Devotees told to attend Novena Masses at their own parishes

Devotees, who attended the start of the Novena Masses for the Fiesta Señor at the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño on January 8, have observed social distancing and have worn face masks and face shields. | CDN Digital file photo (Morexette Marie B. Erram)

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Attend Fiesta Señor Novena Masses at your own parishes.

This was the appeal of Councilor David Tumulak, chairperson of the City Council’s committee on disaster risk reduction and management, to the devotees following the rise of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in the city.

The city experienced a doubling of cases, which reached 277 active cases, from December 29, 2020, to January 8, 2021. This worried the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7).

Read: Cebu City logs 46 new cases on Jan. 8

Tumulak said that every parish had its own schedule for Novena Masses still in honor of the Señor Sto. Niño, and even if this would not be conducted at the Basilica Minore, the Archdiocese of Cebu had encouraged its practice.

The archdiocese specifically delegated these Novena Masses to the parishes to divide the crowd.

“Especially nowadays due to COVID-19, we would like to request the devotees to visit their individual churches. They can also do their prayers and novena inside their homes through online streaming,” said Tumulak.

Read: How to attend the Novena Mass online

The councilor said that the understanding of the devotees would be needed by the city government to avoid another rise in the cases, which might eventually lead to another lockdown.

He said that the doubled cases in a span of 11 days was a wake up call for the city to reevaluate its strategy in controlling the spread.

For now, Tumulak said the city was restrategizing its approach to the Fiesta Señor and that would be why the cooperation of the public would be essentail.

“Unta masabtan ni sa atong mga katawhan,” said the councilor.

(We hope that the public would understand the situation.)/dbs