I was at the Eucharistic Adoration chapel yesterday, and the week before. Nothing unusual there. What was different about week before yesterday was that I left early.
I’d arrived a half-hour early, again nothing unusual. It’s not that I’m so pious that I can’t wait to go. I’d reached a stopping point in what I was writing, and figured that showing up early was a good idea.
Which it would have been, if we hadn’t had new rules.
I’d logged in when I noticed something new.
A sign on the door said that our bishop, in compliance with new Minnesota COVID-19 regulations, was limiting the chapel to two persons at a time.
I looked through glass beside the doors and saw two folks already inside.
So I waited a half-hour, getting a little reading done. The other person who’s scheduled to be there during my hour showed up.
The two other folks were still inside.
I had a short conversation with my counterpart, said that my easiest option was turning around and going out, and did so. After signing out, with a short note that I was leaving early in order to follow our rules.
Fast-forward to Sunday. During announcements at Mass, our priest mentioned the new rules and clarified that scheduled adorers had priority. He phrased it more diplomatically, but that’s the gist.
I dropped by the chapel on Tuesday, to get a photo of the sign. There was a new one. Two new signs, actually, one in English and the other in Spanish. The text had been updated.
A mother and elementary-school-age kid were kneeling before glass to the right of the doors, since there were folks already in the chapel. With a duo right there, next to the chapel’s doors, I decided to photograph the pair of signs on an ‘outside’ door.
New Rules, Making Sense During a Pandemic
Someone else was there when I showed up yesterday, kneeling outside the glass.
Someone else was kneeling, outside the glass, I mean. That’s a syntactic mess. Oh, well.
This Wednesday, yesterday, knowing the new rules, I arrived only a few minutes before my scheduled time.
Two other folks, the scheduled set, were inside. They left when my counterpart and I arrived. We left when the next scheduled adorer came. We’re adjusting to a new routine.
I’d prefer that we didn’t have new rules, limiting how many folks are in the chapel at any given time. There’ve been maybe up to a half-dozen drop-ins most weeks, besides me and my counterpart.
I’d also prefer that the COVID-19 pandemic wasn’t a reality we should deal with.
But my preferences won’t change the rules, and they sure won’t make the SARS-CoV-2 virus go away. So I’ll follow the rules, do what I reasonably can to stay healthy and help others do the same, and maintain the routines that do make sense during a pandemic.
I’ve talked about this before. “These” before?? Never mind.
- “Thanksgiving 2020: Pandemic Peril and Perspectives”
(November 25, 2020) - “Holiday Hodgepodge: Lights, Health, Pandemic Paranoia”
(November 18, 2020) - “Halloween, COVID-19, Wolfgang’s Axe and Apple Bobbing”
(October 31, 2020) - “Pandemic Perspectives”
(March 31, 2020) - “Polka Mass and Adoration”
(December 13, 2019)
Over here it is mostly Masses on-line being streamed. Those who attend church have to follow strict guidelines.
God bless.
Same here. It’s masks, every other pew blocked and a headcount limit.
Potentially vexing – but I see the logic in current rules. At least those around here.