Dear Parishioners of St. Leo,
Now that we have received updated information from the Diocese of Cleveland concerning directives regarding Mass but also for the other sacraments and non-liturgical parish activity as well, I am writing this to bring you up to date on how we as a parish are dealing with the coronavirus.
The Celebration of Mass
As you already know, it was already decided to suspend all public celebrations of Mass and liturgies throughout the Diocese. I am celebrating Mass privately each day in our chapel (though no Mass is really ever “private” as we always pray with and for the entire Church), and I continue to offer these Masses for the individual daily intentions that have been made. So if you had a Mass intention scheduled for this month or next, please be assured that that Mass is still be offered for your loved one or for your particular intention. And of course included in my daily Mass are prayers for you and for all those affected in any way by our current health crisis.
Though the obligation to attend Sunday Mass has been suspended until at least after Easter, there are other ways that you can participate in this great prayer of the Church every day, but especially on Sunday. The diocese is now livestreaming a mass daily at 9:30am on the diocesan website, and the weekend TV Mass will be available on the diocesan website starting at 4 p.m. on Saturday. It can also be seen on Fox 8 WJW at 6 a.m. on Sunday. Those with Cox Cable can view the Mass at 11:30 a.m. Sunday on channel 45. Bishop Robert Barron, the popular evangelist who is an Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, is also live-streaming Mass on his Word-on-Fire website. EWTN also televises the Mass each day and has a video on their website along with the Mass readings for each day. Additional information on such virtual liturgical opportunities can be found here.
Prayer for ourselves and others, especially the greatest prayer we have in the Mass, is the most helpful way we can get through this present situation.
Will our church be open for personal prayer/devotion?
The Diocese has directed that our churches may remain open ONLY if we have taken necessary precautions to perform routine maintenance and can sanitize this sacred space. So we have decided to allow anyone to make use of our chapel area which we will have open from 9am until 3pm Monday through Friday, and from 9am until Noon on Sunday (we will be closed on Saturday). It will be closed at 3pm to allow sufficient time for us to clean and sanitize the chapel and bathrooms for the following day. Please enter the doors closest to the chapel area by the rectory office as these will be the only doors kept unlocked during this time. Since the tabernacle is in that space, it is a good place to come into the presence of the Eucharistic Lord for some quiet time, meditation and prayer. Please do not engage in unnecessary conversation with others for the sake of those who are there to pray. No books will be available as these would need to be cleaned after every use so be sure to bring any prayer books or reading material with you.
Office Hours
For the rest of this week, the rectory office will be opened from 9am until 7pm (Wednesday & Thursday) & from 9am until 3pm on Friday. We will update the office hours for next week soon. The office however will be closed on Saturdays and Sundays until further notice.
Confession
Confessions are to be listed to being in danger of death. We are not able to provide confession via technology. Please call the parish (216-661-1006) in the case of an emergency and danger of death.
Funerals
These are the directives of the Diocese regarding funerals at this time: If at all possible, it is recommended that a memorial Mass be scheduled at a time when the current restrictions are lifted. The Rite of Committal may be celebrated at the cemetery with immediate family members only, keeping in mind the call for social distancing. If a funeral Mass is celebrated, the attendees are limited to immediate family members only. Families are encouraged to make note in the published obituary that the funeral Mass and burial are private family-only events. Keep in mind the maximum number of persons in attendance according to government directives.
Holy Communion to the Sick and Homebound
We are urged to bring Holy Communion to the sick and homebound only when absolutely necessary.
What if I or a loved one is sick and needs the support of the Church at this time?
We are happy to speak with you or a family member over the phone and to join you in prayer. Please give us a call at 216-661-1006.
What about meetings and other gatherings at the parish?
All classes, sessions and meetings are to be cancelled regardless of the number of attendees/participants. This means that all scheduled meetings or gatherings at the Parish Community Center will need to be canceled. This includes the Video Series scheduled during Lent. Of course any money paid for the rental of the Parish Center will be fully refunded.
ParishFish Fry
We will continue to offer our Fish Fry this week but with take-out only. All future Fish Fry’s for this year will be cancelled.
Communication
We will continue to publish a weekly parish bulletin in pdf format here on our website and will have a few hard copies available in our rectory office. The best way for you to remain connected with the parish during this time is through regular visits to this website which we will keep updated as soon as new information is available. You can also keep track of news announcements through our social media such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and through our free mobile app for Android and iPhone. You can also subscribe to our free email service called Flocknote which is very easy to use. You can have bulletins, funeral announcements, news, etc. sent to you without you having to remember to check our website. I continue to remain busy each day in the rectory office but will always be available to you when needed. It is best to call (216-661-1006) but please know that I may not be able to get back to you right away due to scheduled appointments or the daily responsibilities that can be so unpredictable. But I will be happy to return the call as soon as I am able. You may also contact me via a text or call my cell phone at 440-670-2091. Most of the time I allow calls to go to voicemail as I get a lot of spam calls but feel free to leave a message. I will usually be able to reply to texts or emails faster than phone calls. My email address is jschmitz@leothegreat.org and again, I’ll respond as soon as I am able (I receive many phone calls, texts and emails each day and it can be a challenge to keep up!). But I’m always happy to talk to you so reach out when I can be of assistance.
Contributions
Finally, many have asked how they can keep up with their weekly contributions while weekend Mass is suspended. You can mail your envelope to us or drop it off at the rectory office (you can put it in the mail slot of the door if the rectory office is closed). But perhaps this would be a great time to sign up for our online giving. It’s called WeShare and is extremely easy to sign up. It gives you the option of donating one-time only or on a weekly or even monthly basis. You can change or stop it at any time. And if you don’t do technology or have a computer at home, we are more than happy to take care of this for you here. Just give us a call.
If you like the idea of online giving but are not interested in signing for WeShare, we hope to have something available on this website which will allow you to use a credit or debit card to make a one-time donation securely. Watch for the announcement coming soon.
Many churches (like businesses) will suffer financial losses during this time of social distancing so anything you can do to continue your contributions would be very much appreciated.
Conclusion
That’s a lot of information for you to digest but I hope it’s helpful to you. I want you to know that I pray for you daily (as I did before this health situation) and that we are here to serve you, especially during such challenging times. Please reach out to us for help.
Fr. James Schmitz, Pastor