord God Almighty!
All the saints adore Thee,
casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea!
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Which wert and art and evermore shalt be.
  

The angels know what they're doing. We'll be fine.

Friar Bob
15 May 2020

For the Feast of Christ's Ascension, our parish - together with the entire diocese - will resume public Masses. There will be restrictions. I will update this blog post regularly as things change and develop.

NEW MASS SCHEDULE:

Saturday at 5:00 p.m., Sunday at 7:00, 9:00 & 11:00 a.m.
Weekday Masses resume on Monday, June 1, in the main church.
Spanish Mass resumes on Sunday, June 21.
Mass at Manapogo Campground still to be determined.

The new Sunday schedule allows proper time for cleaning and disinfecting between Masses. The schedule will be reevaluted after August 16.

Here is a short summary of the mandatory safety measures.

• There will be a maximum of 200 people per Mass.
• EVERYONE must wear a mask.
• Every other pew will be blocked off.
• In the pews that are open, maintain 6 feet between families.
• Handshaking and hand holding are suspended.
• Communion will be the host only, and only in the hand.
• There will be no choir.
• There will be no offertory.
• The collection will be taken up by different means.
• The church will be disinfected after every Mass, and fumigated weekly.

That sounds like a lot! This will definitely be a different experience of Mass. Who knows? Maybe we will learn something and grow from this!

Those who are particularly vulnerable - the elderly, those with underlying conditions, infants and small children - should consider not attending Sunday Mass just yet. Remember - the bishop continues to dispense you from any obligation to attend Mass. You might even consider attending a weekday Mass as your weekly Mass.

May the Lord continue to guide us.
friar Bob, pastor

Short answer: I don't know.

As Archbishop Lori has stated (see article below), the bishops will decide. In our case, Bishop Kevin Rhoades of the Fort Wayne-South Bend Diocese, our Ordinary, will decide. As of this writing - Monday, May 4, 2020 at 10:30 a.m. - we still await news from the diocesan administration.

Let it be said clearly: the Governor did not "open up the churches" again. He did not close them, he cannot open them, he claims no power to open or close them. The Indiana state government has consistently acted within the law.

On May 1, Gov. Holcomb announced a new policy called Back On Track Indiana. This plan foresees a gradual reduction of restrictions on public life during May, June and July of 2020. There are five phases. Today we begin Phase 2. That phase recommends - not orders - that religious institutions may consider, maybe, possibly, holding some liturgies again such as weddings and funerals, but only if there are fewer than 25 people present, no one over the age of 65 is present, no one is present who is sick in any way, everyone stays 6 feet apart in the pews, every other pew be left empty, there is no touching and no consumption of, for example, communion, and everyone wears masks. That's not much of a Mass!

So I am guessing that Bishop Rhoades will not start up public Masses again just yet. I remind you that Bishop Rhoades suspended all public Masses BEFORE the secular government issued a Stay at Home order, because it was the morally correct thing to do. As a Church community with a properly installed hierarchy, we will decide how and when to celebrate our liturgies for the good of the people.

So watch this space! As soon as the diocesan administration gives guidance, we will pass it on!

Thank you for your prayers and understanding, your wisdom and your patience. Patience is truly a virtue - and now is a time for virtue, not impetuousness. God bless us all.

__________________________________________________

UPDATE:

On Tuesday, May 5, 2020, Bishop Kevin Rhoades released new directives which foresee public Masses returning for the Solemnity of the Pentecost on May 31st. There may also be some (perhaps limited) form of Mass on the weekend of May 23rd and 24th. There is a lot of information to process. The parish staff will keep the parishioners informed as soon as we can.

by friar Bob Showers OFM Conv.

This article originally appeared in the pariosh's eBulletin for April 24, 2020

Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore has a clear message for people who think that the suspension of religious services is a violation of our religious liberty or is some sort of political plot: it is not. Even suggesting that it is puts life in danger and is therefore a sin.
 
Archbp. Lori used to be the chairman of the U.S. Bishops’ Conference Committee on Religious Freedom. He is still the leading member of the board of theological consultants for that committee. On Easter Sunday, Archbp. Lori made a statement with several points:
 
1. The bishops will decide
 
The archbishop reminds Catholics that it was the Catholic bishops who suspended public liturgies, not the civil governments. In many places, Masses were suspended before there were any stay at home orders. It is the bishops who will decide when public Masses will begin again. [For example, in our diocese, Bishop Rhoades suspended public Masses as of March 18, Gov. Holcomb’s stay at home order was not issued until March 23.]
 
