Ash Wednesday Mass Livestream!

Ash Wednesday Mass plus the Divine Mercy and a short reflection from Father John Adams will be live-streamed from our parish this Wednesday night!

Join us live at 6:55pm on Wednesday night at this link: https://youtu.be/iJER9pn7COk

Posted on the Catholic Diocese of Christchurch Facebook Page on Monday 15 February 2021

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

We have once again been affected by the practical realities of the Covid-19 virus. We firstly pray for those who are in the Auckland area and especially those affected by the latest outbreak in the community. Secondly, we recognize that going to Level 2 for us in the diocese has ramifications for the celebrating of Ash Wednesday.

Given the very short notice that we have been given and the challenges of putting this all in place I am asking that there be no public Ash Wednesday liturgies this year. This will indeed be a source of sadness to us given what this day means to us in our spiritual lives. However, it is one aspect of the day that cannot be celebrated, we can still begin our time of fasting, prayer and almsgiving. We can still commit ourselves to praying in particular for the graces of this Lent and to call into a church for prayer.

A short prayer resource will be sent out to parishes tomorrow that can be made available for people if they call into the church or for use at home. This will be emailed to you and also be put on the diocesan website.

We will continue to have weekday Masses on the other days of this week if current settings continue. If we remain at Level 2 after Wednesday, we will offer the online booking system for Sunday Masses as has been done previously. We will review this instruction if things change in the next 24 hours, either down or up a level.

Thank you for your understanding at this time. I know there will be people who are disappointed about this and so you will need to be able to encourage them to begin this Lent well and to acknowledge this time when we are required to sacrifice not being able to celebrate Ash Wednesday liturgically.

Yours in Christ

† Paul Martin SM

Coadjutor Archbishop of Wellington

Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Christchurch