Good day guys!
This Sunday our family was able to attend mass. Let me take you to a tour on how a Church here in Baguio operates during this pandemic. This Church is called Our Lady of Lourdes Parish Church and it is located at no.2 Kisad Road, West Burnham Park Baguio City.
We decided to participate in the 12:30 pm mass because my mom helped in the choir.
Here's the schedule of the mass
| Mass | Day and Time |
|---|---|
| Daily Mass | 6:30 am Monday to Saturday |
| Anticipated mass | 3:30pm Saturday |
| Sunday Mass | 6:30 am, 8:30 am, 10:30am and 12:30 pm |
Here's a summarized version of the Protocol that should be observed religiously.
1. They are encouraging us to arrive 20 minutes before the mass and leave immediately. This is to give time for them to disinfect the whole area.
a. Upon entering- Step on the mat to disinfect your footwear
b. Drop by the Alcohol bays to disinfect our hands.
2. No Face mask no Entry. The mask should also be worn during the whole duration of the Holy Mass
3. Social Distancing is to be observed at all time.
4. Park at the Onjon Ni Ivadoi Park- This is to give way to the elderly churchgoers who want to park inside to make it more accessible for them.
I was able to walk around the church grounds while waiting for the doors to open. This is the devotional area where votive(prayer) candles may be lit.
The Ten Commandments.
Here's a bit of history.
It began at 1966 under Fr. Jean Marie Tchang, CICM and became an Oratory on 1976. It was made a parish by Bishop Carlito Cenzon on May 1, 2003 and was inaugurated on September 8, 2003. Both of them are have gone already, but I was lucky enough to meet them personally.
Before entering the church, you have to submit all your details like your name, contact number, address and the time you attended mass, I think this is for contact tracing if ever someone's positive for the virus. Then a staff will do a thermal scan on your forehead and you have to disinfect your footwear and your hands.
This is how the church looks like as soon as you enter.
We stayed at the Mezzanine because that's where the choir was staying.
They are discouraging children who are below 6 years old to stay here but instead use the Parish Church's children's room and nursery
Here's a shot of the Church from the Choir's box.
The pews have markings to show where you should sit while attending the mass. The max people who could sit on the pew are 3.
That's where the choir usually stays.
Here's a video of the choir and my mom singing.
After Mass, I took a photo of the Stained glass. It really looked like a beautiful sight. My mom was really happy that she was able to serve by singing. It's really fulfilling to attend a mass personally compared to virtual. I also noticed that it's better to attend mass during this time than the one at 6:30 am because there were less people. Usually, during the 6:30am mass the whole church is full. I really pray that this pandemic will end soon so that we can go back to our usual activities.
You can visit their Facebook Page if you want to watch the live masses
Thanks for reading and Stay safe always!
The photos used in this post are owned by me .
