My dear parishioners:
On Tuesday January 2nd we began major renovations of the interior of our parish church. Update as of April 5th: The updates below are in Bold.
Some of the items of work to be done include:
1) 24 pendant lights throughout the church and special "stage" lighting for the sanctuary which will dramatically improve the level of lighting in our church. To begin April 15th, and hopefully will be completed before the weekend of April 27/28
2) replacement of the carpet in the sanctuary area, reinforcement of the wooden platform, and then laying of a new carpet Completed
3) a new ambo (pulpit), altar, a new stand (plinth) for the tabernacle and a new, permanently fixed baptismal font Completed
4) the wooden screen (reredos) behind the presider's chair will be replaced by a opaque glass and porcelain reredos etched with sacred images and a few verses from St. John's gospel Hopefully completed by Friday, April 12th,
5) Behind the brick wall of the resurrected Christ, panels coated with venetian plaster will be placed. On the plaster will be etchings of the Biblical "Tree of Life" which will highlight the cross. Completed
6) lowering of the images of Jesus on the east and west aisles of the church near the sanctuary, with the bulkheads being removed. The tabernacle alcove will also be transformed. Completed
7) alignment of the stations of the Cross along the side walls. Completed
Starting on Thursday Jan. 4th, all Monday to Friday masses will be held in the hall. Wednesday masses are now being held at 9:30 a.m. in the hall. Hopefully by the end of April weekday masses can return to the church hall. Weekend masses are still being held in the church, and hopefully we can resume weekday masses in the church as of April 29th.
Funerals on weekdays will be held at Our Lady of Peace or St. Clement's parishes. Saturday funerals still should be able to be held here at Nativity.
100% of all donations to this project that are marked "Renovation" will not be subject to the normal 15% assessment by the Archdiocese of Toronto.
I am quite confident that this project will greatly improve the sacredness and beauty of our church, a confidence that was affirmed by the many parishioners who attended these presentations. I encourage you to consider donating to the renovation project. I too will be making a substantial donation for this work.
For a complete understanding of the scope of the work to be done, its cost, as well as images that show you how the church will look, please go to the link of the mass of Sat. Dec. 16th - then forward to the 54: 10 mark, where my presentation begins.
The link is here - (10) Saturday Mass, Dec 16th 5:00PM - YouTube
May God bless all of you! Fr. Michael Machacek.