Catholic bishops called for a collective prayer for “healing” and an end to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) asked the faithful to pray “10 Hail Mary’s daily” in Catholic schools and seminaries, parishes and communities.
The nationwide prayer campaign started on August 15, the Solemnity of the Assumption, and will end on September 15, the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows.
The Marian prayer, according to them, is to be recited at 12 noon “wherever you may be.”
The “call to prayer” was contained in a joint pastoral message on Covid-19 issued by the CBCP’s Commission on Seminaries and the Commission on Catechesis and Catholic Education.
The statement was released on Wednesday in time for the upcoming opening of the new school year.
“We invite all to a collective prayer action to lift the lockdowns and help heal the nation. God always listens and nothing is impossible with Him,” they said.
The bishops also called on Catholic colleges and universities to make sure that scientific studies about Covid-19 are widely shared to the general public “using reason, science and Catholic social teachings.”
While saying that medicine is not the expertise in seminaries, “let us drink from the well of Catholic social teachings how to face this worldwide pandemic.”
“These will give our countrymen an access to the truth that will free them from baseless fears and unnecessary anxieties,” the bishops said.
The church leaders also appealed to parents and teachers to attend to the special needs of their children during these “extraordinary times.”
“Let us insure their balanced growth and formation of the mind, body and soul,” the bishops added.
“There is a bigger and brighter world beyond the virtual world that our children have been accustomed to during the lockdowns,” they added.
The bishops “pleaded” with the mediamen “to balance their coverage of the Covid-19 crisis.”
“The science and facts have evolved away from the original narrative that caused and surrounded the lockdowns. Be truly independent and fearless. Follow the truth wherever it may lead,” they said.
They likewise called on government officials “to be more open to the new scientific insights and global experiences around Covid-19, even if these may challenge one’s belief systems and preferred approaches to managing the epidemic.”
“Let us learn from the success stories of our Asean neighbors with political humility and collective honesty. We appeal to the IATF [Inter-Agency Task Force] for a more participatory approach that is open to the wisdom and experience of various professionals, scientists and physicians as well as genuine and constructive representatives of business, civil society, and local government units,” they added.
They also appealed for the upgrade of the capacity of hospitals and rationalize the use of limited hospital spaces.
“Be more precise in targeting who should receive priority in hospital care. Focus our strategy in protecting the most vulnerable sectors of society including the senior citizens and people threatened with other morbidities,” the bishops said.
To the frontliners, they said: “We bow in homage and gratitude to our medical frontliners who have laid down their lives that others may live.”
The bishops quoted Pope Francis’s message in March “We are not self-sufficient; by ourselves we flounder: we need the Lord, like ancient navigators needed the stars. Let us invite Jesus into the boats of our lives.”
“Let us hand over our fears to Him so that He can conquer them. Like the disciples, we will experience that with Him on board there will be no shipwreck. Because this is God’s strength: turning to the good everything that happens to us, even the bad things. He brings serenity into our storms, because with God life never dies.”
The pastoral message was signed by Archbishop Socrates B. Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan and chairman of Episcopal Commission on Seminaries; Bishop Roberto C. Mallari of San Jose de Nueva Ecija and chairman of Episcopal Commission on Catechesis and Catholic Education; and endorsed by Bishop Pablo Virgilio S. David of Kalookan, acting president of CBCP.
Pope asks for Mary’s intercession
At the Vatican, Pope Francis asked the Blessed Virgin Mary to intercede so that humanity might overcome the novel coronavirus, as the Church prepares to celebrate the feast of her Assumption.
In his greetings during the Wednesday General Audience, Pope Francis looked ahead to the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary, celebrated on August 15.
Greeting the Polish-speaking faithful, the Pope recalled the Blessed Virgin Mary’s role in the “Miracle of the Vistula,” which took place 100 years ago.
On August 15, 1920, the Polish Army won a decisive victory over Soviet forces at the Battle of Warsaw, which was attributed to Mary’s intercession.
The day is also marked as Polish Armed Forces Day.
“May the Mother of God today help humanity to defeat the coronavirus,” the pope said, “and may she assure generous blessings for you, your families, and all the Polish people.”
He also expressed his spiritual support for the hundreds of Catholics taking part in a pilgrimage to the Shrine of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa.
“May this pilgrimage, undertaken with care due to the pandemic, be for all a moment of reflection, prayer, and fraternity in faith and love,” he prayed.
In his greetings to the English-speaking faithful, Pope Francis encouraged everyone to prepare themselves to celebrate the feast of the Assumption of Mary.
“May she guide our pilgrimage toward the fullness of Christ’ promises,” he said.
The Pope told the German-speaking faithful that the Solemnity “reveals the sublime dignity which God has bestowed upon humanity.”
“Let us ask the Lord for the grace of the humility of His Servant, so that He might do great things in us as well.”
Our Lady of the Assumption is also the patroness of France.
Pope Francis prayed that Mary might “strengthen [the] faith and hope” of the French people.
“May she help you always to resist selfishness, indifference, and individualism to build a more fraternal society built on solidarity.”
CBCP News and Vatican News
Image credits: Wikimedia Commons