Dear Parishioners,
We hope to see you return to church soon and look forward to welcoming you back to the celebration of Mass, as we strive to provide and safe and reverent atmosphere for worshipping God together. There are three principles governing the safety of the public celebration of Mass: sanitation, social distancing, and occupancy. Each of these principles is addressed throughout the directives below, which are effective for the duration of the green phase and based upon directives and guidelines established by the CDC and local and State government officials.

Mass Schedule

We will continue to follow the normal weekend Mass schedule (5 PM on Saturday, 8 AM, 10 AM, and 12 PM on Sunday). We will also continue to live stream Sunday Mass at 10 AM. 8 AM Daily Mass resumed June 8.

• All Masses, including daily Mass will be held in the main church.
• The church chapel will remain closed for Mass during this time.
• The sacristy will remain closed to the public. Only the clergy, lectors, and altar servers will be permitted in the sacristy at this time.
• Archbishop Perez has continued dispensation of the faithful from attending Sunday Mass. While the obligation has been lifted, we strongly encourage everyone to try keep holy on Sunday. If you cannot join us for Mass in person, please join us virtually via our 10 AM Livestream.

Saturday Confessions

• Please note that Saturday Confessions will be in the auditorium below the Church from 4:00 PM to 4:45 PM.
• Please enter through the side doors facing the main parking.
• Please note that church will be inaccessible via the back stairwells during the yellow phase. If you will be staying for the 5 PM Mass following confession, you will need to exit the auditorium via the side door facing the main parking lot and enter the church via the main front entrance.

Arriving for Mass

• Everyone must enter AND exit the church via the front entrance closest to the parking lot.
• The side stairwell entrances will be locked from the outside.
• You must wear a mask upon entering the church and the mask must remain on at all times.
• There are hand sanitizing dispensers located in the entrance of the church. Please sanitize your hands upon arrival. You are welcome to bring and use your own sanitzer.

Seating

• Our seating capacity cannot exceed 50% due to the configuration of our church and the need to maintain proper social distancing.
• Pews are marked in order to maintain proper social distancing.
• Members of the same household will be seated together in the same pew.
• Please follow the directions of volunteers who will be on hand to direct you to a seat.

Reception of Holy Communion

• Holy Communion will be distributed via the center and side aisles. Those seated in the center aisle are asked to exit into the center aisle and return to their pew via the side aisle.
• Please maintain proper social distancing as you come forward for Holy Communion.
• Your mask may be removed just prior to receiving Holy Communion and then must be immediately put back on following reception of Holy Communion as you return to your pew.
• Holy Communion must be received in the hand at this time. If this presents a serious problem for you, please contact the priests at the rectory to discuss your situation.

Sanitation

• The church will be sanitized after each Mass. It will be closed 15 minutes following Mass and will reopen 15 minutes prior to Mass to allow volunteers sufficient time.
• Please note that lack of availability of essential cleaning supplies or volunteer may necessitate a future change in Mass schedule.

Should I Attend Mass?

As the Archbishop has dispensed the obligation to attend Mass for the faithful during the green phase, the decision to attend Mass is up to the individual. However, please adhere to the following when considering whether or not to attend Mass:

• If you are ill in any way, please stay at home.
• If you are fearful or nervous about returning at this time, you are not obligated to attend.
• If you are at risk for infection due to age or preexisting conditions, please stay at home.
• While the obligation to attend Mass on Sunday is dispensed, the obligation to keep the Lord's Day Holy is not. If you are unable to attend Sunday Mass, please make sufficient time for prayer or attend a virtual Mass.

Final Word

Again, we are eagerly looking forward to your return to worship the Lord with us.

Saint Albert the Great, pray for us!

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, pray for us!

