NORTHAMPTON — In-person Mass resumed over the weekend in Catholic churches across the Pioneer Valley, after being put on hold for over two months to stop the spread of COVID-19. And for Arleen Murnane, of Florence, taking communion again was “totally life-giving.”
“To be back is totally indescribable,” Murnane said.
Murnane served as a counter for Sunday’s 8 a.m. Mass at Sacred Heart Church, part of Northampton’s St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish. Slightly fewer than three dozen people gathered inside the church for the service, the first of two at Sacred Heart that day.
Houses of worship were among the businesses included in Gov. Charlie Baker’s first phase of reopening on May 18, with those in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield getting the go-ahead from the church to resume in-person Masses at 4 p.m. on Saturday. Bishop Mitchell T. Rozanski ordered all churches in the diocese to close in March to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The Springfield diocese serves Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden and Hampshire counties.
The Rev. Francis Reilly, pastor of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, said that about about 50 people came to the first Mass at Sacred Heart. Speaking after the first Sunday service, Reilly said the process has gone smoothly and expressed satisfaction at seeing people back in church.
“The blood is back in the body,” Reilly said.
A priest in his 40th year, he said that seeing people back in the church was “like a husband seeing his wife back again.”
The bishop has extended a dispensation from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass, although would-be churchgoers are encouraged to say a rosary or watch Mass remotely if they do not attend in person.
Reilly said people who feel they are susceptible to the coronavirus should stay home.
“We don’t want to do anything to compromise your health,” he said.
Last week, Rozanski issued directives for reopening, stating that parishes would be allowed to resume public Masses on Saturday “only if they have provided the Office of the Bishop written assurance that they have met all the state, municipal and diocesan guidelines, and received a response giving permission to resume” and noting that some parishes could require more time to reopen. Among the guidelines and restrictions that were reinforced, along with mask-wearing and social distancing: no “sign of peace,” no communion by the cup (only communion in the hand), and the directive that Holy Water fonts must remain empty and covered.
Mass on Sunday at Sacred Heart featured numerous safety protocols in place. Those attending church wore masks and used hand sanitizer as they entered through doors that were kept open throughout the service. Attendees who did not arrive together were seated at least 6 feet apart and were taken to their seats by ushers. Communion was distributed at the end of Mass, as peo ple left.
These measures were implemented at Our Lady of the Valley Parish in Easthampton, although communion was distributed there at the regular point in the service; to ensure social distancing, 6-foot-long pool noodles were placed on the pews.
“It was a bit surreal with all of the safety measures in place,” said Tom Brown, who attended the church’s 8:30 a.m. Mass on Sunday.
Still, Brown, who went to church for Mass every Sunday before the pandemic hit, said that getting to attend Mass in person again “felt really good.”
“It’s sort of like going to visit a family member after you’ve been away for a long time,” Brown said.
Over the past couple of months while in-person services were suspended, both St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and Our Lady of the Valley served parishioners via streaming their services. The Rev. Douglas McGonagle, pastor of Our Lady of the Valley Parish, also noted that Our Lady of the Valley has provided videos of services to public access television for years.
“They’re happy to be back,” McGonagle said. “These are the parishioners that are at daily Masses.”
One congregant at Northampton’s morning Mass on Sunday who was not a regular churchgoer before the pandemic was city resident Mark Anthony Andre, who said, “It was where I needed to be.”
Andre said he felt compelled to enter the church as he walked by it the day before and saw people outside.
“I needed to get inside, I needed Him,” said Andre. “And then I came back here today.”
The Rev. Paul Norman, the parochial vicar at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, heard confessions under a birch tree in the parking lot of Sacred Heart Church before Mass on Saturday. Norman will celebrate his first year as a priest next month. Before becoming a priest, he worked as a nurse for around 20 years.
“I felt the Lord moving me from the call to take care of bodies to the call to take care of souls,” said Norman. “They’re so intimately connected.”
Norman said that the safety protocols in place for the in-person Masses made him feel as if his old career “was coming back into effect.”
“It’s nothing new for me to wear a mask and to practice infectious disease protocol,” he said.
Still, he said, the current crisis wasn’t something the church had prepared for.
“They don’t teach you how to deal with pandemics in seminary,” he said.
Norman said he has talked with friends in his former line of work who have seen a lot of devastation as a result of the pandemic, particularly in nursing homes.
“It’s a mixed baggage of gratitude for being here, but, yet, a desire to want to be there and be with the most vulnerable,” he said.
Bera Dunau can be reached at bdunau@gazettenet.com.