Today the Ontario Government has mandated that gatherings, including religious ones, of over 50 people be prohibited. As such no more than 50 people will be allowed into church for each service.

Please be considerate and make an effort to come to the church services on the other days of the week, when we have few attendees, and try to avoid the Sunday service, when we have the most attendees. If we all make this effort, everyone should be able to attend church at least once a week, while helping to curb the spread of the coronavirus and safeguarding the elderly and most at-risk members of our parish. No one (especially the elderly and infirm) should feel compelled to attend or to participate in the church services during this emergency.

Throughout the two thousand year history of the Christian Church, a rich liturgical tradition has formed, especially for the period of Great Lent, and thus it is very difficult for many to come to grips with the unfolding situation and the restrictions being placed on our liturgical life. Despite this, we can take solace in the fact that we are being given an opportunity to participate in another ancient Lenten practice – the practice of the Palestinian monastics who would leave their monasteries at the beginning of Great Lent and wander the desert praying and fasting individually (i. e. St. Zosimas from the Life of Mary of Egypt). Although none of us will go and live in the wilderness, we can strengthen our domestic prayers. For those people that will not be attending church on the weekend, I will prepare printouts of the services so that each family can gather together before their icons and attentively read through the psalms, stikhiry and canons appointed for that day.

For those people who wish to receive Communion, our parish will follow the guidelines recently issued by the Synod of Bishops of the Moscow Patriarchate, which can be found here (in Russian): http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/5608418.html (rough Google translation - https://translate.google.ca/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww…).

Before His crucifixion Christ told His disciples: “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:35). Let us remember these words and show our Christian love for our fellow man by following those guidelines that both the civil and church authorities have outlined for us to help curb the coronavirus pandemic.

Priest Alexis