Masses are Reopening for 10 people in attendance

Friday, May 22, 2020

Dear Parishioners,

After frequent consultations with the Saskatchewan Government and Health Authority, the Archdiocese has recently announced that Churches are now allowed to celebrate the Eucharist with up to 10 parishioners in attendance. To make this effective here at Blessed Sacrament, we have organized it in the following manner.

Our Schedule of Mass (maximum 10 persons participating) beginning with Pentecost:

    • Saturday, 5:10 PM, May 30th and after
    • Sunday, 10:00 AM, May 31st and after
    • Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM, June 1st and after

We would like to emphasize that the dispensation from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass is still in effect. While we would like to celebrate Mass with all parishioners again, we strongly recommend that you do not make yourself available for scheduling if you are…

    • Symptomatic (see the list below)
    • immunocompromised
    • over the age of 65 with pre-existing conditions
    • Have recently travelled outside of Canada
    • Have been in contact with someone suspected of having Covid-19.

If you do not fall into any of the categories above, you are welcome to contact the parish office to let us know you would like to attend Mass, and if you have a preference for a particular day of the week. Please keep in mind though that we can’t guarantee you’ll get your preference especially if many choose only Saturday or Sunday. The office can be reached by email at office.bsacrament@sasktel.net or by phone at (306) 522 7422 by leaving a voice message.

The parish office will then complete make a schedule for all those parishioners who wish to attend Mass at Blessed Sacrament. So that all parishioners have an equal opportunity to attend Mass at least once, everyone will be scheduled once before being scheduled again. The schedule will be sent to you by email and also posted outside the side door of the church.

When attending a scheduled Mass:

  • Use entry to Church on North Side where a greeter will meet and instruct you on procedures we are required to follow during the Mass.
  • Only attend the Mass for which you’ve been scheduled. If the 10 person capacity is broken, it puts everyone in attendance at risk, including yourself.
  • Social distancing will be required (2 meters separation except those of one household).
  • Face masks will be required when entering, for communion procession, and when leaving. They are recommended also at other times.
  • Note that areas of the Church will be sanitized before and after use.

If you exhibit any symptoms of one or more of the following: fever, cough, headaches, aches and pains, sore throat, chills, runny nose, loss of sense of taste or smell, shortness of breath, or difficulty breathing, please stay home and call 811.

Once again, thank you to all of you for your patience, courage, and charity. Your prayers and donations are much appreciated.

Note that the Church remains open for private prayer each day between 10:30 am and 3 pm.

May the Lord bless and keep you and stay safe,

Blessed Sacrament
Fr. Jim, Pastoral Council and Staff

Thursday May 21st Daily Mass available on Zoom app

This Thursday May 21 at 4:00 pm you are invited to join Fr. Jim and the staff at Blessed Sacrament in celebrating the Mass virtually through the Zoom Conference App. Below are the details needed to join. You can either click the link below, or copy and paste it into a web browser on your computer or smartphone. You may be asked if you want to download the app, which should be free. If you already have the Zoom app and it asks for the Meeting ID number, enter the number below.
 
Topic: Mass from Blessed Sacrament
Time: Thursday May 21st 2020 at 4:00 pm.
Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85943266482
Meeting ID: 859 4326 6482
 
 
In order to see and hear what is happening you will need to say yes to joining audio and video. After you do so, we ask that you mute your microphone and stop your video soon  afterwards (you can find the buttons in the bottom left corner) so that everyone will be able to focus on the Mass and not be distracted by background noise or separate video feeds.
 
God Bless, and please email office.bsacrament@sasktel.net if you have any further questions.

Thursday May 14th Daily Mass available on Zoom App

This Thursday May 14 at 4:00 pm you are invited to join Fr. Jim and the staff at Blessed Sacrament in celebrating the Mass virtually through the Zoom Conference App. Below are the details needed to join. You can either click the link below, or copy and paste it into a web browser on your computer or smartphone. You may be asked if you want to download the app, which should be free. If you already have the Zoom app and it asks for the Meeting ID number, enter the number below.
 
Topic: Mass from Blessed Sacrament
Time: Thursday May 14th 2020 at 4:00 pm.
Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85943266482
Meeting ID: 859 4326 6482
 
 
In order to see and hear what is happening you will need to say yes to joining audio and video. After you do so, we ask that you mute your microphone and stop your video soon  afterwards (you can find the buttons in the bottom left corner) so that everyone will be able to focus on the Mass and not be distracted by background noise or separate video feeds.
 
