Chato Razon could not help but get emotional the first time she attended Mass more than three months after a strict lockdown was imposed on Metro Manila and elsewhere in the country to contain the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
“We could not contain our joy,” the 69-year-old resident of Makati City told the Inquirer in an interview on Saturday.
Based on the guidelines of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) regarding religious gatherings, the maximum number of Mass participants is 10 in areas under general community quarantine (GCQ).
Together with her husband, Razon was again able to attend a Eucharistic celebration on June 19, the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, at the National Shrine of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in San Antonio Village, Makati.
“We don’t miss our Sunday and daily Masses but it’s all through livestreaming,” she said. “So just imagine how happy we were to be in a church once again after more than three months.”
She observed churchgoers wearing face masks and mindful of physical distancing.
Communion
Razon has been serving as a lector-commentator for more than 10 years now, while her husband has been a lay minister at the San Ildefonso Parish, also in Makati. But they stopped serving as church volunteers when the lockdown came. As senior citizens, they were advised to stay home.
During that Friday Mass, Razon said that what really moved her was the Holy Communion.
“I felt like crying because after three months, it was the first time I was receiving communion again,” she said.
“To finally be able to step inside and attend Mass once again after thirsting for it after more than three months is really a big blessing,” she said, adding that her husband was also excited to hear Mass.
“The night before he was like a kid, giddy and excitedly looking forward to the morning of June 19,” she said.
Shyla Santos, 50, of the City of Meycauayan in Bulacan province, had the same anticipation when she went to Mass that Friday.
“I was so happy. It was such a good feeling to go to church again. I felt like crying,” she said, adding that she really prayed hard for the virus to go away.
Few churchgoers
There is a clamor, particularly among Church leaders, for the government to consider religious activities as essential services and not restrict the faithful’s attendance.
But Fr. Jerome Secillano, executive secretary of the Public Affairs Committee of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, said only a few so far had attended Mass.
“There were those who attend Mass, but not even 10,” said the parish priest of the Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro Parish in Sampaloc, Manila.
Asked if this was because of fear of the coronavirus, Secillano said “I guess so.”
“Part of that may be the uncertainty about the number of attendees required. Some may have not been properly informed,” he said.
Nobody has come for confession yet although churchgoers may do so now, the priest said.
Fr. Cris Magbitang, rector of the Salesian community at the National Shrine of Mary Help of Christians in Parañaque City, said the church was strictly observing the 10 people limit during Mass.
“When we got 10 people inside, the others attend mass online or outside the church or parking lot, which is the decision of the faithful,” he said.
Confessions are allowed but done upon request and while maintaining physical distancing.
Bishop Broderick Pabillo, apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Manila, wondered “Where is the scientific basis for limiting us to 10 persons only?”
He said that while hearing Mass online helps people spiritually, as this allows them to pray and hear the word of God, it was still not the same as physically attending Mass in church.