In solidarity with the efforts of the government and the community to mitigate the further spread of COVID-19, the following new safety measures dealing with the celebration of the Sacraments in the Diocese of Calgary will ensure that our practices are in full compliance with the required restrictions of Alberta Health Services in response to the global pandemic:

• Places of worship are no longer exempt from the recommended restrictions on mass gathering. As of March 27, 2020, all public gatherings cannot have more than 15 attendees.  Depending on the size of the church space, this number may need to be smaller in order to observe the required social distancing requirements.  
• Apart from Funeral Masses, previously-scheduled weddings and baptisms, there are to be no other public gatherings permitted in the church. 
• Any event that expects to have international participants, involves critical infrastructure staff, seniors, or other high-risk populations, or is held in a space that does not allow for the recommended social distancing of at least 6 feet between attendees should be cancelled 

All Public Masses are suspended throughout the Diocese of Calgary for an indefinite period. 

• Weekday Masses will be live-streamed from St. Peter’s Church
  and recording can be viewed at our website: https://www.catholicyyc.ca 
• Sunday Mass will be live-streamed from St. Mary’s Cathedral with the Bishop as celebrant - on the diocesan website:  https://www.catholicyyc.ca ​

Funeral Masses & Wedding with Mass
Funeral Masses and Wedding with Mass may be celebrated in the parish church but attendance is restricted to the immediate family.  Funeral services without a Mass may be held in the funeral homes. Funeral receptions are prohibited.

• Sprinkling: When holy water is required for blessing, fill a clean vessel with fresh water. Bless the water either before or during the celebration. Immediately following the celebration, pour the remaining water down the sacrarium. You should not touch the water with your hands but use an aspergillum.  
• Sign of Peace: Refrain from shaking hands. A simple bow or “Peace be with you” to your neighbour is appropriate.
• Holy Communion: Holy Communion will only be distributed under the species of bread. Only priests are to consume the Precious Blood. Only priests may distribute Holy Communion to those who choose to receive on their tongue at a designated area apart from the main aisle. Those who choose to receive Holy Communion in the hand will be asked to approach the Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion or a priest who is not distributing Communion to those receiving o­­n the tongue. All ministers distributing Holy Communion, including the celebrant, should sanitize their hands before and after distribution. Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion who feel uncomfortable distributing Holy Communion at this time should be excused from this ministry. 
• Recognizing non-communicants: In accordance with diocesan policy, ministers may offer a brief prayer for those in the Assembly who come forward in the communion procession and who are not receiving Holy Communion, such as “May God bless you” or “May God continue the good work in you.” This prayer is to be offered audibly and may not be accompanied by the gesture associated with a blessing, e.g., the raising of the hand or the sign of the cross. The minister of communion should not touch the individual. See document.
• Hand Hygiene: Ministers of communion should sanitize their hands both before and after distributing communion.  
• Hand contact:  Avoid all hand contact. Individuals should not hold hands during the Lord’s Prayer.
• Gifts of Bread and Wine: Omit the procession with the gifts. Keep the gifts of bread and wine covered on the credence table in the sanctuary until they are to be brought to the altar.  

Sanitize Surfaces 
All high-contact surfaces in the church including but not limited to pews, door handles, liturgical items, hymnals and musical instruments, should be sanitized between services. 

Blessing with Holy Water 
When holy water is required for blessing, fill a clean vessel with fresh water. Bless the water either before or during the celebration. Immediately following the celebration, pour the remaining water down the sacrarium. You should not touch the water with your hands but use an aspergillum. 

Baptism​
Baptisms may still take place but modifications should be made to minimize physical contact between individuals or contamination of oils and water. 

• Water: Rather than at the baptismal font, a vessel of water should be prepared in the sanctuary beforehand. There should be a second empty vessel over which the water will be poured so that the water poured over the person being baptized does not return to the original vessel holding the blessed water. The priest should use a pitcher to pour the water, not his hands. Following the baptism the water should be poured down the sacrarium or into the ground.
• Signing with the Cross: The celebrant should sign the child without physically touching the child. The same can be asked of godparents should the parents prefer. 
• Anointings: Before the celebration a cotton ball should be dipped into the Oil of Salvation and placed oil-side-down in a separate vessel. This should be used to anoint the child on the breast. Another cotton ball with the Sacred Chrism should be similarly prepared and used to anoint the child on the crown of the head. Both cotton balls should be burned after the celebration. 
• Ephphtheta: The celebrant should bring the thumb near the ears and mouth but not touch the ears and mouth while saying the text.
  
  

​Sacrament of Penance
The Sacrament of Penance may be celebrated in a manner that fulfils the requirements mandated by Alberta Health Services:

• Confessions from behind a screen: the required distance needs to be maintained between the penitent and confessor and the confessional screens should be sanitized after each use. Due to the small space of some confessionals, it may be necessary to set up a separate reconciliation room to ensure the required distance between the penitent and confessor. The screen should still be sanitized after each use unless there is a distance kept between the penitent and the screen as well.  
• Face-to-face confessions: these are permitted as long as the required distance is maintained between the penitent and the confessor.
• There should be no physical contact between the penitent and the confessor.
• Public penitential services are prohibited.

​
Pastoral Care
Pastoral care ministers are to refrain from bringing communion to shut-ins. In health care facilities, ministers are to strictly follow the facility directives and protocols. Please forward requests for visitations to the priest.

