Current Parish Operations

Update, February 12, 2021: We are now livestreaming ALL our Masses, as well as Stations of the Cross and Taizé Prayer during Lent.  COVID-19 cases have been dropping in Dane County, but the virus is still a threat, so we request that you continue to sign up at stthomasaquinas16.flocknote.com/signup/21337 if you wish to attend. Faith Formation classes are also in operation.

Ash Wednesday will look a little different this year. Fr. Bart will distribute ashes using the form approved by the Congregation for Divine Worship at the Vatican for use during a pandemic. This involves his sprinkling ashes over the heads of the people instead of placing on the forehead.

This weekend will be our in-pew pledging for the Annual Catholic Appeal. Those who are not attending Mass in person can also participate in the ministry of the Diocese of Madison by donating at www.madisondiocese.org/acagive or by mailing in your donation using the envelope in the February 11 issue of the Catholic Herald or that you received in the mail a couple of weeks ago.

Update, January 16, 2021: We are still able to offer our full schedule of Masses, and we still request that you sign up at stthomasaquinas16.flocknote.com/signup/21337 if you wish to attend. Faith Formation classes have also resumed after the Christmas break.

Our parish office hours have changed. They are

  • Monday - Wednesday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
  • Thursday, 9:00 AM - 12:00 noon and 3:00 - 5:00 PM
  • Friday, 9:00 AM - 12:00 noon

Our administrative staff will only answer phones and greet visitors when the office is open. Someone will monitor the phones at other times so we do not miss calls about pastoral care emergencies.

The building will continue to be open for people to drop off donations or other items or to pray

  • Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, 7:00 AM - 5:00 PM;
  • Tuesday, 7:00 AM - 5:50 PM;
  • Saturday, 10:00 AM - 4:30 PM; and
  • Sunday before the Masses at 8:00 and 10:00 AM.

Update, December 5, 2020: St. Thomas Aquinas continues to offer its full schedule of Masses, however high COVID-19 case counts and positive test results in the Madison area mean that it is critical for everyone's safety for us to maintain a safe level of attendance at Mass. When you also think of all the special Holy Days that are coming, you can understand that we really need you to let us know in advance when you plan to attend Mass in person with us. Below are links to sign-up lists for our major December Masses:

Update, November 17, 2020: Today Public Health Madison Dane County issued emergency order #10 which bans all in-door gatherings of any size. However, churches are still permitted to hold religious gatherings, subject to a 50% of capacity limit. Therefore, St. Thomas Aquinas will continue to offer its full schedule of Masses and Adoration. Religious Education classes are still permitted at this time. All other gatherings will either be on-line-only or canceled completely.

The building remains open for individual prayer. We strongly urge everyone who must come to the parish to wear a mask over their nose and mouth and to use the sanitizer and paper towels available in the Gathering Area to clean any place you touch or sit. We have disposable masks at the parish if you forget yours, and a number of cloth masks are available for purchase from the parish for $5.00.

We are minimizing the number of staff members working in-person at the parish. If you need to drop off checks or other papers at the parish, we encourage you to use the document drop-off-slot in the wall of the Gathering Area next to the large glass reception window, even if staff is present in the office.

In-person Masses continue, however we encourage everyone to watch Bishop Donald Hying's video message to the faithful at https://stamadison.org/bishop-hying-message-fall-2020/ in which he strongly urges all those at risk due to COVID-19 or living or working with a person at risk to refrain from attending Mass at this time.

If you need to drop off checks or papers at the parish, please use the document slot in the wall next to the reception window.

We invite you to look over our summary of what the parish is doing to keep everyone safe and what we ask of our visitors: Return to Mass Guidelines.

This order will also force changes to our Christmas Basket Food Collection. These will be communicated as we work out the details.

Update, November 6, 2020: St. Thomas Aquinas continues to offer in-person Masses on our regular pre-pandemic schedule and to live-stream all Masses except the 4:30 PM Saturday Mass. Due to rising numbers of Covid-19 cases in Dane County, we urge everyone to help us maintain safe distancing at Mass by contacting us to reserve a spot for your family. You can reserve your place at https://stthomasaquinas16.flocknote.com/signup/21337 or by emailing Terri Kopplin at terri@stamadison.com.