The U.S. bishops make this statement not to show their power, but because they want to make clear that no earthly power is forcing us to suspend public events, rather Catholic morality compels us. “One of the overriding responsibilities of government is to keep people safe. This is a health and public safety issue. And this is not only a concern that the government has, it’s also a concern of the church,” the archbishop said. “The Church has to take steps to ensure that we are kept safe and healthy and those steps have to be reasonable, rational. We do not feel as though we have been forced into doing this by the government. We feel like we’re doing the right thing.”
 
This means that it is possible that, even after some local governments lift the stay at home orders, the Roman Catholic Church might decide to wait a little longer.

2. We are a Church of faith and reason
 
“We are a people of faith and reason”, Archbp. Lori said, and the suspension of public liturgies is “eminently reasonable”. Following government orders and guidelines to stem the epidemic “does not in any way attack or undermine our faith or our religious liberty”. The suspension of public Masses and other sacraments is happening “out of pastoral love for our laity, our priests and the people of our society”.
 
3. Good will come of this
 
Even amidst suffering, we believe that God can draw goodness out of any situation. Indeed, there is opportunity here to develop aspects of our Church life and tradition that otherwise are somewhat neglected. “In extraordinary circumstances, God’s grace nonetheless reaches us. And we can certainly draw upon this tremendous treasury of holiness and merit unto which the Church has access during this time as part of our faith always has been and always will be.” As Pope Francis says, “The Church has many resources in our rich tradition.” Now is the time to explore that tradition and make use of our spiritual richness!

Wayne Hellmann OFM Conv. is the minister provincial of the Province of Our Lady of Consolation of the Order if Friars Minor Conventual, with its headquarters in Southern Indiana. Our friars here in Angola belong to this province. Friar Wayne sent the following letter to friends of the Order:

Dearest Friends of the Friars:
 
In the most unusual way, probably for the first time in our Catholic history, we celebrate the holiest and most ancient days of our Easter Triduum by abstaining from gathering together as the People of God. Yet, this is the central feast of our faith: He is risen! Current global circumstances dampen the Alleluia of our Easter cry.
 
I personally remember with fondness and joy the several times I was privileged to participate in a celebration of the Easter Triduum in Rome, even the Easter Vigil Liturgy in St. Peter’s. And then came the excitement of Easter morning: thousands of pilgrims in St. Peter’s square for the Easter Urbi et Orbi Blessing. It was a wonderful witness of love for our rich tradition and love for festive celebration!

This Easter, however, both the spaces at St. Peter’s, inside and out, will be empty, shrouded in eerie silence. Heartbreaking!

Amidst steady rain, Pope Francis delivered his “Urbi et orbi” blessing to an empty St. Peter's Square during the coronavirus pandemic.


I mention St. Peter’s as a symbol for what is now the case in nearly every Catholic/Christian community on the globe. Yet, if we pause and think a little deeper, this situation for many of our fellow Catholic brothers and sisters is not new.

I think of Catholics in Japan who persevered and lived their Catholic faith for nearly 200 years without the Eucharist and without any public celebration. Or, in more contemporary realities, I think of Catholics in Amazonia who are deprived not only of celebrations of the Liturgy but also more and more deprived of their homeland and natural environment.
 
This impoverished reality includes so many others: for example, those who are aged and sick, but also Catholics of the Eastern Churches in Syria and the Middle East who continue to suffer incredible devastation. The list goes on.

Maybe this year we are called to be in solidarity with them. The majority of Catholics across the globe, even without a pandemic, are deprived of regular access to Easter liturgy. Are they thereby less Catholic?
 

Remnants of an Armenian Catholic church in Syria, 2018. Millions of Christians in the world are denied access to the Mass all year round.


The reality is that our liturgies and celebrations are vitally helpful for nourishing and sharing our faith, but we know God’s grace is not limited to sacraments. St. Peter’s is empty but nevertheless, even alone in the square, our principal pastor, Pope Francis, is there. He encourages us. He calls us to actualize the reality of our “domestic churches” within our homes. We can still open our hearts to enter into deeper communion within the whole Body of Christ.

During the Triduum this year, he encourages us that carrying " ... His cross means finding the courage to embrace all the hardships of the present time.” This accomplishes ultimately what our liturgical celebrations intend, namely, to open our hearts and “make room for the creativity that only the Spirit is capable of inspiring.” By that Spirit, “we uncover our common belonging, … our belonging as brothers and sisters."
 
Precisely therein is new life of fullness, joy of Easter sending us together on the way to Emmaus. I find solace in the pope’s example and in his words, especially for this Easter. For the first time in my memory, I am to be deprived of full assembly for the Easter Triduum. In case you may have missed Pope Francis’ prayer and encouragement, I have attached links to both. You may find them helpful. I did.

Prayerfully,

friar Wayne