As temperatures plummeted and grocery store shelves emptied, parishes around the Arlington diocese scrambled to accommodate the influx of parishioners at Saturday evening vigils.
A historic winter storm swept across the U.S. the weekend of Jan. 24-25. In advance, the diocese released a statement the afternoon of Jan. 23: “Due to the impending winter storm, which is predicted to be severe, and noting that the Governor of Virginia has declared a state of emergency beginning Saturday, January 24, if it is not possible for parishioners to attend Mass due to road and travel conditions that jeopardize safety, they are dispensed from the obligation to attend Mass on Sunday, January 25.
“If parishioners reasonably foresee that they will not be able to attend Mass on Sunday, parishioners should consider attending a Saturday Vigil Mass wherever possible,” the statement concluded.
Diocesan parishioners took the last part of the statement to heart. Many parishes filled to capacity the night of Jan. 24, several hours before the first snowflakes hit the pavement.
St. Louis Church in Alexandria added two extra vigil Masses — one at 4:15 p.m. and a second, bilingual vigil at 6:45 p.m. “If you don’t add Masses … what happens is your vigil Mass is like Christmas Eve: crazy, noisy, full, crowded,” said Father Keith M. O’Hare, pastor.
St. Rita Church in Alexandria followed suit, adding a 7 p.m. vigil Mass in addition to their regular 5 p.m. vigil. “Turnout there was probably 100-150 people,” said Father Christopher P. Christensen, pastor.
To accommodate Spanish-speaking parishioners, St. Leo the Great Church in Fairfax moved its Sunday Spanish Mass to a 7 p.m. Saturday vigil. Father Edward J. Bresnahan, pastor, reported more than 500 people attended the Mass.
Despite the additions, parish vigil Masses were packed.
“If this is what the Saturday vigil looks like, I expect Sunday’s Masses will be even more full,” joked Father Thomas T. Nguyen, parochial vicar, in his 5 p.m. vigil homily to a crowd of parishioners that filled the side aisles and narthex at St. Leo the Great.
“We parked in the grass,” said Theresa Spiers, a parishioner of St. Veronica Church in Chantilly and a teacher at the parish school, who attended St. Veronica’s overflowing vigil Mass with her husband, Joshua. “There was a large crowd standing in the back. They brought out extra chairs, but there still wasn’t enough seating for everyone — a good problem to have!”
St. Rita faced a similar issue. “The regular 5 p.m. vigil was jam-packed — bigger than Christmas Eve, standing room only, and our vestibule was full,” said Father Christensen.
The next day, many parishes still held regular Sunday Masses but with lighter attendance. Parish-related activities such as school open houses, social gatherings and even a blood drive at one parish were canceled or rescheduled. By lunchtime, most schools had announced they would be closed on Monday.
“We didn’t want to cancel the Masses because the intentions still needed to be said, and there were about a dozen people at each of the morning Masses,” said Father Bresnahan of St. Leo the Great. “Surprisingly, I was the only one at the 5 p.m. Sunday night (Mass).”
But that didn’t stop him from celebrating a full Mass, including diocesan announcements. “I gave a homily, sang all the Mass parts, and even read the Bishop’s Lenten Appeal announcement,” he said.
Father O’Hare at St. Louis reported that the weekend netted some 60% of the usual weekend Mass attendance. “There was always a handful of people at every single (Sunday) Mass,” he said. “Some walked, some drove in their sturdy vehicles.”
Each of the four Sunday Masses at St. Rita averaged around 50 people, according to Father Christensen. He added his observations of parishioners’ extra efforts to attend Sunday Mass. “Many people who could walk on Sunday did so. I only saw one person get really stuck in the snow while driving,” he said. “Most people were happy to be able to have Mass, and it was something of an exciting experience to get to come to Mass in the snowstorm.”
For the Spiers family at St. Veronica, braving the weather and crowds came down to one thing: the Eucharist.
“Though we had the option to stay at home and watch Mass online, it was important for us to still attend the vigil Mass, because nothing else equates to receiving holy Communion and attending in person,” Theresa said. “We knew the storm was coming, so being proactive to worship Our Lord was important to us.”
