The story begings with Parson Hooper's (the reverend of Milford) arrival to the mass on the Sabbath with a black veil covereing his eyes. As we see, the events take place in a small town, where everyone knows everything about each other even to the smallest details.
 We get acquinted with the characters of the story. I should  point out that many people gather at the mass, so it shows that they are religious ones or at least try to be.