We need Volunteers to help us at our Saturday Vigil Mass at 6pm and our 3 Sunday Masses (8:30am, 10:15am and 12noon in Polish).

We are looking for people you can commit to help with

1. Acting as welcoming stewards and pointing out seating to parishioners at the start of mass.
2. Helping with Cleaning the church after the service to make it safe for the next one.
3. Acting as stewards to help with people coming up to Holy Communion
4. Acting as stewards for people leaving the church after mass.

If you can help then please let Kathleen Jones know by emailing or use the form below so we can add you to our rota.

• Here are the general Mass times from 4th July to 11th September 2020 taking place in our parish church St Swithun’s RC Church Southsea.
• Please note Father Marcin is away from August 3rd until 11th September so no daily mass will be available during this time.
• All Saturday Vigil Masses and Sunday Masses will be covered for this whole period.
• NO MASSES WILL BE SAID AT OUR LADY OF LOURDES CHURCH as this will remain closed until it is safe to open.

General Mass Times

• Unfortunately we are not able to reopen our chuch of Our Lady of Lourdes for the foreseable future.
• This is due to the social distancing guidance.
• The Church ‘s small size and layout prevents us from being able to adher to the safety requirements.
• We will be reviewing this in September once we know a lot more on the pandemic itself and have new guidance from our Bishop Philip and fellow Bishops.

• We are limited by the government guidelines which have been changed to reflect the 1 metre distant rule.
• We have laid out the church to adher to this.
• Our estimates are that we can accommodate around 130 to 150 people safely within our church.
• The aim is to have ushers who will greet parishioners and advise where to sit.
• We are asking families and famiily groups to sit together and we will advise them to sit on the side benches as opposed to those in the middle aisles.
• Seating has been clearly marked.

Why not consider attending the Vigil Mass on Saturdays (6pm) or the 8:30am Mass on Sundays?

• Our 10:15am Mass is very often full with families as it was our parish children’s mass. Our 12noon Polish Mass was also full.
• One of the ways you can help is to consider coming to one of the other masses so we can fill our church sensibly and safely. So why not try one of the other times if you can.

• It is parish intention to continue screening all masses and services via our facebook pages as we have been doing during the pandemic lockdown.
• Father Marcin is keeping this option under review as well as we currently have a number of parishioners who are unable to get to mass due to illness etc.

you can view them daily on our facebook page

https://stswithuns.org.uk/latest-videos-watch-live-or-replay/

As we will be introducing some new safety arrangements for our Saturday Vigil Mass and Sunday Masses – we would ask all parishioners if you can arrive on time so that we may safely seat you within the church.

Remember this is also an opportunity to reflect and renew our communion with God and spend more time with him.

LITURGICAL INSTRUCTIONS

The following general norms are to be observed when celebrating public Masses:

• Avoid all physical contact: suspend the sign of peace
• No congregational singing: use cantors and the organ only.
• No offertory procession: bring the gifts from the credence table
• No offertory collection; take donations in a specific place (i.e. a basket in the centre aisle)
• The Priest should wash his own hands at the Lavabo
• Except during communion: the priest should not wear a mask

NOTE about Kneeling:

• The kneelers are taped up in line with government regulations, therefore please either sit or stand during the Holy Mass itself
• If you are kneeling you may be too near the person in front of you.
• Also it will help with cleaning of the church

Kneeling during Holy Communion:

• When you go up to receive Holy Communion you can stand or kneel on the altar if you wish.

Thank you for your understanding and Keep safe.

From 4th July 2020 Churches will be able to open for public Mass subject to the following guidance:

• At least one metre distance between people at all times
• Stewards should be placed on the door to manage the flow of people in and out
• Limit numbers based on capacity with 1m between seats
• Provide hand sanitiser at the entrance, and clean the church between Masses.
• People to be encouraged to wear facemasks during Mass
• No Hymn books or shared materials; instruct readers to avoid touching the Lectionary

• Hand sanitiser stations will be provided at the entrance of the church as well as other places within the church itself.
• Parishioners are encouraged to use hand sanitiser whereever possible.
• The priest will always sanistise his hands thoroughly before any distribution of holy communion.