Update, October 23, 2020: St. Thomas Aquinas continues to offer in-person Masses on our regular pre-pandemic schedule and to live-stream all Masses except the 4:30 PM Saturday Mass. If you enjoy working with computers and technology, marketing, or social media, please consider volunteering to learn to operate the live-stream. We will provide training. We are only able to make our worship available to people in their homes because a number of people have stepped up to share Jesus' love through this vital ministry, and the only way we can expand our offerings to include Saturday afternoon is if several more people learn how to do it. We welcome Fr. Jim Kuhn and Fr. Tom Gillespie as our Mass presiders this weekend, while Fr. Bart takes some time off.

Update, October 16, 2020: We continue to offer in-person Masses with live-streaming on Facebook and YouTube, subject to limits imposed by social distancing. Because the number of people attending weekend Masses has been increasing, we are starting to open space in the chapel and Social Hall for overflow seating for people who arrive after we reach capacity in the sanctuary itself. The Mass will be broadcast in the overflow areas and communion will be offered to those attending Mass, whether they are seated in the sanctuary or in one of the overflow areas. If you would like to review our safety practices at St. Thomas Aquinas, a summary is available at https://stamadison.org/covid-19-protocols-at-sta/. On Sunday, October 18, Bishop Hying will join us to bless the new choir area, sacristy, A/V system, confessionals, and solar panels at the 10:00 AM Mass. Because we expect more people than usual to be present, on October 18 ONLY there will be an additional Mass at 12:30 PM for anyone who prefers a smaller Mass or whom we are unable to admit at 10:00 AM. As explained in our

August 12 Update (below), please continue to contact Terri Kopplin (608-833-2606 or terri@stamadison.com) to RSVP to attend Mass. Your cooperation helps us plan so we can offer the sacraments safely to as many people as possible.

Update, September 28, 2020: Fr. Bart received the results of his Covid-19 test, and it came back negative! Fr. Bart wanted to let everyone know as soon as possible. Thank you to everyone who has been praying for him and who sent him kind, encouraging messages.

Update, September 26, 2020: On Monday and Tuesday of this week the priests of the Diocese gathered for their annual assembly. After the gathering, one priest who works with vulnerable people and is therefore tested weekly for Covid-19, had his weekly test and it came back positive. That priest had no symptoms while at the gathering and Fr. Bart was not in close contact with him, but he was at the gathering, therefore, as recommended by Public Health Madison Dane County, he is taking extra precautions to avoid close contact with people and will not be distributing communion this weekend and will not do any face-to-face confessions. Fr. Bart feels well and plans to be tested for Covid-19 as a precaution. A copy of the letter from the Diocese announcing this exposure is at the following link: Media Release COVID-19 Positive Person Presbyteral Assembly 200925

Update, August 12, 2020: The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary will be celebrated this Saturday, August 15, with a bi-lingual Mass at 9:00 AM in the temporary chapel in the social hall. You may attend either in person or by live-stream on Facebook or YouTube. If you prefer to attend in person, please contact Terri Kopplin (terri@stamadison.com or 608-833-2606) to reserve a spot. Because it falls on Saturday, Assumption is not a Holy Day of Obligation this year. The readings and a booklet with the music and Mass parts for the Assumption Mass is available at OoW 2020-8-15 BVM.

Update, July 24, 2020: We continue to offer both in-person and live-streamed Masses and to abide by the terms of the Emergency Orders issued by Public Health of Madison & Dane County, including the requirement that masks be worn in all public buildings in Dane County. Currently all weekday Masses, the 8:00 AM Sunday Mass, and the 6:30 PM Spanish Mass are live-streamed from our temporary worship space in the Social Hall and the Masses on Saturday at 4:30 PM and Sunday at 10:00 AM are celebrated in the Church without a live-stream. Our capacity for Masses in the Church is about 150 and for Masses in the Social Hall is about 75. So far we have been able to accommodate everyone who wishes to attend Mass. Please continue to sign up with Terri Kopplin to attend weekend Masses. An order of worship for this weekend's Mass is available at https://stamadison.org/live-stream-mass-this-weekend/. Please contact the parish if you have any questions or concerns.

