IMPORTANT UPDATE - 3/16/2020 5:45 pm

Dear Friends, The Archbishop of St. Louis this afternoon mandated further adjustments regarding Catholic Worship due to the COVID-19 virus. There are certain areas of decision-making that he has left to Pastors. What follows is what will be the case at Sts. Joachim & Ann. ALL public worship, including the celebration of Eucharist even on Sundays, is discontinued immediately. There is a current hope to resume public worship April 6th, but that remains uncertain as things continue to evolve. Fr. Gahan and I will continue to celebrate Eucharist without an assembly. We will be making an effort to arrange for Sunday Eucharist to be live-streamed either here in the parish Facebook group or via a link on the parish website. Stay tuned for more information in the coming days. We have no weddings or baptisms scheduled during this time anyway. We will always provide Christian Burial. However, funeral Masses must be limited to immediate family ONLY. An alternate option is to have a Committal Service at the cemetery and to have a Memorial Mass at a later time when restrictions have been lifted. We will make that decision on a case by case basis with each bereaved family. ALL other instances of public prayer, Vespers, Stations of the Cross, as well as all Bible Studies and all other parish gatherings and activities no matter how small are to be discontinued. Mass Intentions that have been scheduled during between now and April 6 will be rescheduled to a later date. If there is an urgent need for the Sacrament of Penance, please call Fr. Gahan or me directly. Likewise, regarding the Anointing of the Sick. Please make every effort to maintain your Sunday Offering --- either electronically or by dropping it off or mailing it. We need to continue to meet our responsibilities to our employees and to pay our bills. Please also remember, if you are able, to sustain your charitable giving to our Care Service as we continue to do what we do for the community at-large. Please PRAY!