Star of the Sea Catholic Church

THURSDAY:  5:15 PM

Confession THURSDAY 4:35 PM - 5:00 PM

SUNDAY: 11:00 AM

Please Note: at this time no other activities, such as coffee and donuts, in the church will be offered. There is only Mass. This will help us clean the church and meet the requirements and guidelines. 

From the Pastor, Fr Justus Alaeto
Dear Brothers & Sisters in Christ,
We have great news!
I am happy to announce that Archbishop Sample has given approval for limited reopening of Masses, effective 9 May 2020.  We encourage you to read the full text of his letter on the parish website.  This reopening is only for parishes which meet the required preventive measures as prescribed by the State of Oregon and the Archdiocese of Portland. 

This first phase of reopening will only accommodate a total of 25 people at each Mass, including the priest and ministers. Consequently, only 21 parishioners may attend each Mass.  For Star of The Sea and St. Charles, I am currently working on the possibility that all eligible parishioners can attend Mass at least once a week. With only 126 spaces at Star of the Sea and 42 spaces at St Charles, we may have to restrict eligible parishioners to attend one Mass every two weeks. 

In addition, the Archbishop has stated that “the dispensation for the Sunday Mass obligation remains in effect, so no one is required or expected to attend Mass on the weekends with this reopening. Parishioners will have an expanded opportunity to attend Mass during the weekdays.”

If you choose not to attend Mass until the dispensation ends, or you cannot attend the weekend Mass, we will accommodate you with the Live Stream Mass on YouTube, which will be available each Sunday to everyone.
Since the Mass rosters will fill fast, please call us at (541) 469-2313 as soon as possible when you make your selections.

In Christ,
Father Justus Alaeto
Star of the Sea Parish & St Charles Mass Schedule:
·        Tuesday (Star of the Sea, Brookings) –        5:15 PM
·        Wednesday (Star of the Sea, Brookings) –   5:15 PM
·        Thursday (St Charles, Gold Beach –              5:15 PM
·        Friday (Star of the Sea Brookings) –             5:15 PM       
·        Saturday (Star of the Sea, Brookings) –       4:30 PM 
·        Saturday (Star of the Sea, Brookings) –       6:30 PM  (Spanish)
·        Sunday (Star of the Sea, Brookings) –          8:30 AM 
·        Sunday (St Charles, Gold Beach) –               11 AM  

St Charles Parishioners: please feel free to sign up for Star of the Sea Daily Masses. 

FACE MASK: Everyone is highly encouraged to wear a face mask.
PLEASE NOTE ABOUT FACE MASK: If you have any health concern about wearing a face mask please stay at the designated back pews in the Church, while those with face mask please, stay at designated front pews.
Anyone who is sick or vulnerable should stay home.  We must take everyone’s temperature before entry into the church.  Parishioners with high temperatures or no face mask may not enter the church.
Live Stream Mass will continue for parishioners who are not able to attend weekend Mass. 

Please note: There will only be Mass!  Modifying the Mass schedule will allow cleaning in the church before and after each Mass so that we can meet the requirements and guidelines.  No other activities, such as coffee and donuts, will be offered in the church.

Confession: 
Star of the Sea: Saturday, 3:30 PM – 4:15 PM (or by Appointment)   
·        in the parish hall with social distancing.       
St Charles Borromeo: Thursday, 4:35 PM – 5 PM
Reopening Date: We are currently working to reopen our two churches no later than Saturday, May 30, 2020.
 
