The Shrine downstairs has always been a place of quiet, contemplation, and peace, and your Society is endeavoring to maintain this space as a place of refuge from the noise and chaos of the world.
To that end, having obtained the Tabernacle from Holy Cross parish, which closed the day before our final parish Mass on November 25, 2018 at St. Anne’s, we’ve located it, front and center, in the Shrine sanctuary:
Please be aware that, with the Tabernacle now front and center in the Shrine, the entire Shrine central space is in the presence of our Lord. Catholic tradition and practice is that reverence should be shown to the Lord in the Tabernacle: genuflecting before entering and upon leaving a pew, a respectful silence while in His presence, and maintaining proper decorum in dress and activities is always required, as befitting being in the presence of the Son of God.
The Sanctuary space itself, marked by the velvet ropes around the rear and the altar rail in the front, should be respected as a limited access area; please refrain from entering the Sanctuary itself unless part of a liturgical activity since this space is now sacred with the presence of our Eucharistic Lord in the Tabernacle.
We hope that these changes prove beneficial to you, and we welcome you to the ongoing improvements and changes to the Shrine to further our mission of returning St. Anne Shrine to its proper place as a destination of Catholic devotion in the Fall River Diocese.