(Editor’s note: Priests of the Diocese of Bridgeport may be separated from their flocks physically, but they are connected to them spiritually during this unprecedented crisis. Their message is a simple one: Christ is with us even in the storm … and he will never leave us. Here are some of their stories.)
Despite COVID-19, a parish stays connected
STAMFORD—As the coronavirus crisis was intensifying, Father John Connaughton, pastor of the Parish of St. Cecilia-St. Gabriel, received a call, asking him to anoint a parishioner suffering from COVID-19. When he arrived at Stamford Hospital, the nurse helped him put on a face shield, a mask, gloves and a protective garment, and only then did he enter the room to anoint the man, who was unconscious.
Almost overnight, his ministry changed. Other priests have had to stand by the door to pray with sick and dying patients, and many have only been able to talk with them by phone. When he returned to the hospital a few days later, Father Connaughton was not allowed to administer the anointing of the sick, and he expects he may not be allowed to do so again until the pandemic ends.
“Our biggest challenge has been trying to remain connected with people in the parish since there has been a forcible separation and no public Mass,” he said. “I have been trying to learn from the example of other priests how to maintain that connection as much as I can.”
To stay in contact with his people, he regularly puts spiritual reflections on the parish website, live-streams Mass and prayer services, and sends updates by email and text-message. He also leaves the church open during the week and on weekends so the faithful can visit and pray before the Blessed Sacrament. Baptisms and weddings have been postponed, and graveside services have replaced funeral Masses, with the expectation of holding a memorial service when the restrictions are lifted. The sense of loss is great.
“It is a painful thing for people not to be able to receive the sacraments and not come together in community and worship God,” he said. “We are no longer talking about how many people are missing Mass, but how much they are missing Mass. That is one consolation — to hear them express their sadness at not being able to come to Mass.”
At St. Cecilia-St. Gabriel, he emphasizes the importance of coming together to worship God and of developing a relationship with the Lord, two practices that complement each other.
“Part of the suffering right now is that we are not able to do that in a way we are accustomed to,” he said.
A regular part of the pastoral ministry for Father Connaughton and Father Mariusz Olbrys, the parochial vicar, is to reach out to their flock to see how people are doing.
“We are calling to check up on them. We have a big list, so it will take us a while to do it, but I’ve already received messages from parishioners expressing their gratitude for the calls,” he said. “It means a lot to them right now.”
Praying for his parish before the Blessed Sacrament
STRATFORD—On many mornings, Father Peter Adamski, pastor of St. James Church, finds himself on his knees at 3 am in the rectory chapel, praying before the exposed Blessed Sacrament and asking for the graces his parishioners need to confront the coronavirus crisis.
He also shares Jesus with his parishioners, who are invited to drive through the church parking lot and pray to the Blessed Sacrament, which is visible in the monstrance in a rectory window.
For Father, it is an enduring reminder that God is always with us.
“I know the Lord is not abandoning us,” Father Adamski says. “He can never do that because he is pure love.”
That fundamental fact of faith has made some of the challenges more bearable. Since the restrictions on public gathering were instituted, he has had several deaths in the parish. The first was a dear friend, who was in Bridgeport Hospital. Father was able to hear his confession, give him Viaticum and the Apostolic Blessing. A week later, he died. At the time, he said a funeral liturgy without a public Mass and later performed a graveside service at the cemetery.
There is an intense longing among his parishioners for a return to community worship and the sacraments.
“We have been getting lots of calls from people who have a longing in their hearts to be back in the community and to be able to receive the Blessed Sacrament,” he said. “Some of them are elderly and cannot come to confession.”
He explains to them how to make an Act of Spiritual Communion and an Act of Perfect Contrition, which requires that the penitent promise to go to confession as soon as possible.
“This practice has been done for centuries,” Father said. “You must promise the Lord that you will go to confession after this pandemic is over, when we can gather in the church again.”
The last time Father celebrated Mass publicly, he was able to distribute 500 holy cards with a prayer for protection against the coronavirus. They had just arrived that Friday. For him, the timing was providential.
When asked about the pandemic by anxious parishioners, Father says, “God is not punishing us. He is not a vengeful God. He is a merciful and loving God, and we need to turn to him now more than ever. We need to pray like we’ve never prayed before and ask him for his help and his peace.”
‘This is a time to make us stronger’
STAMFORD— God works all things for the good for our salvation … and all things include the coronavirus, Father Joseph Gill, parochial vicar at the Basilica of St. John the Evangelist, says.
“Everything that God allows is an opportunity to turn back to him with greater fervor. Our lives and our futures are in his hands, and that is something we can often forget in our technological world,” Father said. “Our lives and our world are in the hands of God, and nothing happens without his permissive will.”
Father has been encouraging people to make the best use of their time, and that means prayer, fasting, spiritual reading and growing closer to their families … rather than binge-watching Netflix.
“It should be a time that will make us stronger and a time to turn in on ourselves. People should reflect on their lives,” he says. “I’ve seen incredible spiritual proof that people are coming back to the faith after many years.”
He sees evidence in the confessions that he has heard on the front steps of the Basilica for several hours on Thursdays and Saturdays. Masses are live-streamed daily and on Sundays, which can have as many as 500 people watching from as far away as Ireland and Sri Lanka.
“One thing I have found very edifying is the Eucharistic hunger of people. They are asking, ‘When can we have Mass again? When can we have the Eucharist?’” he said. “I pray that their hunger is stoked and that it can grow.”
It is also a time for priests to reflect, he said.
“All my ministry ultimately flows from my union with Christ, so fasting and prayer for my parishioners is the greatest act that I can do,” he said. “It involves asking for God’s grace upon my people, so I have been spending a lot of extra time in prayer to bring God to the people. I have been getting myself out of the way to allow God to do his work.”
