“All liturgical celebrations from now through April 30 are canceled, including those during Holy Week, the Paschal Triduum, and Easter Sunday.”
Those stark instructions are in the latest memo (see below) dated March 27 from Bishop Larry Silva to Hawaii Catholics in this time of the coronavirus pandemic, as the government prohibits all large and close gatherings.
“Priests are to celebrate private Masses,” the bishop added, “with only the liturgical ministers necessary, especially for the intentions of their people.”
He encouraged parish priests to “livestream their liturgies to their parishioners via social media platforms.”
The diocesan Office of Worship also on March 27 sent all Hawaii clergy a second, more specific memorandum concerning the celebration of Holy Week and Paschal Triduum. It is based on a decree from the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments of the Holy See promulgated March 19 in response to this health crisis.
Bishop Silva will be celebrating private Holy Week liturgies at the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace as best as he is able under the restrictions of “social distancing.” The cathedral will livestream the liturgies to a wider audience.
The bishop’s Easter Vigil Mass, 7 p.m. on April 11, will include the lighting of the Easter candle, the singing of the Exsultet, the recitation of all seven Old Testament readings, and the baptism of two parish catechumens. There will be no blessing of the Easter fire, normally done outside at the start of the liturgy. Three bowls of water will replace the baptismal font, one bowl for each catechumen and the third to sprinkle holy water with a ti leaf.
The two cathedral basilica catechumens will also receive the initiation sacraments of confirmation and holy Eucharist.
All other catechumens in the diocese originally scheduled to be baptized during the Easter Vigil, a total of about 180, will have to wait for a rescheduling of the reception of the sacraments.
Another new directive in the memo states that all “parish churches, chapels, oratories, centers, and missions are to be closed to the public through April 30, or until further notice.” An earlier memo had encouraged these buildings to remain open to the public for private prayer. The change is “based on the restrictions recently imposed by Gov. Ige.”
The church closures do not include parish or other Catholic-run food pantries or food distribution activities, the bishop later clarified as these “are essential services provided to those in need” provided they are using appropriate safety and health measures in the food distribution.
The memo also prohibits sacramental confession for the safety of the penitent and priest.
The memo encourages the faithful to keep the Lord’s Day holy through Scripture reading, prayer and spiritual Communion.
The diocesan Office of Worship, which coordinates the bishop’s liturgies, has been working with the cathedral staff and Bishop Silva in planning the observance of the Holy Week’s liturgies in this unprecedented time of the COVID-19 pandemic.
All of the ceremonies for this most solemn week, over which the bishop will preside, will be livestreamed at facebook.com/HonoluluCathedralBasilica or hictv.com.
Easter Mass to be shown on KHNL
Hawaii Catholics will be able to watch Bishop Larry Silva preside over Easter Mass during a special television broadcast. The bishop will prerecord the 9 a.m. Easter Sunday liturgy, which will be professionally shot and edited with closed captioning, to air on KHNL at noon HST on April 12.
“I envision all Catholic churches ringing their bells at the top of the noon hour as we begin,” said Jayne Ragasa Mondoy, diocesan religious education director, who helped arrange for the special broadcast.
The TV Mass is being added since special COVID-19 safety precautions led Bishop Silva to suspend public Masses in Hawaii during the pandemic. Having the Mass on KHNL will allow it to be seen on all islands and in places where only television is available such as in hospitals or care homes.
KHNL agreed to air the Easter liturgy for a reduced cost.
In addition, the Easter Sunday 9 a.m. Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu will be livestreamed.
The full memo from the bishop, released March 27, is as follows:
Peace be with you!
As we continue to adapt to a different way we live our daily lives, as well as to the way we worship during the rapidly evolving COVID-19 pandemic, our Diocese’s top priority remains the spiritual welfare, health, and safety of our faithful, employees, and the vulnerable of our community.
Our Governor has ordered a stay-at-home lockdown until April 30 in order to mitigate the effects of the virus and stop its spread. After consultation with my staff and the Presbyteral Council, I am issuing the following directives, which go into effect immediately:
- Parish churches, chapels, oratories, centers, and missions are to be closed to the public through April 30, 2020, or until further notice. (This is more restrictive than the last notice, which encouraged that they remain open, and is based on the restrictions recently imposed by Governor Ige.)
