ALPENA — You can’t get fries and a soft drink at this drive-thru, but you can get prayer and encouragement.

All Saints Catholic Parish is offering a sacred kind of drive-thru during this government-mandated isolation period.

Every Sunday starting at 11 a.m., Fathers Joe Muszkiewicz and Scott Lawler give the Blessed Sacrament to parishoners waiting in their cars. This is not physical communion, as bread and wine are not being distributed.

“It’s the source and summit of our faith,” Muszkiewicz said of the Blessed Sacrament. “It’s a spiritual communion. It’s a prayer.”

Muszkiewicz and Lawler drive the St. Vincent de Paul van first to St. Mary’s parking lot at 11 a.m., at 120 E. Miller St. Then for 10 minutes they give a blessing to those in their vehicles. After that, they head to St. Bernard’s at 322 W. Chisholm St., then St. John’s at 2425 Frederick St., then St. Anne’s at 817 Sable St.

“We’re asking people to stay in their cars,” Muszkiewicz said. “We give them a blessing. Those that have come really seem to appreciate it. It’s a way for us to keep in touch while still keeping that social distancing.”

The blessing is given again at 5 p.m. on Sundays.

He said with the absence of services, coming together in some way can be comforting.

“One of the things people miss, whether we want to admit it or not, we are a ritualistic people,” he explained. “When you can offer something as best you can, that really can be comforting.”

All Saints serves 1,695 families, Muszkiewicz said.

He said the drive-thru blessings are just one of the options people have for keeping in touch with their faith during this time.

All Saints offers open-air confession times from 11 a.m. to noon on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, and from 6 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday and Friday. They also offer daily programs on Facebook Live at 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Sunday masses are broadcast on TV and radio.

“Hopefully, when things get back to normal, they’ll appreciate it,” he said. “You don’t appreciate something until it’s not there.”

For more information, call the All Saints Catholic Parish Office, located inside St. Anne’s, at 989-354-3019. The office is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday.For more details, visit alpenacatholics.org.

Muszkiewicz added that it’s important to remember that God is faithful through all our trials.

“Jesus never said, ‘If you follow me, and do what you’re supposed to do, everything will be OK,'” he said. “But he did say he’d be with you through it all.”

Darby Hinkley can be reached at 989-358-5691 or dhinkley@thealpenanews.com.