Prayer in a Time of Plague

18 March 2020 Archbishop Paul Etienne, Bishop Daniel Mueggenborg, Deacon James Fish, Mary, Moments in Time, Pope Francis I, Prayer, resources, Rev. Jacob Maurer, Rev. Matt Fish, Rev. Nicholas Wichert, Saints, The Sacred Liturgy

Pope Francis calls on everyone to pray the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary tomorrow, the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, at 9:00pm Rome time invoking “Our Lady, Health of the Sick and Saint Joseph, to protect our families from coronavirus COVID-19, especially the ill and those who are caring for the sick, the doctors, nurses, who are risking their lives”¹. This is 1:00pm Pacific Time tomorrow.

As public Masses are suspended all over the world, diocese by diocese, this is an important reminder that God has not abandoned us in this time of plague. It’s worth remembering that the word “quarantine” is from the 17th century Italian quarantina ‘forty days’. This is a true Lent.

In the Archdiocese of Seattle, Archbishop Etienne has suspended all public Masses and has dispensed the faithful from their Sunday obligations – though not from the Third Commandment (“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy”).

Every priest is still praying private Masses, so even though we currently have no access to the sacraments, rest assured that the holy sacrifice of the Mass is still being offered, both for you and for your intentions.

So that we may not be entirely deprived of the Eucharist, in many places priests and even bishops have taken Jesus into the streets in procession. As the pandemic worsens, these too are being cancelled.

Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan bringing the Blessed Sacrament to the streets of Waterford in Ireland to ask for God's help in fighting coronavirus

God bless him!#catholictwitter #StPatricksDay pic.twitter.com/KOFmmxbgsp
— Catholic Arena (@CatholicArena) March 16, 2020

How long will this last? Who knows? It’s starting to look like even the rites of Holy Week and Easter will not be celebrated publicly.

This is not a new thing. In the fourth century, Saint Ambrose closed the churches in Milan in the time of a great plague. Even in this country, many churches were closed during the Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1918.

Needless to say at our parish of Holy Rosary, in addition to the weekend Masses, we have canceled Vespers and Stations of the Cross, as well as RCIA and Confirmation classes, until further notice. The CMC chapel will be open on Wednesdays from 6pm to 8pm. Eight people at a time will be permitted – details may be found on our web site.

So what can we do?

Pray.

There are plenty of resources out there, and plenty of priests and bishops offering live streaming of Sunday and even daily Masses. I’ll list a some below.

Here are just some of the online resources available: