St. Mary Church in Mokena is not backing down in the fight against the coronavirus. Although all public Masses and parish events across the Diocese of Joliet have been suspended until further notice to prevent the spread of the virus, St. Mary is tapping into technology to help keep the spirituality of its parishioners alive.
Most importantly, the parish priests will be celebrating private Mass live on Saturday, March 21st at 5:00 PM and on Sunday, March 22nd at 9:30 AM. Parishioners cannot physically attend the Masses, but they can tune into the live broadcasts on YouTube below at the specified time. Live Masses are scheduled to continue each weekend of the pandemic.
In addition to weekend Masses, the parish will be broadcasting the Divine Mercy Chaplet every day at 3:00 PM on the parish Facebook page, which can be found at www.facebook.com/stmarychurchmokena/. Be sure to “Like” the parish Facebook page since there will be more updates and events announced there throughout this crisis.
The parish is also looking into broadcasting weekly school Masses and preparing other online resources for its parishioners as this pandemic situation develops.
Father Dindo, the pastor of St. Mary, recently recorded a special message to all parishioners. “This is happening for a reason,” he said. “This is an opportunity for us to increase our Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, and alms-giving and to grow closer to God with our families.”
You can view Father Dindo’s message below. He plans to offer more messages of hope and comfort on Facebook moving forward.
St. Mary School is also interacting with students and parents on Facebook. On Friday, March 20th, the school invited families to share pictures of themselves doing a family game night. Check out the submissions on the school Facebook page.
The St. Mary choir has also been busy. Directors Anna and Simonetta Pacek recorded a special song for the parish, which can be heard here.
The pandemic is a unique and fluid situation, so keep checking back for updates on the latest from St. Mary Mokena.
“Do not fear: I am with you; do not be anxious: I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.”
–Isaiah 41:10
The Mokena Marian 