• The Rectory Office is open for business.
• Weekend Masses will continue to follow our normal Sunday Mass schedule.
• St. Albert Live Stream of Sunday Mass at 10 AM via Facebook Live
• 8 AM Daily Mass will be celebrated in the main church.
• Saturday confessions will be held in the auditorium from 4:00 - 4:45 PM. Please enter through the side doors facing the main parking.
• Tuesday confessions will be held in the main church from 7:00 - 7:45 PM.
• Scrip sales are now available M - F from 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM, M - Th from 5:00 - 8:00 PM, Saturday from 10 AM - 6 PM, and on Sunday from 9 AM - 1 PM. All sales are now in the rectory office.
• Baptisms, Confessions, Marriages, and Funerals will take place as usual but with due regard for the limitation of participants and reasonable social distancing. Contact the rectory office at 215-947-3500 for information on those limitations.
• The parish men's spirituality group will continue to meet virtually on Friday mornings - for information contact Dennis M. Mueller.
• The parish women's spirituality group will continue to meet virtually on Thursday evenings - for information contact Christine Regan.
• The weekly parish Bible study will be offered virtually on Wednesday mornings from 9 - 10 AM - for information contact Dennis M. Mueller.
• Weekly Adoration will be held on Tuesdays in the main church chapel from 8:30 AM until 8:00 PM.

What is NOT available during the Green Phase?

• The church chapel will be closed during weekday and weekend Masses.
• Friday morning adoration in the rectory chapel remains suspended until further notice.
• Communion calls to hospitals, nursing homes, and the home bound remain suspended until further notice. However, priests will be available to celebrate the Sacraments for those in immediate danger of death.
• All meetings and events at the parish remain cancelled/suspended until further notice.
• The rectory chapel remains closed until further notice.
• All Winter CYO sports have been suspended throughout the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
• The Gymnasium remains closed to the public.

Virtual Masses

Daily Mass

• @ 8 AM on EWTN
• @ 8:15 AM with Bishop Barron
• @ 7 PM Daily Live Stream with Dominican Friars

Sunday Mass

• @ 8 AM on EWTN
• @ 11 AM with Archbishop Perez
• @ 12 PM on EWTN

Scripture Reflections

• St. Albert's Sunday Gospel Reflection
• Opening the Word on FORMED.org
• Free Magnificat Offer!

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament

• 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM on Sunday St. Albert Rectory Chapel
• 9 AM - 6 PM on EWTN
• Perpetual Adoration (24 Hours Daily) - Holy Spirit Sisters of Adoration

Virtual Devotions

• 7 AM Daily Morning Prayer with Fr. Matt Guckin
  also available here
• 12 PM Daily Live Stream Rosary with Domincan Friars
  
• Stations of the Cross with Video
• Stations of the Cross - Text Only
• Divine Mercy Chaplet - Text Only
• Divine Mercy Chaplet - with Video
• 9 AM Daily Live Stream Divine Mercy Chaplet @ Miraculous Medal Shrine
• 3 PM Daily Live Stream Divine Mercy Chaplet with Dominican Friars
• Glorious Mysteries with St. Albert the Great Pastoral Staff
• Sorrowful Mysteries St. Albert the Great Pastoral Staff
• Joyful Mysteries St. Albert the Great Pastoral Staff
• Luminous Mysteries St. Albert the Great Pastoral Staff

Virtual Formation

• FORMED.org Free Access. Register for Free! Already a subscriber? Login here.
• CIS Courses - Free Online Correspondence Courses through the KofC Catholic Information Services.

Saint Albert the Great Youtube Channel

• SATG Youtube Channel

O Mary,
You shine continuously on our journey
as a sign of salvation and hope.
We entrust ourselves to you, Health of the Sick,
who, at the foot of the cross,
were united with Jesus’ suffering,
and persevered in your faith.

“Protectress of the Roman people”,
you know our needs,
and we know that you will provide,
so that, as at Cana in Galilee,
joy and celebration may return
after this time of trial.

Help us, Mother of Divine Love,
to conform ourselves to the will of the Father
and to do what Jesus tells us.
For he took upon himself our suffering,
and burdened himself with our sorrows
to bring us, through the cross,
to the joy of the Resurrection.
Amen.