Due to meeting up requirements for reopening, we are currently working hard to be equipped with the following as we get ready to reopen:
- Hand sanitizer
- Disinfection wipes
- Volunteers for cleaning the church every day
- Cleaners for church bathrooms
- Ushers who are not at risk
- Temperature Checks (We already ordered that).
Also, we want to help give you enough information on time so you can prepare for the reopening.
Additionally, we are currently asking for your volunteering help. However, according to guidelines from Government and Archdiocese:  “volunteers MUST be over 18 years old and/or are NOT:
·        in center for disease control (CDC) guidelines for people with high risk of COVID-19
·        all who are immune compromised
·        those who are exposed to another with COVID-19 virus within 14 days”
Note: these guidelines are also applicable to all parishioners who are at risk, irrespective of the role you play in the parish. Anyone attending Mass contrary to the above guidelines are doing so at their own risk.
Liturgy Information: According to liturgical guideline from the Archdiocese, liturgical minister’s roles will be modified and “volunteers” will be limited to maximize the number of parishioners who will be able to attend Mass. We are currently working on that.
Liturgical Ministers: Liturgical ministers shall always wear masks at Mass, except the cantor with maintenance of social distancing required.
Seating Arrangement: the limited number of those attending Mass, including the ministers, are to sit only in the designated areas in the church.
Maintaining Social Distancing: Social distancing is what we call social physical distancing. We must stay 6 feet away from each other. We will not be able to allow any preferential treatment so as to allow opportunity for all parishioners to attend Mass.
Holy Communion: Please maintain 6 feet in the Holy Communion line. Communion will be offered on the tongue and hand with no glove. The Archdiocese recommends that for now the priest is the only one distributing the Holy Communion.
·        Family unions should enter and exit the church in an organized manner and stay within 6 feet of others.
·        Temporarily, music ministry may be limited, perhaps one cantor and one instrumentalist.
·        Process of the gifts are suspended. The gift of bread and wine will be placed on a credence table near the altar in the sanctuary.
·        We shall provide collection baskets, placed in special areas and monitored by ushers until the donations are collection and handled according to the proper protocols.
·        There will be no song books in the church to prevent multiple people from touching the same book.
·        There will be no shaking hands for the sign of peace.
·        All ministers must sanitize their hands before and after ministry.
·        When approaching to receive Holy Communion the communicant is to pull their mask below their chin to receive Communion, and then immediately replace their mask other their face after receiving the host.
According to the Archdiocese, the communion to the homebound is suspended for now. Ministry will continue by other means as was instructed to all priests by the Archdiocese.
Church Social gathering:  The purpose of this reopening is to ONLY provide access to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and Holy Communion. Any social gathering before and after Mass, including coffee and donuts, or any other group meetings, should not take place. Live Stream Mass may continue for parishioners who are not able to attend Mass.
On the weekend of 16 May 2020, we will give you further information about progress on our parish reopening coming up soon.
Please Note: the maximum number in a gathering will remain 25, until new updates come from the governor and the Archdiocese. Consequently, only 21 parishioners may attend each Mass.  When the Oregon Governor makes recommendations, the Archdiocese draws a decision from that.
Some Helps Needed, Please:
Volunteers:  We need volunteers who are not at risk.   Please call the parish office if you want to volunteer.
Sanitizer: We need lots of Hand Sanitizer and Disinfection Wipes, especially hand sanitizer.  If you have any you can spare, please bring your receipt, and the church will reimburse you for the supplies. Thank you in advance! This will greatly help us to be able to reopen the church sooner because we will not reopen the churches without enough hand sanitizer.
Summary Key Points for the Faithful from the Archbishop
·        A general dispensation from the Sunday Mass obligation will remain in place. Mass attendance is not required.
·        Those who attend Mass do so at their own risk. Vulnerable, at-risk and otherwise concerned persons should remain home.
·        Anyone with slightest symptoms or feelings of sickness must remain home.
·        Livestreaming of Masses will continue to be encouraged.
·        Must Sign-up. Can’t Show-up. The faithful must sign-up at only one parish. No one who simply shows-up for a Mass can be allowed entrance. NO Exceptions.
·        The faithful are asked to be charitable and understanding if their pastor is unable to reopen Masses.
·        Charity and understanding are counseled to the faithful if they are unable to attend Mass on the weekend (for those who want to go specifically on Sundays) due to space limitations.
·        The pastor will determine how best to assign specific names to specific Mass times. Every sense of fairness must be maintained. Aside from those with special needs, any preferential treatment should be avoided.
 • Have adequate stock of hand sanitizer and other cleaning supplies available.
• Social distancing policy should be posted on the church doors.
• Ensure liturgical ministers observe social distancing to the extent possible when performing their ministries.
• SEATING: Restrict seating to every alternate pew (or row of seats) to maintain distancing. Seating to be used should be clearly marked.
 • Restroom use and cleaning policy must be developed by each parish (e.g. one at a time use only; cleaned and sanitized immediately following each Mass
. • Parish cry-rooms may need to be closed or restricted to one family. If they are used, they will need to be carefully cleaned after use.
• Parish child-care during Masses should be discontinued until further notice.
• Signs could be placed on church doors to indicate the Mass schedule and provide a telephone number and email address for people wanting to put their names on a list to attend Mass.
•  Social gatherings before or after Mass (including coffee & donuts) should not take place. Providing access to the celebration of Holy Mass and reception of Holy Communion during Mass is the purpose for reopening Masses.
• Pastors are encouraged to prepare a written or videotaped “welcome back” message that includes some details, including practical information, about the reopening transition.
All missalettes, pew cards, pencils and other loose items in the pews must be removed.
Individual bulletins cannot be distributed. Provide online or make necessary, brief announcements only.
Great care must be taken by ministers when distributing Holy Communion. Skin to skin contact should be carefully avoided. If contact is made, the priest or Extraordinary Minister should sanitize their hands before continuing distribution. As some who are present may perceive reception of Holy Communion on the tongue as a greater risk to safety, those who wish to receive on the tongue are kindly asked to wait until the end of the line to present themselves for Holy Communion.
Holy Communion is to be distributed by hand in the normal fashion. Ministers may not use gloves (or devices or instruments) to distribute Holy Communion.
Churches should designate one place of entrance when possible (at least one entrance should be accessible) in order to control the numbers of people coming in. Once the maximum is reached, no one else can be allowed entrance. Door monitor(s) will be needed. Only those on the list can enter. Maximum number allowed must never be exceeded. Maximum number includes the priest, ministers, live stream videographers and anyone else in the space during Mass.
•Restroom use and cleaning policy require one at a time use only; restrooms will be cleaned and sanitized immediately following each Mass.
•Parish cry-rooms may need to be closed or restricted to one family. If they are used, they will need to be carefully cleaned after use.
•Parish child-care during Masses should be discontinued until further notice.
Please, my brothers and sisters in Christ, I want to thank you so much for your understanding and patience as we all navigate through the processes of gradual reopening and coming back. I will continue to ask for your patience, prayers, and support, as we keep the pace of working out balance and effective logistics for reopening our churches. We thank the Archdiocese for the hard work of furnishing us with guidelines to help our own guidelines. May God bless, and be with you, and your family, always!
We shall keep you posted and see you soon!
Yours in Christ,
 
