Archbishop Hebda and other religious leaders have continued to dialogue with Governor Walz regarding the restrictions on religious institutions and on today, May 23, they have reached a new compromise. Please see the attached letter for more information.
This will affect Nativity of Mary in two ways:
1) Our first Public Mass will be on Wednesday, May 27 at 8:00am (instead of the 6:00pm Tuesday Mass we had anticipated)
2) We will only be allowing 25% capacity instead of the 33% that we had initially planned for
**Please note that Governor Walz is slated to give to give an address on Tuesday evening (May 26), so things may change. We will do our best to keep everyone apprised as our situation continually evolves.**
Below is the original article we posted about returning to Public Masses:
RETURN OF PUBLIC DAILY MASSES
We will begin our first public mass on Tuesday, May 26th at the typical 6:00 pm time. Communion will be distributed ONLY to those who desire to receive it after the Masses. We will be observing our normal Mass Schedule which is as follows:
Monday: 8:00 am
Tuesday: 6:00 pm
Wednesday: 8:00 am
Thursday: 8:00 am
Friday: 8:00 am
Please take some time to familiarize yourself with the Phase II Procedures for Mass at Nativity.
All of the protocols for Sunday Masses will be observed at the Daily masses as well.
SATURDAY RECORDED MASS & SUNDAY PARKING LOT MASSES WILL CONTINUE
As strange as it may sound, with the announcement of daily Mass moving forward, we will actually not be having a Sunday Mass in the Church quite yet. We will continue to have our filmed Saturday evening Private Mass as well as the 9:30 am Sunday Parking Lot Mass. Thus our first Saturday evening in Church Mass is will be on the weekend of June 6th. We are doing this for a couple of reasons.
a). Firstly, we want to see how the weekday Masses go before we open it up to a larger congregation with more variables. If we cannot make sure that everything runs smoothly and is secure for daily Masses it is clear that we are not ready to safely have Weekend Liturgies. By having a week to evaluate and adjust protocols if needed, will make sure our first weekend Church Mass is truly safe and successful. It will also give us the needed time to get the appropriate volunteers that are 65 years old and younger (per the Archbishops request) and to have them properly trained to assist.
b). Secondly, we had scheduled work on the sanctuary floor that would take place the weekend of May 30/31, as we were not planning on being able to be open for public Mass until June. Thus, the flooring will not be ready for public mass the weekend of Pentecost. However, it will be ready for the weekend after! The work that is being done on the floors is funded solely by designated funds.
c). Finally, we do still have the ability to have a parking lot Mass which allows us to gather together. Although it is not ideal, at least it gives us the ability to gather in one place for Sunday Worship. Because there has been a relaxation in the shelter in place, you will be able to bring lawn chairs and set them out by your cars if you prefer to sit outside of your car for the parking lot mass, as long as you are observing social distancing with others that are not of your household.
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