God Bless, and please email office.bsacrament@sasktel.net if you have any further questions.

Church Repair & Renovation Status

Blessed Sacrament Church 1a_smBlessed Sacrament Church

December 4, 2016

Church Repair Status & Update

This week:  The original 1913 storm sewer lines have been excavated out of the dirt basement floor.   The removal of this old line will now prevent ground water from moving around inside of the church basement floor.

Church Sound System Replacement – GV Audio finished tuning the new microphones for the presider, lectern and cantor to the acoustic characteristics of the church interior.  The “Assisted Listening” unit is installed and working so that the hearing impaired can use a simple mobile FM radio with earbuds.

asist-listening-freq

Church Boiler System – DMA Applied Controls has completed programming of the boiler controls, provided detailed schematics, comprehensive hardware and software documentation, as well as schedules, graphics, trend logs and alarms.  We have a fully functional Building Management System to manage and monitor the church and rectory heating system.

Church Basement Underpinning – The transept underpinning process produced a large amount of ground which needs to be removed from the church basement.  The 1950’s above ground cast iron storm sewer lines will also be removed from the church basement.  The structural slab for the bell tower base still needs to be poured.  The underpinning project will be completed when the church basement entrance has been repaired.

Major Milestones – Underpinning Project

  • Underpinning of 1913 basement section completed
  • New sub-floor in the church has been completed
  • Church floor in the 1905 section is successfully levelled
  • Underpinning of 1905 basement Section completed
  • Underpinning piles for Bell Tower completed
  • New adjustable columns in 1905 section installed & working
  • New adjustable columns in 1913 section installed & working

On February 17. 2016 the Diocesan Administrator approved our request to underpin the church floor and bell tower after receiving recommendations from both the College of Consulters and the Archdiocesan Finance Council.  The underpinning project is estimated to require three (3) months to complete.

CALL for PRAYERS & BENEFACTORS: Please pray that the God of Providence will provide Blessed Sacrament Parish with benefactors, who will provide the financial funds needed for the structural repairs to the church floor, bell tower and roof, as well as the replacement of the deteriorated roof shingles.  The church remains closed, as we seek benefactors, contractor quotes and approval of funds to proceed as planned.

CALL FOR GRATITUDE:  Blessed Sacrament is the oldest Roman Catholic parish in the city of Regina.  The church is the second oldest building in Regina.  While the building is historically significant, our parish serves many needs of people who live and work in downtown Regina; from the poorest of the poor to the privileged.    We need to give thanks to God, for 111 years of Time, Talent & Treasure provided by our benefactors, parishioners, contractors, engineers, lawyers, and our parish finance council members.

Completed Projects

Wilf Perreault Studio

Christmas Nativity Set Restoration

Originally imported from Italy, God knows how many years ago.  We still have the original shipping crate.  The figurines were severely chipped and broken.  Wilf has made skillful repairs to the finest details and masterfully matched the original paint.  We are very grateful for Wilf because he has generously given his time, talent and treasure to restore these Christmas treasures.  Our Blessed Sacrament nativity set is once again beautiful and as good as new.

Breda Brother Builders

New Church Children’s Room and Washroom

Loretta Elford initially commissioned and paid the Breda Brothers to build a new Ambry for the Holy Oils of Chrism, Catechumens and Oil of the Sick.  During their site visit for the Ambry, the Breda Brothers were asked if they might be interested in building a new children’s room and washroom at the west church entrance.  Marino Breda asked if we wanted to repurpose the wooden confessional to retain the original look of the space.  The Breda Brothers have completed the new children’s room and washroom, as well as integrating the original confessional facade to retain the look, feel and balance of the space.  This project is on time and on budget.

The Breda Brothers also safely removed the communion rail to facilitate the floor replacement renovations.  The communion rail is part of Blessed Sacrament’s spirituality and it will be reinstalled once the floor renovations are completed.  The Breda Brothers   restored the East Rose Window frame (i.e. The Blessed Sacrament stained glass window) which had suffered deterioration from exposure to the weather elements.  They also removed the stained glass window in the Children’s Room, braced the exterior brick wall and removed the bells to avert a catastrophic failure of the bell tower.

Eagle Electric Service

New Ceiling Fans & Overhead Sanctuary LED Lighting

New ceiling fans provide air flow during hot summer months and energy savings during the winter months.  New forced-air attic fans are being installed to improve air flow during the summer months and lower humidity in the attic during winter months.  This project went over budget with the change to high-effecincy and high-output LED lighting in the church sanctuary.

