June 17, 2020
The friars have set a tentative date for reopening the 100 Arch Street building. We have chosen Tuesday, September 8, as the reopening date. It is the day after Labor Day and coincides with the larger Catholic Church’s celebration of the Feast of the Nativity of Mary.
Some might wonder why we are waiting so long. There are many reasons, but these are the most important ones:
- We serve a number of vulnerable populations here at the Shrine, and we can’t risk spreading the virus among them.
- Most of the ministries of the Shrine are continuing uninterrupted throughout this crisis, despite the building being closed. Of course, confessions and in-person Mass are high-profile exceptions.
- We need to do some considerable work to establish protocols for handling the Covid issue prior to re-opening.
- We have four small and medium-sized capital projects that need to be done. It will be easier to do this work while the building is closed to the public.
- Currently, there is very little foot traffic in Boston and we need to give that time to recover as well.
The September 8 date is tentative and presumes continued progress with respect to the decrease of the virus in Boston. Building hours, confession schedule, and Mass schedule for September 8 and following are all still to be determined. Expect the new schedule upon re-opening to be considerably more limited than the schedule when we closed back in March.
We continue to live-stream Masses on our Facebook page on Sundays and Holy Days. Questions on the shutdown or the reopening can be directed to [email protected]
Keep safe and healthy. May God bless you.
Fr. Thomas Conway, OFM
ST. ANTHONY SHRINE
100 Arch Street, Boston MA 02110
