SUDBURY -- Church pews were not as full as they once were, but those involved say this is the day they’ve all been waiting for.

"Our hearts are bubbling with joy and enthusiasm and so that’s the feeling that our folks have, especially those that have been here 50, 60 years. Never in their lifetime have they experienced anything like this. This is a landmark day in the history of this church," said Mike Tulloch, Executive Pastor of All Nations Church.

Before the pandemic, All Nations Church was able to hold up to 700 individuals but under new restrictions, there is room for roughly 200 people and there are new rules in place for the congregation.

"We’re sitting people in accordance to family units, and then leaving the social distancing two metre space between and we’re also being very careful to sanitize their hands in entry. We are also monitoring attendance just in case there is a problem," said Tulloch.

Throughout the day, Roman Catholic Churches celebrated the Feast of Corpus Christi.

Although some churches were not open as of yet, people were still able receive their blessings from a distance.

"As we are celebrating this feast today, now we are living in a different reality in this pandemic we all need more power and spiritual energy. We thought we could invite our people to come and receive the blessing from the sacrament, that will make them feel more energetic,” said Arul Kumar, Pastor of St. Stanislaus Church.

This service was put together by the Knights of Columbus.

Both pastors say they will continue to respect physical distancing in their church as long as it’s necessary.