We have rearranged the pews and seating within the church to give our parishioners maximum safety based on the guidance rules for 1m social distancing.

• Seats have been pushed together to restrict close seating.
• We recommend not kneeling so the kneeling parts have been taped off.
• Aisles have been created on both sides of the church to allow for greater distancing.
• Seating has been clearly marked with “SIT HERE” signage.
• Pathways have been clearly marked to show the 2m rules and ways to move around the church

• When you and your families arrive at mass, our stewards will ask you to consider sitting on the benches in the end aisles on either side of the church.
• This is due to the restricted numbers we can accommodate at mass times.
• We would like to use our centre aisles for individuals and our older parishioners who will need to socially distance.
• We thank all parents for your understanding.

• It is our intention to clean the church after each service.

CAN YOU VOLUNTEER TO HELP WITH THIS TASK? 

• The guidance from the Diocese is that people to be encouraged to wear facemasks during Mass.
• However, during communion this will not be possible so facemasks will be removed.

Dear Parents…

I would sincerely ask you to help us keep our church safe for everyone.

As we all know and have experienced , our young children can roam around, eat, play games and so on during the Holy Mass.

This is a problem within the new guidance so I would humbly ask parents to ensure that their children don’t wander from them during the Holy Mass as this can lead to unintentional contact with other parishioners and potentially spread infection possibility.

Also this is a wonderful opportunity for children to better engage and be aware of the sacredness of the Holy Mass.

Also we will NOT be having the 10:15am Mass as a specific family mass due to the pandemic for the immediate future until this settles down.

So please consider coming to the 8:30am or Saturday Vigil Mass at 6pm if at all possible to spread our families around and allow for more parishioners to attend.

Thank you for your understanding. Father Marcin

The following general instructions for Holy Communion should be observed at all public Masses:

• 
• Only the priest should distribute communion.
• Only the priest should consume the celebrant’s host
• The precious blood should not be distributed to the people
• The people should line up single file for communion
• Hands must be sanitised both before and after distributing communion
• A one-way system should be marked to maintain the 1m distance during communion.

GLOVES

• The priest may not wear gloves to distribute communion.
• He should sanitise his hands before and after distributing communion and wear a mask.
• The people should not wear gloves to receive communion.

SELF-COMMUNICATION

• The laity should not be asked to self- communicate, or to take from the ciborium themselves.
• Instead the priest (with sanitised hands) should distribute in the normal way, taking care to avoid physical contact.

RECEIVING COMMUNION

• The people should be encouraged to receive communion in the hand, but if they wish to receive communion on the tongue they must receive last and be encouraged to avoid physical contact (e.g. by kneeling/opening their mouths)

Instructions for Going to Holy Communion to keep us all safe:

To keep us all safe we will need to do this in an orderly fashion due to Government and Church guidelines.

Stewards will lead this and we would ask you to follow their guidance.

How we will Proceed when it is time to go to Holy Communion:

Stewards will invite you to come to Holy Communion.

We will start from the front of the left end aisle.

Leave your seat and Walk to the back of the church and proceed down the centre aisle of the church to Father

Please keep to the social distancing rules at all times

At the altar you will be directed to stand in one of 3 spots by the steward.

Holy Communion can be received standing or kneeling down on the Altar.

Then return to your seats via the end Aisles. Do not go back up the middle aisle

This process will be done for each Aisle in order always starting from the front pews.

First the Left End Aisle

Then the Right End Aisle

Then the Left Middle Aisle

Then the Right Middle Aisle

One of the challenges around the logistics for Holy Communion is the different ways people receive. (on the hands, kneeling down, on the tongue).

Father Marcin is well versed in each of these and so it is very safe to receive holy communion in these ways.

