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TEMPORARY CHANGES IN DAILY MASS SCHEDULE
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August 26, 2007
Dear St. Michael Parishioners:
When St. Michael School opens its doors on the morning of Wednesday, August 29, there will be nearly twice the number of students and faculty arriving for school than there were last year before the consolidation of St. Mary and St. Augustine schools. Our school building has been renovated and redesigned to house a larger student population, so we will have no problem in making room for 375 students and a faculty and staff of 45.
We are concerned, however, about the impact our larger school population will have on traffic patterns and parking in the vicinity of St. Mary’s Church and St. Michael School. Sister Rachel has been working closely during the summer with the Augusta Police Department, bus company officials, and city planning personnel in devising traffic flow and parking plans. The parking lot on the corner of Western Avenue and Sewall Street (right side of church, adjacent to school gymnasium) will be designated a “Faculty Only” parking lot. It is also likely that some of the current on-street parking areas will be designated “no parking zones” in order to accommodate the projected additional bus traffic and car traffic with parents dropping their children off at school beginning at 7:40 a.m..
This will, of course, have some affect upon the availability of parking for those attending the 7:30 a.m. daily Mass on school days. How much of an impact this will make, and whether or not this will pose a significant problem is difficult to predict. Before making any long-term decisions, we’ll need to try things out.
After careful consideration, we’ve decided that the best approach is to temporarily schedule all of our Augusta daily Masses at St. Augustine Church from Tuesday, August 28 through Friday, September 7 (with the exception of Monday, September 3 which is Labor Day—that Mass will be celebrated at St. Mary’s Church). This will give us seven school days to evaluate how well the traffic and parking plans are working, and to make any necessary adjustments prior to the resumption of daily Mass on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at St. Mary’s with additional traffic and parking needs. This is also a safety issue—for the well-being of our children, we need to minimize traffic flow until we are confident that the plan we have in place will meet the safety needs of our students.
The 7:30 a.m. Mass at St. Mary’s will resume on Monday, September 10, and we will schedule our Monday, Wednesday and Friday daily Masses at St. Mary’s for the weeks of September 10-14 and September 17-21. After some of these Masses, I will invite those attending to remain in the church after Mass for a discussion on whether or not we should continue this schedule, change Mass times, or change Mass locations to better accommodate our parishioners.
Thank you for your patience and understanding—this is simply one of those things that is very difficult to predict. Through the old-fashioned approach of trial and error, together, we will determine what works best for those who attend daily Mass on a regular basis.
Fr. Lou
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Notice of Change in St. Denis Weekend Mass Schedule
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| August 5, 2007
Dear Parishioners:
Beginning the weekend of September 8-9, there will no longer be a 4:00 p.m. Saturday Vigil Mass at St. Denis Church in Whitefield. This change is necessary due to factors related to the addition of St. Francis Xavier Parish and its mission church of St. Leo to our overall Mass schedule. This change also is in accordance with the Cluster 13 Plan submitted to Bishop Malone in July of 2006 which calls for a total of four Saturday vigil Masses for the cluster at the four churches with the largest seating capacity: St. Augustine, St. Mary, St. Joseph and St. Francis Xavier.
Those who regularly attend St. Denis Church comprise a vibrant and growing faith community. The 11:00 a.m. Sunday liturgy at St. Denis is led by an outstanding music ministry and attended by an enthusiastic and welcoming assembly of faith-filled parishioners. The cancellation of the Saturday vigil Mass at St. Denis should in no way be seen as an indication that this particular church is not a vital component of St. Michael Parish. The cancellation of the Saturday Mass does reflect the practical need to better utilize our ministers, both ordained and lay.
The 30 to 50 people who have been attending the Saturday vigil Mass at St. Denis can easily be accommodated at the 11:00 a.m. Mass on Sunday at St. Denis, or at the 4:00 Vigil Masses at St. Joseph in Gardiner and St. Augustine in Augusta, or at the 5:30 Vigil Mass at St. Mary. The lay liturgical ministers at St. Denis have been particularly stretched in their valiant efforts to provide music ministry, readers, extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist, sacristans, ushers and altar servers for both the Saturday and Sunday Masses? many of whom served at both Masses on a particular weekend. When the number of Mass time and place options are reduced, there is admittedly, some inconvenience. However, the result is that our Churches are fuller (like they should be!), and our liturgies are richer and more prayerful and spirit-filled because we have a greater concentration of liturgical ministers.
The 4:00 p.m. Saturday Vigil Mass at St. Denis will remain in effect through the Labor Day Weekend. We already know that eventually, further changes will need to be made in the Sunday Mass schedule at St. Augustine, St. Mary, St. Francis, and Sacred Heart churches as clergy are realigned and reassigned, and as we move toward the incorporation of all eight cluster churches into St. Michael Parish. For the time being, however, there is no pressing need to make adjustments to the Sunday Mass schedule. Thank you for your understanding and your openness to embrace change.
Sincerely in Christ, Fr. Lou Phillips
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Welcome St. Francis Xavier
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| July 28, 2007
Dear St. Michael Parishioners:
Once again, we are being asked to expand our experience of community and broaden our definition of what it means to be ? parish.? Bishop Malone has asked me to take on the responsibilities of administrator of St. Francis Xavier parish in Winthrop along with its mission church of St. Leo in Litchfield in addition to my duties as administrator of St. Michael, and I have agreed to do so. Fr. Ralph Boivert, Fr. William Modlin and Fr. Brian Blanchette have been appointed parochial vicars for both St. Michael and St. Francis Xavier parishes. These appointments are effective August 1, 2007. So, now four priests will be serving the seven churches that comprise our two parishes. We will continue to rotate the weekend Mass assignments, now with four priests instead of three. The bulletin will list these priest schedules for the current week and for the upcoming week.
According to the cluster plan that was submitted to and approved by Bishop Malone, the parishioners who attend St. Francis Xavier and St. Leo churches will eventually become a part of St. Michael Parish. But, for the time being, St. Francis Xavier maintains its independent parish status even though we will all now be working, worshiping and praying together more closely with one another. Continued, and now more focused, collaboration between the parishes of St. Michael and St. Francis Xavier will do much to pave the way for the changes yet to come.
This presents us all, I think, with a tremendous opportunity to further grow and develop as a vibrant and welcoming Catholic faith community in Central Maine. The spirit and intent of the new evangelization is embodied in our parish mission statement: ? The Central Maine Catholic Community of St. Michael Parish, united by Christ? s love, strengthened by Word and Sacraments, serves God? s people in a spirit of hope.? We are now presented with yet another opportunity to put these inspiring words into practice. My prayer is that you will share my enthusiasm and optimism as we take this next important step together to better serve God? s people in a spirit of hope.
Sincerely in Christ, Fr. Lou Phillips
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