- There will be only one Chrism Mass for the Diocese on Thursday, April 2, at 7:00 p.m., but it will be celebrated in private with only the Bishop and the handful of ministers needed for the liturgy. The invitation of priests and deacons issued earlier is rescinded in light of new developments. The Office of Worship will see to the distribution of the
sacred oils to the parishes on all islands. - All liturgical and sacramental celebrations from now through April 30 are canceled, including those during Holy Week, the Paschal Triduum, and Easter Sunday. The obligation to attend Mass on Sundays is dispensed through April 30, 2020. [Priests are to celebrate private Masses, with only the liturgical ministers necessary, especially for the
intentions of their people. We encourage parish priests to live-stream their liturgies to their parishioners via social media platforms and to communicate to them the times of these services and log-in information.] - The celebration of the Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, First Communion) for the Elect, normally celebrated at the Easter Vigil, are postponed to a future day after the Covid-19 crisis subsides. A future date when these sacraments may be rescheduled will be announced by the Bishop.
- Parishes are invited to inform their parishioners of opportunities to view the Mass and other services via livestream or the parish’s Facebook. Daily and Sunday Mass are currently being livestreamed from various parishes in our diocese. For a comprehensive and updated list please visit our website at www.catholichawaii.org.
- The faithful are encouraged to keep the Lord’s Day holy. Some ways to do this include: reading the Scriptures of the day, especially the Gospels, praying with your families, and to joining yourself to the sacrifice of the Mass by making an act of spiritual communion.
- Sacramental confessions will not be offered, for the safety of penitents and priests. Confessions by phone or via the internet are not permitted. General absolution is not permitted, because it presumes a gathering of people. Because confessions will be curtailed during this time, the following should be noted from The Catechism of the Catholic Church #1452:
“When it arises from a love by which God is loved above all else, contrition is called ‘perfect’ — contrition of charity. Such contrition remits venial sins; it also obtains forgiveness of mortal sins if it includes the firm resolution to have recourse to sacramental confession as soon as possible.”What the Apostolic Penitentiary said about the Sacrament of Penance might be applied analogously to the Sacrament of the Sick: “Where the individual faithful find themselves in the painful impossibility of receiving sacramental absolution, it should be remembered that perfect contrition, coming from the love of God, beloved above all things, expressed by a sincere request for forgiveness (that which the penitent is at present able to express) and accompanied by votum confessionis, that is, by the firm resolution to have recourse, as soon as possible, to sacramental confession, obtains forgiveness of sins, even mortal ones.”The following Act of Contrition, sincerely prayed, might be used:
Father of mercy, like the prodigal son, I return to you and say: “I have sinned against you and am no longer worthy to be called your child.” Jesus Christ, Savior of the world, I pray with the repentant thief to whom you promised Paradise, “Lord, remember me in your kingdom.” Holy Spirit, fountain of love, I call on you with trust, “Purify my heart, and help me to walk as a child of light.”
- All funerals, weddings and baptisms should be postponed at this time until further notice.
- All Confirmations/First Holy Communions scheduled from now through April 30 are postponed. The Office of the Vicar General will contact parishes that need to reschedule once the “all clear” is indicated by the civil authorities.
Liturgies at which Bishop Larry Silva will preside will be private, with only the liturgical ministers necessary, but will be live-streamed for all to see at hictv.com or facebook.com/HonoluluCathedralBasilica. They are as follows:
• Mass for Fifth Sunday of Lent, 9:00 a.m.
• Lenten Penance Service (without individual confessions): Wednesday, April 1, 7:00 p.m.
• Chrism Mass: Thursday, April 2, 7:00 p.m.
• Mass for Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord: April 5, 9:00 a.m.
• Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper: Thursday, April 9, 7:00 p.m.
• Good Friday Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion: Friday, April 10, 3:00 p.m.
• Easter Vigil of the Holy Night: Saturday, April 11, 7:00 p.m. [NOTE: This is a long but very beautiful liturgy, with many Scripture readings and Mass, as a Vigil for the celebration of the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus.]
• Easter Sunday Mass: Sunday, April 12, 9:00 a.m.
• TENTATIVE, PENDING FURTHER NOTICE: Easter Sunday Mass: Sunday, April 12, 12:00 noon. Broadcast on KHNL, a Hawaii News Now Station and local NBC affiliate; virtual channel 13; digital channel 35; spectrum TV: channel 8 or 1008.
• Mass for Second Sunday of Easter/Divine Mercy Sunday: April 19, 9:00 a.m.
• Mass for Third Sunday of Easter: April 26, 9:00 a.m.
Our Lady of Peace, patroness of the Diocese of Honolulu, pray for us! Lenten and Easter blessings!
