St. Mel Church

CORONAVIRUS INFORMATION

Bishop Jaime Soto shared the following message on Wednesday, March 25, 2020:

My Dear Friends in Christ:

It is heartbreaking to announce that my previous decree suspending public celebrations of the Sacrifice of the Mass and other public sacramental rites must continue into the sacred celebrations of Holy Week and Easter.

Holy Week and Easter will go on. The saving mystery of the Death and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus is our Springtime. His joy and hope are the Paschal Fire that dispels the darkness of sin and the threatening gloom of this pandemic. The saving work of Jesus is beyond the ability of anyone to suspend or alter it. What will change, however, is how we celebrate this holy time.

The global mortal danger posed by the coronavirus compels us this year to find a different way to participate in these rites, including the Chrism Mass and the Rites of Sacred Triduum and Easter Sunday.

The Congregation of Divine Worship of the Holy See has issued guidance to the bishops of those regions of the world afflicted by the Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, on how to conduct the Holy Week rituals in private.

Parish priests are to celebrate the Triduum on the appointed days at the usual times for their parish; i.e. Mass of the Lord’s Supper is to be celebrated in the evening of Holy Thursday; the Good Friday liturgy may celebrated at any time, preferably at midday; and the Easter Vigil is to be celebrated “after nightfall” (about 8:15 p.m.).

The Diocesan website and parishes will inform the Faithful of times of these liturgies so that all may participate in a spiritual manner, prayerfully uniting themselves to their priest from their homes. Where possible, the Faithful may also participate via livestreaming or other social media.

As God’s People, we will gather spiritually, even if we cannot gather physically. We will recount the Passion of Our Lord, His death and burial. And, we will welcome the risen Christ and celebrate the glory of the Resurrection.

As we come together with a deepened hunger for spiritual communion with the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, this year’s celebration of Holy Week will bring the amazing grace of God’s divine mercy. Join me in bringing chastened, humble hearts to the sacred days of Christ’s death and Resurrection. He will call us each by name as he did for Mary Magdalene in the garden of the garden of the tomb. (Jn. 20.11-18) He will come to us, as he did for the disciples hiding behind doors closed by fear, mercifully extend his pierced hands to us and say, “Peace be with you.” (Jn. 20.19-20)

Respectfully,

+Jaime Soto
Bishop of Sacramento

"Remember: Lent is not suspended. Holy Week, the Paschal Triduum,and Easter will come. The change in our usual manner of marking the days of the Lord’s death and resurrection should stir us to re-examine our heart and seek more intently to follow where the Lord Jesus will lead us in this way of the cross for 2020."

~ Bishop Jaime Soto

Holy Week Preparations

Click here for Bishop Soto's Message in Preparation for Holy Week

Click below to read the Decree from Bishop Soto, dated Tuesday, March 17th, regarding suspension of the public celebration of Sunday and weekday Masses. Please note that all activities have been cancelled at St. Mel including both the Friday morning and Friday evening Stations of the Cross and the Penance Service scheduled for March 27th. The Adoration Chapel is also closed until further notice.

Bishop Soto's Decree

The link below will direct you to the Diocese of Sacramento Coronavirus page. This is where you can find the most up to date information regarding cancellations and guidelines.

https://www.scd.org/coronavirus

The Parish Office is opened limited hours. Please call or email the office and we will get back to you as soon as we can. Thank you. 916-967-1229 [email protected]

Check out the St. Mel Facebook Page for live stream Mass 9:00am Sunday and 11:30am weekdays

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Welcome to St. Mel! We are hoping that this visit would offer you a beautiful picture of what St. Mel Catholic Church is all about. We are a Catholic community who believes in the works of our Lord Jesus Christ and journey together towards the kingdom of Heaven.

Join us in our Sunday Celebrations and other liturgical activities. We would be delighted by your presence.

May the blessing of the Almighty Father, the love of the Lord Jesus Christ and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit be with you and yours all the days of your life!

With God’s Blessings,
Fr. Aldrin Basarte, Parochial Administrator

FATHER ALDRIN'S LETTER TO PARISHIONERS

March 31, 2020

To My Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

Recently, Bishop Soto asked the pastors of every parish in the Diocese to cease the public celebration of the Mass in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. As a result, Fr. Cesar and I began live streaming the Mass celebration Sundays at 9AM and Monday-Friday at 1130AM. Our Holy Week and Easter live stream schedule is as follows:

April 5 Palm Sunday 9:00AM

April 9 Holy Thursday, Mass of the Lord’s Supper 7:00PM

April 10 Good Friday 12:00 noon

April 11 Easter Vigil 8:15PM

April 12 Easter Sunday 9:00AM

To view the live stream simply navigate to our parish website stmelchurch.org and scroll down, then click on the image of Mother Mary to view. All of these celebrations are archived and can be viewed live or when you are available. We invite each of you to join us. Our weekly bulletin continues to be produced and is available on our website and app. Refer to these for updates and news about the parish.

We recently reached out to all of our registered parishioners via an automated phone message service and a personal phone call made from a group of volunteers. We discovered a need to update our records. We’re asking everyone to update and confirm your preferred contact information by contacting us via email or phone at [email protected] or 916-967-1229.

This is certainly a time of reflection and prayer. These kinds of occurrences remind each of us that we are fragile. Having faith and community in your life, is comforting. This letter may be reaching some of you that haven’t been to St. Mel for some time. I want you to know, you are always welcome to join us.

Several of you have asked, “How can I continue or start to give you my weekly offering?” This is both touching and generous. And, of course, needed. We have had an online giving program called Faith Direct available for a while. Faith Direct accepts credit cards and debit cards. You can find the link on our website. This is a safe and effective method to support St. Mel Parish.

If you feel the need to talk to someone or you need help by running to the store, please call our office. We have a wonderful group of volunteers at St. Mel Parish that may be able to help.

Let us pray for one another to stay healthy and strong both spiritually and physically.

God Bless you.,

Fr. Aldrin Basarte, Parochial Administrator

CONFESSIONS

Please click here to read Making an Act of Perfect Contrition. This can be used when it is not possible to approach the Sacrament of Penance

Click the icon below to read Pope Francis' Extraordinary Moment of Prayer dated Friday, March 27, 2020.

Attention Parishioners!

In order to stay connected with you, the Parish Staff is working to update cell phone numbers and email addresses of all parishioners. With this information, we would be able to send texts and emails to make sure you are aware of cancellations and other important information. Please email your cell phone number and email address to [email protected] Thank you and God Bless.

MEN'S DAY OF FAITH

Due to concerns about COVID-19, the Men's Day of Faith scheduled for May 2nd has been cancelled.

Click the Faith Direct logo below for a safe and simple way to support St. Mel Church with online giving. Weekly offerings can also be mailed to:

St. Mel Church

PO Box 1180

Fair Oaks, CA 95628

MASS TIMES

Until further notice Masses are live streamed on the St. Mel Facebook page at 11:30am weekdays and 9:00am Sunday.
Saturday Mass
4:30p.m. Vigil

Sunday Masses
8:00a.m., 10:00a.m. and 4:30p.m.

Weekday Mass
Monday to Saturday: 8:30a.m.

Holy Days of Obligation
8:30a.m. and 7:00p.m.

Confessions
Saturday: 3:00p.m. to 4:15p.m.

OFFICE HOURS

Due to COVID-19, the office is open limited hours. Please call the office, 916-967-1229, or email [email protected] and we will get back to you as soon as we can.

Monday - Friday
8:00a.m. - 4:00p.m.

Closed for Lunch Noon - 1:00p.m.

OUR SCHOOL