Dear Parishioners,
Welcome back ! We are delighted to announce that, from Monday the 29th of June, we will resume public Masses on Monday to Friday at 10am in St. Mary’s Sandyford.
We will resume our weekend schedule on the weekend of the 4th and 5th of July, Mass times as follows:
St. Mary’s Saturday 6pm
Sunday 9am, 11am and 6pm.
St. Patrick’s 10am.
Our Lady of the Wayside 12 noon.
Under the current regulations we are obliged to ensure that social distancing and sanitising are adhered to both outside and within our Churches.
Our churches, because of their size, present a number of challenges so we ask parishioners to please take note of the following:
A reservation booking system will be operated to facilitate attendance at all Public Masses (Weekdays and Weekend) The number of seats available in each Church will depend on its size as follows:
St. Patrick’s, Glencullen – 36 seats.
Our Lady of the Wayside, Kilternan – 32 seats.
St. Mary’s Sandyford – 50 seats.
Each reservation is one per household (as those living together may sit together).
For reservations for all Masses in all three Churches, please go online to the parish website to access the reservation system www.sandyfordparish.org alternatively you may call the Parish Office on 2956414 between the hours of 9.30am to 12 .30pm strictly.
Due to the limited numbers, parishioners are encouraged to attend Mass during the week when possible and this will serve as a Sunday Mass. We encourage parishioners who feel safe and are well enough to do so, to attend Mass once a week, once every two weeks, or once a month. Please note that all parishioners are dispensed from the obligation to attend Mass at the moment. Those who do not feel the time is right for them should continue to avail of the Parish webcam.
A small group of volunteers will act as stewards at all Masses. This is to ensure and help to assist Parishioners to comply with social distancing and sanitizing and taking their designated seat. As our Church aisles are very narrow, it will be essential for Parishioners to follow the direction given by the stewards.
We are required to have only one entrance, clearly marked as such and one exit clearly marked as such, this is to ensure that there is no crossover between people.
Parishioners are asked to follow the signs that will clearly mark and highlight the one way system in operation.
All parishioners are asked to bring a mask to wear immediately upon entering the church for the celebration of Mass.
The distribution of Holy Communion will take place at the very end of Mass when the Priest will ask the stewards to invite people to receive Holy Communion one by one observing social distance.
Once Holy Communion has been received Parishioners are asked to leave through the marked exit promptly and may give their thanksgiving in the grounds of our Churches. Due to the narrowness of our aisles it is impossible to distribute Holy Communion in any other way at this time.
After Mass each Church will be sanitised and deep cleaned. Please note that the toilets will be available for use by request only.
All three Churches will continue to be open during the day for private prayer.
We will all need to change at least a little! It will take more time to assemble and be ready for Mass so come early! Sanitising at the doors will mean waiting in line, some people will wisely bring their own sanitiser and help speed up that process.
Regrettably parishioners simply cannot turn-up without a prior reservation for Mass at this moment in time.
It is important for people to understand that this is a time when we all have to work together and look out for each other by observing best practice. We thank you for your understanding and for your support and great generosity. We look forward to welcoming you back.
