Where can I attend a Catholic Good Friday Service this year during the Coronavirus (Covid19) Pandemic?

Many people are wondering if they can attend Good Friday services or related Church services such as Holy Thursday Mass or the Mass on Easter Sunday in person? The answer is that almost everywhere these events are being cancelled, churches are closed, etc. There is one slight possibility to attend a service in person. Wait till the end for that.

In the United States for example, almost all churches are closed. Some non-Catholic churches have tried to hold services and many were in violation of rules surrounding social distancing. They were sometimes visited by police to have the services shut down.

In Canada, pretty much all Catholic churches are closed during this time.

Some governors of the United States, for example Greg Abbott of Texas,  have declared Church services to be "essential" along with grocery stores and doctors' offices. Despite this however, both archdiocese in Texas - Galveston-Houston, and the Archdiocese of San Antonio have cancelled all Catholic services throughout the state.

I am not familiar with any place that is having regular Catholic church services. Some places have been innovating though, for example having drive-in Masses and using innovative ways to give confession.

There is one [weird trick]  possible solution to attending Mass in person. Maybe more than one possibility, but here it is. If you ever watch a live stream of a Mass or other church service, you may notice there is sometimes another person or people there. For example, I watched Fr. Mike Schmitz last night for Holy Thursday Mass and there were two other people there for the readings. They even received communion.

Even our live stream we have here in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada, there are individuals who read or sing, etc. for the priest. If you know a priest personally, you may be able to participate in this way.

I have heard some other "rumours" of people attending sort of clandestine services. Taylor Marshall mentioned on his podcast that he had attended a Mass in a barn. He did not disclose any specific detail. He said they took extra precautions and people were made to sit at least 6 feet apart.

A friend of mine mentioned attending a Mass service, but again indicated it wasn't publicized and was a private event.

There are some interesting possibilities there that some people have the ability to explore. But for the most part, unfortunately, Mass and other Catholic church services are cancelled around the world.

Ideas to Celebrate Good Friday During the Coronavirus (Covid19)

We are in an unusual time for the Church. Most of us as faithful Catholics cannot partake in the sacraments during this most holy time because of the Covid19 pandemic. In fact, the most holy days of the Church are currently occurring. Jesus Christ gave himself fully on the cross, a sacrifice in atonement for our sins. From this sacrifice, all graces of God flow, just as the blood of Christ flowed on the Good Friday where he was crucified.

For Christians, and specifically Catholics, this is the most holy time of the year. Jesus Christ dies and will rise again in 3 days. It is the central mystery of the entire Christian faith. Sadly, we cannot celebrate these holy days as we normally would: gathered together with other faithful during the Good Friday service as well as other events within the Church.

So what can we do in a time like this? How can we join ourselves more closely with Christ's suffering, death, and ultimate resurrection? I can share a few ideas. I highly encourage anyone who may have other ideas to share them in the comments section.

Good Friday Service
Good Friday Service (which is not a Mass since the Holy Eucharist is not consecrated) traditionally occurs at 3:00pm which is the time that Jesus gave up his spirit on the cross. If you are able, I would strongly recommend tuning in to a live broadcast of a Good Friday service wherever you are in the world. There are many available online. One that I have been watching has been Fr. Mike Schmitz who broadcasts various services from his personal chapel. I get a lot out of his powerful talks.

Here is a link to his channel (Ascension Presents). There you can find upcoming programming. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVdGX3N-WIJ5nUvklBTNhAw

Many local churches are also broadcasting at this time. In my own area, there are probably a half dozen churches doing such broadcasts, and this is not to mention broadcasts from priests' private chapels.

Stations of the Cross
Another Traditional observance by Catholics is the Stations of the Cross during Good Friday. In it we remember the events that happened during the Trial of Jesus, his passion and finally his execution on the Cross. This can either be done with one's family, alone, or along with others on a live broadcast on the Internet. I am not sure of any particular service such as this available on Youtube or other platform at the moment, but I will definitely be looking for one tomorrow.