LED lighting has been installed behind the center portion of the three large stained glass rose windows.  The new All Weather exterior windows required cross beams, which partially prevent outside light to fully illuminate the center portion of the rose windows.  The LED lighting removes the shadow from the cross beams so that the center symbols are visible.

Arrow Plumbing & Heating

Rectory Sewer Line Replacement

This project is completed on time and on budget to replace the rotten cast iron sewer lines beneath the rectory floor and the in floor cast iron lines from the washrooms.

Town & Country Plumbing & Heating

Church Sewer Line Replacement

This project is completed on time and over budget because of the 60+ year old rotten lines buried deeper and right beside floor column structures.  200 feet of old cast-iron lines have been replaced with new commercial grade PVC lines.  This project has revealed long-standing causes of floor/foundation instability, as well as “the last straw” contributing to structural failures in the bell tower and church roof.  Floor renovations have been halted until the church floor columns and bell tower are properly underpinned.

Action Sewer & Drain Services

Re-line under the church & rectory foundations

This project is completed on time and was over budget because the main sewer line from the church basement to the rectory also needed to be relined.  Action Sewer has helped identify the original 1905 storm sewer lines that are buried beneath the church basement floor.  These old lines are full of ground water which saturates a good portion of the 1913 church basement floor.  The 1913 and 1950’s storm sewer lines in church basement will be removed to reduce the amount of ground water and moisture in the church basement.

Jordan Asbestos Removal

Remove Old Church Tiles & Clean-Out Bell Tower

The old tiles on the church floor have been removed and this project  is on budget.  Cleaning out 110 years of “bird stuff” in the bell tower had to be done without a budget, so that contractors could safely remove the church bells.

BBK Structural Engineers

Church Foundation, Bell Tower & Floor Structures

BBK has providing engineering specifications to underpin the floor/roof columns and bell tower, as well as design a new structural-skeleton for the bell tower.  These structural projects could no longer be ignored as in the past.  The church underpinning project has installed new piles and adjustable floor/roof columns.  The four church transept columns required custom pile designs for the underpinning process.  The original 1913 transept columns were not  replaced with adjustable columns to level the church floor because of the structural load they must bear.  Consequently the church floor between the four transepts could not be lowered to improve upon the floor levelling process.

Raydon Castle Building Center

General Contractor to provide All-Weather Windows

Top-Line Construction—Contractor to template and install New Church Windows.  All-Weather Windows—Manufacturer to Custom Build New Church Windows.  Philly’s Painting—for the church and rectory windows and doors; painting is on budget.

The new windows replace the sun-faded Lexon sheets, which made the church look like a bunker from the outside.  The old Lexon sheets where only intended to protect the stained glass windows; they did not stop dust and snow from literally blowing into the church through the stained glass window frames.

The new All-Weather glass windows attractively display the full beauty of the stained glass windows from the outside, improve the amount of light entering the church, as well as provide protection, a proper weather seal and high-efficiency energy savings.

All of the new windows are installed with the exception of the south-west washroom and the bell tower windows.  These last two windows will be installed once the structural repairs to the bell tower and roof are completed and the stained glass window in washroom has been reinstalled.  This project is on budget.

Project Management

by Rev. Barry J. Anwender, P.Eng., BSc., MDiv.

Pastor, Blessed Sacrament Parish

In collaboration with the Finance Councils

of Blessed Sacrament Parish

and the Archdiocese  of Regina.

 

Grand Reopening Mass

Archbishop Donald J. Bolen

Celebrates Our Grand Reopening Mass

After One Year of Major Renovations.

Sunday Morning Mass – October 23, 2016

Concelebrant: Rev. Barry J. Anwender, Pastor

Photos: Courtesy of Gordon Domm

Gathering:  Adoration & Praying The Rosary 

Click/Tap the “small curved arrow” to Play Slideshow.

 Fr. Barry and the parishioners of Blessed Sacrament Parish extend our heartfelt thanks to the members of Christ The King Choir and to the Knights of Columbus Honour Guard from the Fr. Huggunard Assembly and the Fr. Riffel Assembly.

Celebrating Mass with Archbishop Bolen

Click/Tap the “small curved arrow” to Play Slideshow.

Photo Opportunities

The South Saskatchewan Community Foundation

Guests Associated with the Altar Last Supper Art

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Watch the Livestream Broadcast of the Mass

Promotional Invitation

 Web Site Invitation