Fr. Justus Alaeto
Your Servant and Pastor
 

Please continue to check the website for updates, primary source of communication. Sometime soon we hope to open the church for anyone to come and pray; but, at this time we cannot open the church for a few difference reasons. Currently we do not have enough volunteers to help clean and disinfect the church. Also, since the stores are quickly selling out of cleaning products, we do not have enough sanitizer and cleaning supplies to regularly clean the church and keep the church disinfected. As a result, it is currently not safe to open the church for our parishioners. But again, please continue to visit this page for updates.
 
Feel free to call the parish office with any questions you may have!
Father Justus will be available to set up phone appointments for short spiritual direction or spiritual talk.
 

As we navigate through reopening process, may I please acknowledge the hard work of the following:

Our Parish Staff

Tim Stinar - who record our video Masses

Lisa - who help cheerfully with our website

Frank and Mary Diaz - who render help tirelessly 

Steve Wilson - Who donated sanitizer and disinfecting wipes

Steven Plourde - Who help with Thermometers, volunteer, and hygiene processes

Gary and Della - For their tireless and constant assistant 

Cathy Herbage

Volunteers who helped arrange our new Sacristy with Sister

Sofia,  and our Hispanic brothers and sisters who are volunteering for getting our church ready for reopening 

Thank you all, who have been helping us financially, morally, and prayerfully, I am so grateful to you and all of you and your families are in my prayer and Masses. God bless you!