Update, July 10, 2020: On July 7, 2020, Public Health of Madison & Dane County issued Dane County Emergency Order #8, effective 8 AM Monday, July 13, which mandates that masks be worn in all public buildings throughout Dane County (see sections 1e and 7 of the order below). This applies to all of our parish facilities: our parish offices, worship spaces, and all public spaces within the church buildings. Please plan to wear a mask when you come for Mass, come into the building to pray, whether privately or with others, come for any on-site meetings, or visit the parish offices. The parish continues to have a limited number of masks available. If you have your own, please use yours instead. We wear masks, not only because it is mandated, but for the benefit of our health and as a solution to the continuing pandemic. Thank you, and God bless you for all you are doing to keep St. Thomas Aquinas safe for everyone. The full text of Emergency Order #8 is available here in English and in Spanish (en español). We continue to welcome people to Mass up to 50% of our capacity and limited by social distancing. We ask that you notify Terri Kopplin at terri@stamadison.com if you wish to attend Mass and which Mass you plan to attend so we can ensure that we are able to accommodate everyone and can notify you if there are any last minute changes. We will continue to live-stream Masses for everyone who is still not able to attend in person.

Update, July 3, 2020: We continue to welcome people to Mass up to 50% of our capacity limited by social distancing. We ask that you notify Terri Kopplin at terri@stamadison.com if you wish to attend Mass and which Mass you plan to attend so we can ensure that we are able to accommodate everyone and can notify you if there are any last minute changes. We will continue to live-stream Masses for everyone who is still not able to attend in person. We are excited to announce that we have installed iWave Air purification units in our buildings to help make the air cleaner. For more information please visit www.iwaveair.com/ or the July 12 bulletin.

Update, June 26, 2020: We continue to welcome people to Mass up to 50% of our capacity limited by social distancing. We ask that you notify Terri Kopplin at terri@stamadison.com if you wish to attend Mass and which Mass you plan to attend so we can ensure that we are able to accommodate everyone and can notify you if there are any last minute changes. We will continue to live-stream Masses for everyone who is still not able to attend in person. If you have not already reviewed our guidelines, please do: Return to Mass Guidelines.

Update, June 20, 2020: We continue to welcome people to Mass up to 50% of our capacity limited by social distancing. We ask that you notify Terri Kopplin at terri@stamadison.com if you wish to attend Mass and which Mass you plan to attend so we can ensure that we are able to accommodate everyone and can notify you if there are any last minute changes. We will continue to live-stream Masses for everyone who is still not able to attend in person. If you have not already reviewed our guidelines, please do: Return to Mass Guidelines.

Update, June 12, 2020: As of 10:30 PM yesterday, the 8:00 AM Mass on Sunday, June 14, in the Social Hall is basically full. That Mass will be live-streamed on Facebook and YouTube. There is still plenty of space at the 4:30 PM Mass on June 13 and the 10:00 AM Mass on June 14.

Update, June 11, 2020: This weekend we will be welcoming people to Mass up to 25% of our capacity. Based on attendance last weekend, we do not expect to have to limit attendance, but we still ask that you notify Terri Kopplin at terri@stamadison.com if you wish to attend Mass and which Mass you plan to attend so we can ensure that we are able to accommodate everyone and can notify you if there are any last minute changes. We will continue to live-stream Masses for everyone who is still not able to attend in person. Masses will be in the following locations and times:

  • Saturday, 4:30 PM: Church, no live-stream
  • Sunday, 8:00 AM: Live-streamed from the Social Hall
  • Sunday, 10:00 AM: Church, no live-stream
  • Sunday, 6:30 PM in Spanish: Church, no live-stream
  • Monday, 8:30 AM: Live-streamed from the Social Hall
  • Tuesday, 5:30 PM: Live-streamed from the Social Hall
  • Wednesday, 8:30 AM: Live-streamed from the Social Hall
  • Thursday, 7:30 AM: Live-streamed from the Social Hall
  • Friday, 8:30 AM: Live-streamed from the Social Hall

If you have not already reviewed our guidelines, please do: Return to Mass Guidelines.

Update, June 5, 2020: This morning Public Health of Madison and Dane County raised our limit for Masses from 50 to 25% of capacity. The parish email we just sent out this morning does not reflect this change. For this weekend, all Masses will be in the Social Hall at 25% of the capacity of that space. Because this is still a tight limit for us, please continue to email Terri Kopplin at terri@stamadison.com if you wish to attend Mass this weekend. And if you want to receive ongoing updates from the parish by email, please contact Mary Bailey at mary@stamadison.com or stamadison.com/contact/ and ask to receive parish emails.