A worker sprayed disinfectant to combat the coronavirus in the Basilica of San Domenico Maggiore in Naples, Italy, March 6. The suspension of public Masses in Italy is a painful yet necessary measure to protect people’s health, the country’s bishops said in a March 8 statement.Photo Credits: Fotogramma/IPA/ABACAPRESS.COM via ReutersVATICAN CITY — Pope Francis entrusted to Jesus’ mother the suffering
and anguish of millions of people affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
In
a video message broadcast March 11, the pope prayed before a portrait
of Our Lady of Divine Love, beseeching her to “not disdain the
entreaties of we who are in trial” but to “deliver us from every
danger.”
“We entrust ourselves to you, Health of the Sick, who at
the cross took part in Jesus’ pain, keeping your faith firm,” the pope
prayed. “You, Salvation of the Roman People, know what we need, and we
are sure you will provide so that, as in Cana of Galilee, we may return
to joy and to feasting after this time of trial.”
The pope’s video
message was aired on TV2000, the television channel of the Italian
bishops’ conference, and the Diocese of Rome’s Facebook page. Cardinal
Angelo De Donatis, papal vicar of Rome, celebrated a Mass at Rome’s
Shrine of Divine Love that was aired live after the pope’s message.
The
Mass, according to the Diocese of Rome, capped a day of prayer and
fasting for the city and for Italy, which has been under a
government-mandated lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
Text of pope’s prayer
O Mary,
you always shine on our path
as a sign of salvation and of hope.
We entrust ourselves to you, Health of the Sick,
who at the cross took part in Jesus’ pain, keeping your faith firm.
You, Salvation of the Roman People,
know what we need,
and we are sure you will provide
so that, as in Cana of Galilee,
we may return to joy and to feasting
after this time of trial.
Help us, Mother of Divine Love,
to conform to the will of the Father
and to do as we are told by Jesus,
who has taken upon himself our sufferings
and carried our sorrows
to lead us, through the cross,
to the joy of the resurrection. Amen.
Under
your protection, we seek refuge, Holy Mother of God. Do not disdain the
entreaties of we who are in trial, but deliver us from every danger, O
glorious and blessed Virgin.
— Catholic News Service translation