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s2smodern

The Jesuit Church of Leliëndaal (Valley of the Lilies) is the smallest of the eight historical churches in the centre of Mechelen. But it has at least two assets: it is situated in the town’s busiest shopping street and its prefect is our European webmaster, Philip Debruyne, who knows a bit about communication.

So when it was announced that because of the corona crisis all Masses would be suspended from Friday 13th of March, our church became in no time the liturgical centre of Mechelen. Contact was made with the parish council of Our Lady over the Dyle, where some of us assist in the weekend. It immediately welcomed our proposal of filmed Masses for the parish website. From another church, also served by one of us, a sound technician came who in daily life works for the Brussels Opera.

It took some balancing between the government measures as regards social distancing, the liturgical requirements, and the wish to involve people from all the Mechelen parish churches, but it worked. More importantly, it was appreciated: the first filmed Mass, on 15 March, the Second Sunday of Lent attracted around 600 viewers and many positive comments.

Encouraged by this, we entered in a rhythm of filming on Saturday afternoon, editing immediately afterwards, and posting it the same evening. During the week, the technical crew perfected the equipment, financially aided by the parish council.

Last Saturday, when the dean of the cathedral came to celebrate Mass, he could do so with four camera’s and seven microphones. The success of the second Mass on 22 March (c. 1200 viewers) has not been repeated - many parishes and priests, including not a few Jesuits in Belgium, are now following our example. But last Sunday, our third Mass was already viewed by 80 persons at 9.00 am, which gradually rose to 185 around noon, and 450 in the evening.

“This afternoon we have assisted at Mass in our living room,” wrote a grateful parishioner. “The content and the technique were very well done. We sang with you, we prayed with you, and we shared a sign of peace. It shows how involved we were, and that is your great merit. At a given moment, I noticed that I had forgotten we were at home: a very strange experience. For a moment, the boundaries of space and time had faded away.”

Join us at the Youtube channel Kerk in Mechelen (Jezuïeten Mechelen)

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s2smodern