Fr. Justus

Fr. Justus has offered the following Mass intentions in the chapel. We shall keep you posted about other Mass intention request after Father has said Mass on them.

ALL MASS INTENTIONS

The following Mass intentions have already been said by Father:
For the peaceful repose of the soul of Jill Plourde
For the intentions of Tom Doolan
For God’s protection and blessings on all in the medical line who are helping in the coronavirus issue.
For the peaceful repose of the soul of Daniel Alaeto
For the peaceful repose of the soul of Rita Thibodeau
For the moral upbringing of Reagon Sherrod.
For the peaceful repose of the soul of John Belerique
For the peaceful repose of the soul of Kathleen O’Donnell
For God’s blessings on Father Justus Alaeto
For the peaceful repose of the soul of Harold Plourde
For the peaceful repose of the soul of Danny Johnson    
For the peaceful repose of the soul of Jane Cuvreau    
For the peaceful repose of the soul of Jim Collett
 For the peaceful repose of the soul of Daniel Alaeto
For the peaceful repose of the soul of Irene Gouin 
For God’s blessings on Fr. Justus Alaeto   
For God’s intervention on a possible solution to the cure of coronavirus   
For the peaceful repose of the soul of Daniel Alaeto
For God’s love and care on Fr. Justus Alaeto 
For the peaceful repose of the soul of Rick & Agnes Gouin
For the peaceful repose of the soul of Brain Wimberly    
For the peaceful repose of the soul of Bruna Harrigan
For the intentions of Geoffery Plourde
For the intentions of Marc & Anayansi Plourde
For the intentions of Madge Renolds
For the peaceful repose of the soul of John Belerique
For the peaceful repose of the soul of Daniel Alaeto     
For God’s continuous wisdom of Fr. Justus Alaeto
For God’s blessings on Fr. Justus Alaeto
For the peaceful repose of the soul of Harold Plourde
For God’s blessings on Fr. Justus as he marks plus 1    
For the peaceful repose of the soul of Diane Batten’s Soul
For God’s blessing on Sharon Miller
For God’s blessings on Gary Bowlin
For the peaceful repose of the soul of John Belerique
For God’s blessings on Shirley Smith
For the peaceful repose of the soul of Rick and Agnes Gouin

Prayer Requests
As a parish we are encouraged to pray for the follow people in addition to our prayer requests:
Andrew McCloud
Linda Juster
Sandra Ensley
Lucille Lemieux
Andrea Kopp
Margurite Streeter
Margaret Rice
Evangeline Andreasen
Juan Garza
Sheila Curtis

Randall Roberson
Brice Power
Helen Archer
Jonathan Power
Gilles Cano
Antonio Ruis
Joe & Mary Oxendine
Lee & Patricia Burch
Carol Mallard
Ann Spencer
Danny Davis

Jeremy Anderson
Silvia Olmedo
Sonya Wraith
Robert Curis
Jason Yester
Margaret Pohl
June Pinkerton

My beloved brothers and Sisters of Star of the Sea Parish, and St. Charles Mission,

Peace of Christ!

With the recent fast spread of the Covid-19 Virus and directives from the government, His Excellency, Most Rev. Alexander K. Sample, our Archbishop of Portland in Oregon, has issued a Decree and another Dispensation in response to the Covid-19 Virus’ current situation in the United States. This will take effect March 17, 2020. With the recent development, the Archbishop has issued a decree for Mass cancellation and dispensation effectively March 17, 2020, through April 14, 2020, below.

It is quite obvious that this very difficult for all of us including the Archbishop, all priests, and all the faithful. Please, let’s express deeper faith at this most difficult time and walk with Jesus the Savior, and Our Blessed Mother, Virgin Mary. I will be communicating regularly through our parish websites and other necessary means.

Let’s trust in the power of God, and keep praying, for with God all things are possible!

Yours in Jesus the Savior,

Fr. Justus Alaeto

Pastor

Mass Cancellation 2020 decree