• A one-way system should be marked to maintain the 1m distance during communion.
• However we will need to remember to socially distance so we will use a “stewarded system” where stewards will invite benches to get up separately and observe the distancing rules laid down in the church, bench at a time.
• Unlike 2 lines we are intending to put some marker spots at the beginning of the altar steps for people to stand properly distanced.
• Father Marcin or our locum priest will then distribute the Holy Eucharist accordingly keeping everybody safe.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR HOLY COMMUNION STEWARDING

Offertory Collections:

• No offertory collection will be taken during the Holy Mass itself.
• Donations will be able in a specific place.
• In St Swithun’s we will have a basket will be placed at the end of Mass for people to put donations (money / envelopes) in. No physical contact will be made for safety reasons.

Standing Orders and Direct Debits:

• However please consider making a weekly / monthly donation using a standing order or direct debit.
• If you are a UK Tax payer then you are able to GIFT AID your donation. This will allow the parish to  claim back an extra 25% of your donation from our Government.

Details can be found on our Finance pages on our website: 

https://stswithuns.org.uk/about-our-parish/parish-finances/

One off Donations:

• you can go to our charities website to donate if you want too

https://stswithuns.org.uk/donate-help-support-our-parish/

• Due to regulations we are not opening the church hall before September at the earliest.
• Toilets , (unfortunately) are therefore NOT available during Mass times.

Hear was a Q&A session form 29th June where Father Marcin answered questions about reopening our churches for services from July 4th 2020.

Take a listen…..

Confessions will be available each day (Monday to Saturday) from 9:00am to 9:30am within St Swithun’s RC Church. (this preceeds the daily 10am Holy Mass).

• This will start from Saturday July 4th.
• Please Note Father Marcin is away from 3rd August till Spetember 11th so will not be available during this time. Confessions are available in the various churches within the Diocese of Portsmouth.
• Confessions outside of these times will be available by appointment via contacting Father Marcin.

INSIDE THE CHURCH

• Parishes are encouraged to provide the people with opportunities to go to confession in church. The following are suggested as guidelines:
• Ideally there should be a screen between the priest and penitent
• If there is no screen, there should be 1m between the priest and penitent
• Both priest and penitent should wear a facemask or other covering
• The queue should be clearly marked for 1m distancing
• As with other services: penitents should follow a clear one-way system

PENITENTS WITH COVID-19 SYMPTOMS

When hearing the confession of a person presenting with Covid-19 symptoms, the following special precautions will need to be taken:

• Meet the penitent at their own home at an arranged time
• Stay outside their house: communicate through the door or window
• Maintain a safe distance of 2 metres from the penitent
• Both priest and penitent should wear a facemask
• Avoid physical or close contact with others in the house.

HOUSEBOUND PENITENTS

If a housebound person without symptoms is in danger of death, and unable to leave their room you may enter the house with the following extra precautions:

• Sanitise your hands before entering the house and after leaving.
• Put on a mask/covering before entering the house, dispose of it when leaving.
• Wear gloves and avoid touching anything in the home.
• Maintain a safe distance of 2 metres from the penitent
• As normal, take steps to ensure that the confession can be heard privately.

PENITENTS WITH COVID-19 SYMPTOMS WHO ARE AT HOME AND IN DANGER OF DEATH

Where a penitent with symptoms cannot leave their room and is in danger of death, the priest may enter, with the following extra precautions (in addition to those above):

• Wear gloves & a mask and avoid touching anything; dispose of both upon leaving.
• Leave any personal items (keys, ritual books etc.) outside the house. Take nothing from the house.

• Please contact Father Marcin to set up an appointment if you want to discuss getting married at St Swithun’s
• (Note: Father Marcin will be aware from 3rd August till 11th September…..)
• We are also governed by Government Guidelines so please continue to monitor these as we are doing too.

• Please contact Father Marcin to set up an appointment if you want to discuss getting children or anyone baptised at St Swithun’s
• (Note: Father Marcin will be aware from 3rd August till 11th September…..)
• We are also governed by Government Guidelines so please continue to monitor these as we are doing too.

• Please contact Father Marcin to set up an appointment if you want to discuss funeral arrangements at St Swithun’s
• (Note: Father Marcin will be aware from 3rd August till 11th September…..)
• We are also governed by Government Guidelines so please continue to monitor these as we are doing too.