Other Observances
Of course, other traditional Catholic spiritual practices can be done during this time such as reciting the Rosary, praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. Don't forget to practice silent prayer. Also, Good Friday is one of the most important fasting days of the Church's calendar. All Fridays are days of fasting and abstinence from meat, but in particular this is the case for Good Friday. Try to do something extra this year, particular in this climate of fear and uncertainty and inability to access the sacraments. At this moment, our prayers and fasting are more important than ever.

I wish you all a very holy Good Friday.

Please post your comments or ideas below. I look forward to hearing from you.

Baptism During Coronavirus (Covid19)

Should people be baptized during this pandemic? What considerations should be made when considering the appropriateness of this? What other areas must be explored?

Baptism is the entry into the Body of Christ, the Church. It removes the stain of original sin as well as any personal sin and fills a person with God's Grace. It is necessary for salvation as Jesus Christ himself proclaims in many parts of the Bible. A person cannot receive any other sacrament from the Church unless and until they are baptized into the Church.

Since baptism is necessary for salvation, it is of utmost important to provide baptism to anyone who so chooses or to an infant belonging to Catholic parents. But during a pandemic, other considerations must be made.

My input into this situation are just my opinion and do not reflect the teaching of the Catholic Church. If you disagree with what I am saying or would like to point out anything, please feel free to do so in the comments section below.

I believe in the case of an infant being baptized, discretion must be used as to whether to proceed during the Coronavirus. I can't say a blanket statement of whether a baptism should or shouldn't go ahead at this time. If a baby is in danger of death or is in ill-health, a baptism, in my opinion, would be highly recommended. It would be irresponsible to forgo it in this circumstance.

However, if a baby is perfectly healthy and has no major issues, it may be best to wait to have the child baptized when everything is back to normal. But I think this is a prudential judgment. Again, depending on the parents, some may feel it would be good to have a child baptized as soon as possible by a priest even in the current situation. Of course, this would require a very small ceremony, and the priest may take certain precautions such as not touching the child.

So again, it's a matter of prudential judgment.

What about in the case of a child who is in danger of death? According to the Church, baptism can be administered by anyone in cases of emergency. They must simply have the requisite intention (i.e. intend what the Church does vis-a-vis baptism) and use the correct Trinitarian formula. If these conditions are met, the baptism is valid.

The coronavirus pandemic would not satisfy the condition of a child being in danger of death and thus allow emergency baptisms to be performed. That is because although there is a pandemic in general, a particular child may not be at risk of death whatsoever. The lack of availability of the sacrament of baptism throughout a particular diocese likewise does not satisfy the conditions for performing an emergency baptism.

The same rules would apply in the case of an adult seeking baptism, otherwise known as catechumen. Catechumen can normally foresee the date of their baptism well in advance. If something like this pandemic breaks out and sacraments by and large are cancelled, they will probably have to make new arrangements to be baptized at a later time. Again, as long as they are not in danger of death, they may want to hold off on being baptized.

As mentioned in previous blogs, although certainly not a prerequisite, if a person were to opt to partake in a sacrament such as baptism, confirmation, or marriage during a pandemic, it is highly likely there would be very few people in attendance. In some areas it would be illegal. Again, although this is not an impediment to the validity or licitness of the sacrament, it is still a consideration as these sacraments as meant to be celebrated by the community and not in private.

What are your thoughts? Sorry I did not have the definitive answer, but I think it's up to each person and family to decide in their own individual circumstances with the help of God to whom they should pray when discerning. I would tell people not to become discouraged or disobedient to proper authority.

Please provide your thoughts in the comment section below. Until next time!

Great Video for those Struggling through this Pandemic without the Sacraments

Extreme Unction During Coronavirus (Last Rites)

In this time of pestilence (the Coronavirus aka Covid19), Catholics have been left wondering the best course of action and whether or not the sacraments will be available for their spiritual path. In the past several days, I have addressed many of the sacraments of the Church and I did a thorough explanation of whether or not particular sacraments ought to be offered in a general sense. If you haven't already, I recommend (of course I do) you take a look at those if you would like.

