Following the directives of the Manitoba government, the bishops of Manitoba have now extended the suspension of public Masses until June 1st. The celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation, which had been set in the Archdiocese of Winnipeg for Pentecost Sunday, May 31st, will be pushed back to a later date.
From the Archbishop:
The month of May has, by long tradition, been dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary and, in a special way, to the praying of the Rosary. Earlier this week Pope Francis addressed the attached letter to all the faithful encouraging us to pray the Rosary. In the letter Pope Francis underlines that the current restrictions of social distancing could help us appreciate the spiritual importance of praying the Rosary together within the family. The Holy Father encourages "everyone to rediscover the beauty of praying the Rosary at home in the month of May. This can be done either as a group or individually: you can decide according to your own situations, making the most of both opportunities.”
In addition to encouraging all of us to pray the Rosary the Holy Father included two prayers to Our Lady that we can recite at the end of the Rosary. The first prayer is to the Protectress of the Roman People and the second prayer is especially appropriate during this time of COViD19.
I would ask all Pastors and Administrators to make this letter of Pope Francis known to your parishioners, encouraging them to pray the Rosary during the month of May.
The letter from Pope Francis with the 2 Rosary prayers is attached here. If you wish to print it, print it as a “booklet” flipped “short-side”.
From the Archdiocese:
On May 1, 2020, Most Reverend Richard Gagnon will Consecrate the Archdiocese of Winnipeg, and indeed all of Canada, to our Blessed Mother Mary. The Consecration will be live-streamed from St. Mary's Cathedral at 2:00 pm Winnipeg time, with the feed available on the Archdiocesan Facebook page and YouTube channel. To assist dioceses and eparchies with preparations for the upcoming Consecration to Mary, Mother of the Church, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) prepared a ritual and a specific prayer to recite during the act of Consecration.
Along with Bishops across the country, pastors, families, groups, individuals and other faith communities may likewise choose to join the consecration as part of the global effort to unite in faith and prayer in this most difficult time.
You can watch the consecration Friday at 2pm on the Archdiocese’s Youtube channel or Facebook page.
Archbishop Gagnon has extended the suspension of public Masses to May 18th.
I was wondering whether this week the Archbishop would tell us whether we should expect to resume public Masses the first Sunday in May—we are still presuming that public Masses are suspended up to and including Sunday April 26th—but I have the impression he doesn’t know the answer to that question yet himself. Like the rest of us, he is waiting to see how things develop and when the government eases restrictions.
A blessed Easter Friday to you all.
I’ve always wondered if it would be possible to celebrate an Easter Vigil in which one read all nine scripture readings, one sung all the psalms, and the only light was candlelight. Well, it turns out to be possible—too bad I had to experience alone. If I were to attempt it again, I should want more candles. And, more importantly, more people.
Christ has Risen! He has risen indeed. May you all have a blessed Easter season.
The April 15th Parish bulletin.
After publishing the bulletin I went and read again the statement of the Archbishop’s suspension of Masses: it says up to and including April 26th.
One of the upsides of all this quiet time this spring is that I’ve had a little more time and attention to paint. So far I’ve made a small icon of St Michael the Archangel. I haven’t been able to figure out the proper icon technique, so it’s not a true icon painted with egg tempera. But I do what I can in watercolours.
From the Archbishop’s office:
Parishes are asked to encourage their parishioners to place a lighted candle in their windows on Holy Saturday night. This is meant to be a sign of the Light of Christ which dispels all darkness and a gesture of our solidarity on this Holy Night.
Parishes whose churches have bells are asked to ring their bells for five minutes beginning at noon on Easter Sunday. This is meant to be an expression of our Easter Joy.
I would encourage you to invite your parishioners to pray the nine-day Divine Mercy Novena leading up to Divine Mercy Sunday, April 19, 2020. The novena would begin on Good Friday, April 10th. The intention of this Divine Mercy Novena will be for an end to the coronavirus health crisis in Canada and throughout the world. We include in our prayers the intentions of all health care workers and those who are struggling with the virus and those who have died. (you can find the Divine Mercy Chaplet on our Archdiocesan website: www.archwinnipeg.ca.)
Ste Rose Church hasn’t any bells to ring, I’m sorry to say, but the churches in Laurier and McCreary intend to ring theirs Easter morning and all the Sundays in Easter.
Ste Rose Church has blessed palms available. The church is open 10 am to 12 noon for private prayer. God bless you as you begin your meditations for Holy week.
The Archbishop intends to release a weekly report for the Catholics of the Winnipeg Archdiocese.
Salt + Light TV has made arrangements with Rogers, Bell, Telus, Shaw Direct & Videotron so that Salt + Light TV is available free of charge to all subscribers until May 1, 2020. Therefore, all subscribers may have access to televised Masses seven days a week. The channel number on each cable company that carries Salt + Light TV can be found at https://saltandlighttv.org/subscribe.