​Anointing of the Sick
Anointing of the Sick may be celebrated according to the following directives:

• Only immediate family, if present, may gather with the priest and sick person.
• If confession is to be celebrated before the anointing, please maintain the required physical distance.
• Use a cotton ball to apply the oil for the anointing. The cotton ball should be burned later.
• If the person to be anointed is in a health care facility, the priest has the obligation to check restrictions in place in the facility.​

Lenten Missions
Only live-streamed Lenten missions are permitted.

Sacrament Preparation
All sacrament preparation in-person workshops or sessions are suspended. With parents being the first teachers of the Faith, parents are responsible for the formation of their children using the prescribed program materials and are to attest to the readiness of the candidates for the sacraments. If you have questions, please contact Huy Nguyen, 403-218-5547, huy.nguyen@calgarydiocese.ca or Dorothy Burns, 403-218-5503, dorothy.burns@calgarydiocese.ca.

RCIA
Formation gatherings with catechumens and candidates are suspended. The celebration of the rites of initiation and reception into full communion is postponed until a time later in the year to be determined by the bishop. More information will be forthcoming. 

Confirmation
The schedule for Confirmation will be reviewed and adjusted as necessary. More information will be forthcoming.

First Communion
Parishes may have to reschedule the celebration of First Communion. ​

Holy Week

• Mass of Chrism: Bishop McGrattan will celebrate this Mass with the Blessing of the Holy Oils on Thursday, April 9 at 10:00 am in St. Mary’s Cathedral. Once public Masses resume, a Mass of Thanksgiving will be celebrated by Bishop McGrattan with all the priests concelebrating and renewing their Priestly Promises. The Holy Oils will be brought in procession during the Mass and will be distributed to the parishes.
• The Paschal Triduum: Bishop McGrattan will celebrate Holy Thursday (7:00 pm Mass, April 9), Good Friday (3:00 pm Service, April 10), a simplified Easter Vigil (9:30 pm, April 11) and Easter Sunday Mass (10:00 am, April 12) at the Cathedral. 
• All these Masses and the Good Friday service will be live-streamed and can be accessed from the website of the Diocese: www.calgarydiocese.ca.  Weekday and Sunday Masses will continue to be live-streamed from the website as well.

Spiritual Communion
When we receive the sacrament of Holy Communion, “we unite ourselves to Christ, who makes us sharers in his Body and Blood to form a single body,” (CCC 1331). Those who are unable to attend Mass or to receive the Sacrament are encouraged to unite themselves to Christ in prayer through what is known as a spiritual communion. As Pope St. John Paul II explained in his encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia (no. 34), when it is not possible to receive communion it is beneficial to cultivate in your heart a constant desire for the Sacrament. This prayer from St. Alphonsus of Liguori can help you to make this act of spiritual communion:

My Jesus, 
I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament. 
I love You above all things, and I desire to receive You into my soul. 
Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally, 
come at least spiritually into my heart.
I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You.
Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.

Access to Churches
Parishes are asked to keep the churches open during the day so that individuals may visit and pray before the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle. However, groups are not allowed to assemble in churches. The number of people present in Adoration Chapels should be restricted so as to observe the AHS recommendations for social distancing.  

• NEW: Bishop's Letter re: Holy Week & Triduum 
  - in French | Spanish
  

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• Summary of Directives on Sacrament & Liturgies - March 24
• Download Directives - March 16
• Download Bishop McGrattan's Letter to the Faithful - March 16
• Download Decree - Dispensation from Sunday Obligation (to April 5). 

Prayer to Our Lady, Health of the Sick (Pope Francis) - PDF

• Letter Size Prayer 
• 2 in 1 Letter size Prayer
• PNG (square image files) - Image 1 & Image 2

Spiritual Communion  Prayer

• PNG - square image
• PDF - 2 in 1 Letter size 

The Diocese of Calgary continues to monitor the current situation in regards to the coronavirus (COVID-19) in the province through updates from the Alberta Health Services. As of March 9, the current overall risk to Albertans is still considered low by medical experts. Get updates from Alberta Health Services and learn about the actions being taken to protect the health of Albertans here: https://www.alberta.ca/coronavirus-info-for-albertans.aspx  

Here are general guidelines that were distributed to parishes on March 3. Please note that this is a proportionate response according to AHS risk assessment of the situation as at that date in the province.

General guidelines during Influenza Season in the Diocese of Calgary

• Those who are ill or suspect illness should refrain from receiving from the chalice; Christ is fully present in each species.
• At this time, we share the Sign of Peace using the second option, a bow, instead of shaking hands.  ​In the dioceses of Canada, the sign of peace is given by a handshake or a bow. However, it is appropriate that each person offer the sign of peace only to those who are nearest and in a sober manner. (The General Instruction of the Roman Missal no. 82)
• Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion should practice good hand hygiene through frequent handwashing with soap and water and/or the use of alcohol-based rub (ABHR) and find a replacement for themselves if they are not feeling well.
• All the faithful are encouraged to practise good hand hygiene for the sake of others.
• The obligation to attend Sunday Mass does not apply to those who are ill, especially those who suffer from a contagious illness; those with flu-like symptoms may choose to remain at home in order not to spread the virus to others. While televised Masses do not fulfill the Sunday obligation, those who are ill are dispensed from the Sunday obligation.​