In terms of one's spiritual journey, no time could be more important than right before death. Our Catholic faith teaches that God is merciful and that a repentant sinner can be heaven-bound even if he confesses his sins at the last possible opportunity. Of course, there are conditions. It has to be a legitimate confession and contrition and determination to avoid those sins in the future. Also, according to our faith, depending on one's spiritual growth, upon death a person may require some purgation, or cleansing, of his soul which takes place in Purgatory.

In order to make the mercy of God as available as possible, one of the sacraments of the Church is extreme unction, also known as last rites. These involve the sacrament of penance wherein a dying person confesses his sins, prayers said for the person's soul, anointing of that person, and finally the reception of Holy Eucharist. The term "extreme unction" comes from the fact that unction is another word for the anointing oil, and it is "extreme" as in it is at one extreme (the end) of someone's life.

In the case of the dying person, if the Eucharist is their last on Earth, it goes by the name "viaticum" which comes from the Latin for "provision for the journey", which is exactly what it is. It is seen as the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ administered to a dying person which will accompany him into his life with Jesus Christ in heaven.

A person can theoretically receive the sacrament of last rites more than once, however, correctly understood, the sacrament is not meant to be generalized for people who are not in danger of death but are instead ill. The sacrament can be used for people who are mortally wounded (such as in battle), scheduled to be executed, or who are terminally ill and their death is imminent.

So, should the last rites be made available for the faithful during the outbreak of a viral contagion? I believe, if at all possible, that it should be. A person's eternal soul is something of great value. Eternity is forever and we cannot risk to have someone perish without the sacrament of confession. On top of that, they receive many graces and blessings from the ceremony of the last rites.

I believe there are many precautions a priest can take to protect himself while administering this most precious sacrament to a dying person. First of all, it is really only between the priest and the dying person. There does not need to be a large crowd surrounding the priest while he performs the ceremony. So people should maintain a safe distance away from the priest while he is giving the sacrament.

Secondly, the priest can use some personal safety procedures such as using a mask and/or gloves. Although this may not be ideal, given the circumstances, I believe it warranted. Plus, the efficaciousness of the sacrament is not affected by the presence of gloves or a mask. Therefore, there is no good reason to forgo these things.

Unless someone can bring up a valid reason as to why this should be allowed to occur, I believe every provision should be made to accommodate people in this extremely important time in their lives. With correct procedure, most pitfalls can be avoided, in my opinion.

I have been listening to an audio series on St. Charles Borromeo during an outbreak of the plague in the 1570s. He showed extraordinary courage in providing the sacraments to those afflicted by the plague at that time. He showed no regard for his own bodily safety and put himself at risk so that others could partake most fully in the grace that comes from Christ's sacrifice.

To illustrate the heroic virtue of St. Charles and his followers, in a book there is a powerful example of a man wishing to partake of Viaticum prior to death and what a priest did to make this a reality. Here is the excerpt (from the book Life of Saint Charles Borromeo
By John Peter Giussano, Aeterna Press):

A noble action which occurred at this time is worthy of record. The dead bodies carried out from the hospital of St. Gregory during the night were thrown into a public burying-ground adjoining, called the Foppone, in order to be ready for interment the following morning. On one occasion a poor wretch, not quite dead, had been cast out with the rest amidst a heap of putrefying bodies. Early in the morning the priest of St. Gregory's was passing that way to take the Holy Viaticum to some dying persons. At the sound of the bell, the poor creature raised himself upon his knees amidst the heaps of corpses, and turning towards the priest, exclaimed, "0 my father, for the love of God suffer me to receive the Holy Sacrament once more!" The priest did not hesitate for a moment but hastened to give the poor man the consolation he so ardently desired. After receiving his Saviour he laid himself down again, and a few minutes later he was called away with every reason to hope for a favourable judgment from Him with Whom he had united himself on earth. This action edifying in the dying man for his longing for the Bread of Angels, and in the priest for his charity amid so many plague-stricken corpses, was told from mouth to mouth and thought worthy of record by St. Charles himself in his little book called "A Remembrance for his Beloved People." 

To hear the full story, please go here and there is a multi-part series on Youtube.

Thank you for joining me with my exploration of this topic. Please feel free to add a comment below, it would really help me out. If you completely disagree, that's fine! Discussion is welcome. God bless.