The devout have had to find new ways to spread the oldest of messages as they strive to keep the faith amid a ban on public gatherings.
Bishop Richard Umbers livestreamed his Sunday sermon on Facebook - in portrait mode.
"I know, I know," he said. "I have an old model iPhone and Facebook wouldn't let me go live in landscape."
But a few teething problems didn't deter more than two thousand Catholics - from the Phillippines to Tasmania - who tuned in to watch the Bishop's sermon from St Paul of the Cross.
The church, in the inner-west Sydney suburb of Dulwich Hill, has a standard congregation of about 200 people.
Regulars like the Munday-d'Souza family, who hooked up a laptop to their TV and speakers to more closely mimic the real experience.
"I think it was good," Damien Munday told AAP.
"It was a little bit different but what is reassuring is to be able to worship in your own home and in a safe environment."
The mass was also a lot shorter, running to just half an hour, which could be of benefit to parents, Mr Munday said.
Wrangling son Max, 10, and six-year-old Grace to sit still for an hour each Sunday was never easy, he added, even with the novelty of seeing their Bishop on TV.
But both Mr Munday and his wife, Deborah d'Souza, said they missed some of the pageantry.
Bishop Umbers agreed, adding despite his fondness for social networking - he gave up Twitter for Lent before the virus forced him to renege - there was no replacement for the real thing.
"I can understand why some priests put up photos of their parishioners in the church," he joked.
Delivering sermons to a blank screen was much harder, he said.
"You do gauge what you say - you read the room - and you do miss the whole feedback afterwards although there are the likes and other reactions from the screen," he said.
"Everyone's got their pew."
But he says its important for the church to adapt to reach new audiences, especially young people.
Across town, Sydney's Archbishop Anthony Fisher crashed one of the websites hosting his 10am sermon from the cavernous St Mary's Cathedral.
More than 15,000 people tuned in on Sunday to hear the Archbishop tell how the recent ban on religious worship was the fifth time in Australia's history Catholics had been barred from mass.
The fourth was in 1919, during the Spanish flu.
Archbishop Fisher asked his flock to consider what mark the latest viral outbreak would leave on society, and on the church.
He encouraged them to take comfort in the strength of mutability.
"She's (the Church) been through this many times," he said, during the homily.
"Each of us, also, goes through various beginnings, ends and revivals."
But Bishop Umbers understands some members can find change difficult.
He hopes keeping up with technology is a small but permanent move the church can embrace.
"It took a crisis for this activity to take place," Bishop Umbers said. "But now you've got priests asking me for help to set up a website."
As to what he turns to for comfort during a crisis?
"Jesus' words: Be not afraid."
Australian Associated Press