We fly to your protection,
O Holy Mother of God;
Do not despise our petitions
in our necessities,
but deliver us always
from every danger,
O Glorious and Blessed Virgin.

The most common occasion for making an Act of Spiritual Communion is when we cannot fulfill our obligation to attend Mass on a Sunday or Holy Day of Obligation, whether because of illness or bad weather, or some other reason outside of our control.

You can make an Acts of Spiritual Communion at any time and make multiple times a day—even on days when we have been able to receive the Eucharist.

Each Act of Spiritual Communion that we make increases our desire to receive sacramental Communion, and protects us until we can receive Holy Communion sacramentally again.

ACT OF SPIRITUAL COMMUNION (St. Alphonsus Ligouri)

My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love You above all things, and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.

The Archdiocesan Novena to Saint Joseph can be prayed in any setting, especially before or after Holy Mass but not as a part of the Mass, at parish meetings, in the classroom and in the family home. The praying of this Novena is to unite everyone in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia on the 19th of each month, from March through November 2021, in single petition of confident prayer to the Lord through the heavenly intercession of Saint Joseph. Please keep in mind the monthly Archdiocesan intentions.

Click here for a complete list of liturgies, events, and programs taking place this Lent at St. Albert the Great.

Lent is about conversion and drawing closer to the Lord, but there's often a lot of "stuff" we carry with us that impedes us from experiencing God's mercy and love. This video provides some insight on how we can allow ourselves to be loved by God in such a way that he takes care of our "stuff."

Our weekly men's group has been meeting virtually since the start of the pandemic and will continue to do so through the Lent and Easter seasons. Starting this Lent we are going to explore Fr. Dave Pivonka's excellent video series known as "The Wild Goose" where we'll delve into the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives and how we can cultivate our knowledge of and love for the Spirit.  All men are welcome to join us for this 14 week virtual event which will take place on Friday mornings from 6:45 - 7:45 AM, beginning February 19. Contact Dennis Mueller via email for details on how to join the virtual sessions.

How to celebrate the year of Saint Joseph:

• Attend Mass on his feast days: March 19 and May 1
• Meditate for at least 30 minutes on the Our Father
• Participate in a spiritual retreat of at least one day that includes meditation on Saint Joseph
• Perform a corporal or spiritual work of mercy
• Recite the holy rosary in families and between the husband and wife
• Entrust your work daily to the protection of Saint Joseph and to all believers who invoke with their prayers the intercession of the worker of Nazareth
• Pray the litany of Saint Joseph
• Pray any lawfully approved prayer or act of piety in honor of Saint Joseph on:
• March 19 (Solemnity of Saint Joseph)
• May 1 (feast day of Saint Joseph the worker)
• The 19th day of every month
• Every Wednesday (a day dedicated to the memorial of the Saint according to the Latin tradition)

View Week One Video Here.
View Week Two Video Here.
View Week Three Video Here.

The Catholic Charities Appeal brings hope where hope is needed most. From center city, to the suburbs, from the suburban communities to our most distressed communities, almost a million people each year receive hope through the Catholic Charities Appeal. When you support the Catholic Charities Appeal you are helping:

• Over 100 Catholic Social Services and Nutritional Development Services organizations and programs. Last year, 8.8 million meals were provided to those most in need.
• Over 100 students in the Schools of Special Education within the Archdiocese of Philadelphia receive tuition assistance and support.
• The 18 Programs and Offices that are providing Evangelization, Parish & Spiritual Life to our community.
• 158 Retired Priests who need care and support.
• 17 Mission Parishes in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia revitalize and sustain their parishes. This includes ministering to over 36,000 parishioners.

For more information or to make a donation visit the Catholic Charities Website.

Check out this week's selection of movies, audios, and formaton programs on FORMED.org. Don't have your free account yet? Sign up today!