covID-19
2 March 22, 2020 catholicregister.org
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BY CINDY WOODEN Catholic News Service
ROME
With Italy on lockdown and COVID-19 spreading around the world, Pope Francis went on a mini-pilgrimage March 15 to pray first at an icon and then at a crucifix associated with miracu- lous interventions.. The icon is Salus Populi Romani (health of the Roman people) in the Basilica of St. Mary Major and the crucifix, which Romans call the Miraculous Crucifix, is housed in the Church of St. Marcellus. At the Basilica of St. Mary Major, the Pope laid a bouquet of yellow and white flowers on the altar and sat in prayer in front of the chapel's famous icon of Mary and the child Jesus. The image has been connected for centuries to the faith of the Roman people in times of dire health emergencies. According to legend, late in the sixth century Pope Gregory I had the icon carried through the streets of Rome in prayer that the Black Plague would end, and in 1837, Pope Gregory XVI prayed before the image for an end to a devastat- ing cholera outbreak. The crucifix at the church of St. Marcellus is a 15th-century wooden crucifix that survived a fire in 1519 that burned to the ground the original church. The morning after the fire, while the ruins were still smouldering, people found the crucifix intact. Some Catholics began gathering every Friday evening to pray, even- tually forming the Confraternity of the Most Holy Crucifix. In 1522, in the midst of the great plague in Rome, the faithful carried the crucifix in proces- sion for 16 days. Devotion to the
Pope makes a healing pilgrimage
Special note to Register readers
With Masses being cancelled around the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Pope Francis is urging people who are being shut out from the Eucharist to participate in the centuries-old practice of "spiritual Communion." The idea of spiritual Communion - inviting Jesus into one's heart and soul when receiving the actual sacrament isn't possible - is part of Catholic tradition. It's been mentioned in Church documents over the centuries and as recently as 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI. In the 1700s, St. Alphonsus Liguori wrote a special prayer for spiritual Communion that he en- couraged the faithful to pray at times when receiving the Eucharist was not possible. It is as follows: "My Jesus, I believe You are really here in the Blessed Sacrament. I love You more than anything in the world, and I hunger to receive You. But since I cannot receive Communion at this moment, feed my soul at least spiritually. I unite myself to You now as I do when I actually receive You."
A Communion prayer
crucifix led people to defy the authorities, who had banned all public gatherings in attempts to contain the contagion. "With his prayer, the Holy Father invoked the end of the pandemic striking Italy and the world, imploring healing for the many people who are sick, re- membering the many victims and asking that their family and friends find consolation and comfort," said Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office. A day earlier, during a live broadcast of his Sunday Angelus address, the Pope praised "the creativity of priests," especially in the northern Italian region of Lombardy, who continue to find new ways to minister to the faithful. Several viral videos and articles showed how priests are trying to reach out to people, including Fr. Giuseppe Corbari in the northern city of Giussano. He asked parish- ioners to send him their selfies, which were placed in the pews of his empty church. "I will continue to celebrate Mass with more joy because my parishioners are all here, even if only by photo," Corbari said. Earlier in the day, the Pope cel- ebrated a livestreamed Mass at the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where he offered prayers for "all those who are working to guarantee public services: those working in phar- macies, supermarkets, transporta- tion and police officers." The next morning he prayed for families who are cooped up in their homes and for all those who are ill. "May the Lord help them discover new ways, new expres- sions of love, of living together in this new situation," he said.
Pope Francis prays in front of a crucifix at the Church of St. Marcellus in Rome March 15. The crucifix was carried through Rome in 1522 during the plague.
(CNS photo/Vatican Media)
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