Dear St. Mary’s, First off, thank you for your prayers, concern, and well-wishes as I battle through Covid-19. Overall, I feel fine and am only displaying mild symptoms. I assure you that I have everything I need to get through this period of quarantine. I want to share with you all that I had a professional cleaning company come in and disinfect the main church, chapel, and parish office on Thursday night. Hopefully, this will ease your mind in case you had any concerns about walking into any of those spaces. Please pay careful attention to the following in regards to Mass, Adoration, Confession, and the parish office: • With the impending snow storm set to hit our area on Sunday morning, I have decided to cancel all Masses on Sunday, January 31st. I did not feel comfortable asking priests, who are mostly older and not living in the general area, to drive here in a snow storm. • While there will be no Masses this Sunday, there will be Mass at 4pm on Saturday, January 30th. Confessions will still be available at the usual time between 2-3:30pm. We will have Fr. Bill George, SJ coming to celebrate the Mass and hear Confessions. Since there will not be a Mass on Sunday, the 4pm Mass will be livestreamed. • There will be no daily Mass on Monday, February 1st and Tuesday, February 2nd. Since they are calling for more snow on Monday and possibly Tuesday morning, I would rather not have Msgr. Balbago drive in those conditions. • Beginning Wednesday, February 3rd at 8:15am, we will resume back to our normal Mass schedule. Please note that “First Saturday Mass” at 9am was officially added to the schedule a couple of months ago and will still be happening on February 6th. • Our normally scheduled Eucharistic Adoration on Wednesdays and Thursdays will continue at the usual times in Our Lady’s Chapel. • The special 24-hours of Eucharistic Adoration will still be taking place on Friday, February 5th into Saturday, February 6th. Just a reminder that this will be in the main church. The Masses on that Friday and Saturday morning will be in the main church. • While we plan on having our normal weekend schedule next weekend (Feb 6-7), we will have visiting priests to cover the Masses and Confessions next weekend since I will be finishing up my quarantine period. God-willing, I will be publicly celebrating Mass for the first time post-quarantine on Tuesday, February 9th. • As of this moment, I am unsure when the parish office will re-open. Please check back on Facebook and the parish website for any announcement of a re-opening and for any other updates. Thank you for your patience and understanding with everything. If you have any questions, you are more than welcome to e-mail me at [email protected] In Christ, Rev. Samuel I. Plummer St. Mary’s of Piscataway

Dear St. Mary’s Parishioners, I write to inform you that I have self-reported a positive test result for COVID-19 last night, January 27, 2021. I am under medical care and will quarantine until cleared by my physician to return. Know that I am feeling fine, and ask that you keep me in your prayers. While the parish has implemented health and safety precautions to minimize the spread of the virus, it is possible that those who attended Mass this week celebrated by me were potentially exposed. I urge you to consult with your physician if you or any member of your family displays symptoms consistent with COVID-19. Symptoms of COVID-19 include coughing, fever, loss of taste or smell, and shortness of breath. It is important to follow all guidelines provided at this time, including staying at home, continuing preventive measures, and practicing social distancing. For more information about symptoms and testing, please use this link: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/index.html. In addition, see Frequently Asked Questions from the Maryland Department of Health: https://phpa.health.maryland.gov/Documents/coronavirus_FAQ.pdf I also want to share the following steps St. Mary’s is taking to minimize the impact at our parish, and our workplace and to keep everyone healthy and safe. We want you to be aware of the following actions: • We have communicated directly with any specific employees, clergy, business contacts, and others who are believed to have come in direct contact with me recently, and have asked these individuals to work remote or stay home for a quarantine period as advised by the CDC. • We are following the latest CDC recommendations for cleaning and disinfecting facilities, including the church and work area. • Daily Mass and Adoration will be cancelled on Thursday, January 28th and Friday, January 29th. We plan to resume Mass this weekend and will have a visiting priest cover the Masses. We continue to encourage all parishioners and visitors to practice good hygiene and social distancing to minimize the risk of infection. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding during these times. In Christ, Rev. Samuel I. Plummer St. Mary’s of Piscataway