Dear Sisters and Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish,
 
            Things are moving amazingly quickly! Just yesterday I sent out a Flock Note announcing that Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church would be open this coming weekend for private prayer and confessions. Then, last night, the Archdiocese announced that as of this weekend: June 13-14, churches in Orange County will be allowed to hold Holy Mass once again!
 
            I know that this is great news to so many who have been yearning to return to our place of prayer, and to receive Holy Communion. At the same time, we must continue to follow the guidelines set by the Archdiocese as the conditions for opening up again:
 
1.         We are limited to 25% of our seating capacity, which would be about 150 persons at one time. Certain rows will be closed off and markers will show where people can go while maintain social distancing. There will be separate sections devoted for individuals, couples, small families and larger families.
 
2.         When you enter the Church, you must be wearing a mask, keeping it on the whole time, except, of course, when you receive Holy Communion. You also must sanitize your hands when you enter, and someone will be taking your temperature to help reassure everyone that you are well.
 
3.         You may place your weekly contributions in the special box in the Gathering Space when you enter the Church. We will not be passing a basket around as we usually do. This is to help protect our ushers.
 
4.          We are not allowed to use the Missalettes or Song Books.
 
5.          There can be no physical contact at the Sign of Peace. Bowing or waving would be appropriate.
 
6.          Holy Communion will be offered only in the form of Hosts that have already been consecrated as the Body and Blood of the Lord. We may not share in the Chalice, and Communion can only be received in the hand, not on the tongue.
 
7.          We are not allowed to hand out paper Bulletins, but you can see our weekly Bulletin on the Parish website,
 
            There is another concern: after each Mass, we will have to wipe down and cleanse the Church and restrooms in preparation of the next Mass. It seems to me, though, that after the 10:00 AM Mass, there would not be enough time to have the Church ready for the 11:30 AM Mass. For this reason, we will not hold the 11:30 AM Mass this weekend, but will consider possibilities as we see how things turn out this weekend. After all, this is all new to us!
 
            That being said, we will follow this schedule for the Masses:
 
Saturday: The Church is open from 3:30 PM to 6:00 PM. Confessions will be heard in the Saint Joseph Room. Mass will take place at 5:00 PM.
 
Sunday: The Church is open from 7:30 AM to 12:30 PM. Masses will take place at 8:00 AM and 10:00 AM. Then the Church will be open again from 3:30 PM to 5:30 PM and Mass will take place at 4:30 PM.
 
I would also like to announce that beginning Monday, June 15, we will resume hold Daily Masses in the Priory Chapel, but instead of being at 7:00 AM, the Mass will take place at 8:00 AM. Seating in the Chapel will be limited to 10 people at a time. We would also ask the participant to refrain from entering the Priory and setting up the Mass: it would be safer for all to stay in the Chapel while the priest will prepare the altar.
 
Please be patient with all the new procedures and practices, knowing that is something strange for all of us, but the Lord, our God, is with us in bringing us back to life.