By J. Jala | 02:37 PM March 15, 2020
Masses in Bohol Catholic churches continue, but with precautionary changes: abbreviated homilies and no music in order to minimize the length of time people are potentially exposed to the COVID-19.
Effective today, March 15, masses in the churches in the dioceses of Tagbilaran and Talibon are shortened to 30 minutes.
That is to pave way for more schedule of Masses to avoid crowding, said Tagbilaran Bishop Abet Uy on his Facebook post.
There is no choir singing and Psalms are read instead of singing.
Alcohol or hand sanitizers are provided at the doors of parishes, churches, chapels, oratories.
Holy water fonts or stoups are temporarily emptied.
The faithful receive the sacred host by their hands only, the other option where it is directly fed to the mouth is temporarily stopped.
The faithful are discouraged from kissing and touching sacred images as well; holding hands during the praying of the Lord’s Prayer, and shaking hands when giving the sign of peace during the celebration of Holy Masses.
“The Covid19 crisis provides us special opportunities: a) to turn back to God, b) to care for our neighbors, and c) to give nature the needed rest,” Bishop Uy said in his video message posted on Facebook.
Bohol will be placed on “community quarantine for at least five days to contain the spread of the COVID-19 in the country.
The quarantine will begin on March 16 and will last until March 20, 2020, so that no visitors are allowed in the province.
Governor Arthur Yap is set to announce Friday, following a meeting with inter-agency task force whether or not the community quarantine is extended or otherwise.
