What about the traditional Christmas Kolęda (Carol) in the year of the pandemic?
More dioceses in different parts of the country are announcing that this year, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the rules of caroling will change and they are canceling pastoral visits at the traditional date, i.e. at the turn of the year. Such a decision was announced those days by Bishop Roman Pindel, the ordinary of the Bielsko-Żywiec diocese. Will there be no carols 2020 in Krakow?
Christmas carol and the coronavirus. What will the pastoral visit be like?
Due to the epidemic situation in Poland in the Bielsko-Żywiec Diocese, we are not organizing pastoral visits to families in the traditional period this year 2020/2021 – Bishop Roman Pindel, Bishop of Bielsko-Żywiec wrote on Twitter. The announcement posted on the website of this diocese informs that the pastoral visit is postponed “until sanitary conditions allow. This time will be announced by the Department of General Pastoral Care” – added.
“Instead of visiting homes by pastors, the residents should be invited to church in smaller groups”
In mid-October, the decision was announced that this time there would be no traditional Christmas carol visit to the Archdiocese of Poznań. “Instead of visits by priests in their homes, the residents should be invited to church in smaller groups for the evening Mass. A special intention of this Mass should be a prayer for the parishioners invited on a given day” – wrote Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, Metropolitan of Poznań in his decree.
Recommendations for Holy Mass
In the decree of the Metropolitan of Poznań regarding the pastoral care during the pandemic, there were also recommendations regarding this holy mass, which this time will replace the priest’s visits to the homes of parishioners:
- During the Holy Mass one should give a special homily and pray a prayer of blessing over the gathered and remaining residents, especially the sick, as well as bless the water that the faithful will take home.
- After the liturgy, there should be caroling and a talk, also discussing current parish issues. It is also advisable to distribute prayers to be said at home and a caroling book.
- It is worth encouraging the faithful to return home to celebrate the “family liturgy”, saying a prayer, the text of which they received in the temple, and sprinkling the apartment with holy water.
A blessing only for new houses and flats – this is what the pastoral visits to the Archdiocese of Katowice should look like this year. In addition, there are plans to celebrate Holy Mass during Advent and Christmas in the local parishes for parishioners from particular streets. The decision on Christmas carols in the Katowice Archdiocese was made at the end of September.
What about a Christmas carol in Krakow? The decision has not yet been made
As for the Krakow Archdiocese, the decision on the first pastoral visit during the pandemic has not yet been made. But we should meet her soon.
“This issue is being considered, we are considering and at the end of November some information should appear on this matter” – the spokesman of the Krakow curia, Fr. Łukasz Michalczewski.
From Gazeta Krakowska (article in PL Language) – November 16th, 2020.
Yours truly,
The Twisted Red LadyBug
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