“I just knew it was time,” she said. “I am going open hands, cold turkey.”
Sr. Covani, who entered religious life with the Sisters of Providence, St. Mary of the Woods community 29 years ago, is credited with the strong reflection of cultural diversity in diocesan liturgies, and with implementing effective training events and programs for parish liturgical ministers.
“We have many people in our parishes who are well-formed in liturgical ministries,” Bishop Barnes said of Sr. Covani’s impact. “I’m grateful for that.”
When she arrived in 1998, having worked in a similar position for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Sr. Covani attended Sunday Mass in as many parishes as she could. “There was a great need for liturgical formation,” she recalls. A year later she held the first Liturgical Formation Days in the vicariates of the Diocese. Attendance was strong and the Worship Office’s trainings, which also include the annual Music Day for liturgical musicians and cantors, have been known to draw over 1,000 people.
In her typical no nonsense style, she explains the appeal of her events. “You offer something that is organized, hospitable, has a good presenter – and we try to make it [inexpensive]. Why wouldn’t they come?”
Another foundational element of Sr. Covani’s approach to liturgy is the need to reflect the many cultures present in the Catholic community, especially in the Diocese of San Bernardino. This has meant designing diocesan liturgies to include multiple languages, and incorporating the customs and movements of different ethnicities into the Mass. With a strong Hispanic presence in the Diocese, the Office of Worship works closely with Spanish-speaking communities in its formation work.
Of Sr. Covani’s instinct to include the many communities in the Diocese as part of liturgical life, Bishop Barnes said, “she has the soul of the people.” Bishop Barnes honored Sr. Covani with his Amar Es Entregarse Award this year.
As she looks back on her time in the Diocese, Sr. Covani remembers fondly planning the Episcopal Ordinations of Auxiliary Bishops Dennis O’Neil and Rutilio del Riego. The impressive cultural diversity of the Diocese was made evident at those Masses, she says.
Sr. Covani also led an intensive planning and training process surrounding the release of the Third Edition of the Roman Missal in 2011, which included changes to several responsorial phrases that had been used by Catholics for decades. The preparation process for that transition actually began in 2009, she says.
More recently, the Office of Worship has offered a set of guidelines to parishes for the use of video technology for the display of music and readings during Mass.
While the number of parish ministries expands to meet the needs of parish life, liturgical ministry is still central to the Catholic experience, Sr. Covani says.
“The best opportunity to reach Catholics is the Sunday Mass. That’s when they come,” she says. “Through understanding it and participating in it they have a chance to experience love and hope and renewed relationship.”