Notes on the Transitions,
Number 7 in a Series

Here is the text of the Q & A documents we handed out earlier this weekend. It includes the new Sunday and daily Mass schedules for Holy Rosary and Visitation.

Coming Together in Christ

Transitions at Holy Rosary and Visitation, No. 3

The parish transition teams are committed to answering your questions and keeping you informed about the upcoming changes at Visitation and Holy Rosary. If you have a question, ask a member of the transition team! If we don’t know the answer, we’ll find it.

This week, we’re taking an in-depth look at the schedule changes.

New Daily Mass Schedule

The daily Mass schedule for beginning Tuesday, September 1, 2015 will be as follows:

Day	Time	Parish
Tuesday	9:00am	Visitation
Wednesday	9:00am	Holy Rosary
Thursday	9:00am	Holy Rosary
Friday	9:00am	Visitation
Saturday	9:00am	Visitation

This schedule means that each parish is losing two daily Masses, since Visitation currently has five daily Masses per week and Holy Rosary has four. Fr. Wichert felt it was best that we have the Masses all at the same time, as there will be enough confusion in the beginning as to which day Mass will be where.

What about Saint Joseph?

There will be no daily Masses held at St. Joseph beginning September 1. Fr. Maurer and Fr. Wichert felt it was better to make one change, rather than to be throwing everyone off with changing it for a month and then making another change.

Confessions

Starting on September 1, Confessions will begin 45 minutes prior to each of the daily Masses and end 15 minutes prior to Mass beginning.

In addition, starting on October 3, Confessions will be held at Holy Rosary on Saturday afternoons from 3:00pm to 4:15pm.

Office Hours

Fr. Wichert will be in the Holy Rosary office in the mornings (10:00am to 12:30pm) and in the Visitation office in the afternoons (1:30pm to 4:00pm).

Fr. Wichert’s day off is Monday.

New Mass Times

Dear friends,

The new Mass times chosen were not easy to arrive at. As I took into account the Mass counts, feedback from many people including the transition teams, the survey results, the collections, the knowledge of all communities from the perspective of Fr. Maurer and myself, the limitations of what is allowed for in Church Law, the reality of the situation (that everyone couldn’t get what they wanted because it was physically impossible), I have tried to make the best decision possible for the good of the people from St. Joseph, Holy Rosary, and Visitation. It is not perfect, but no option could be.

This schedule begins on October 3. Until then, we will continue with the current Mass schedules.

Holy Rosary
Saturday 5:00pm
Sunday 12:00 Noon

Visitation
Sunday 8:00 am
Sunday 10:00 am

These Mass times allow Holy Rosary to be able to keep one of their Mass times, out of their two Masses. Visitation’s early Mass remains more or less the same, moving a half an hour earlier. The people from St. Joseph, if they do not desire to remain at St. Joseph for the Latin Mass, have both of their Mass times provided for at other parishes, one at Visitation and one at Holy Rosary.

I realize that this comes with difficulty for the people of all three parishes.

My commitment is to serve the Lord in serving you as best as I can with the circumstances we now face together. My hope and prayer is that we will come through this together recognizing that we can become stronger because of these changes. It is a decision on the part of each of us to do so in the strength, power and grace of Christ.

In the peace of Christ,

Fr. Wichert