Pandemic Prayers - Still Necessary?

Pandemic Prayers – Still Necessary?

Submitted by Thomas Stidl

Author’s Note:  Please pass this link on to your friends and family members.  Thank you.

         Do you remember March 2020?  How can anyone forget?  The pandemic struck.  We all wore facial diapers known as masks or anything that we could find to cover our oral and nasal area.  We needed to remain six feet apart.  That certainly made dating very interesting.  I frankly wonder if any of these precautions were effective.  Personally, I have not seen any peer review medical opinions on the efficacy of all these practices.

         All Churches were closed and Catholics were deprived of their sacraments especially the Eucharist at Easter.  There was even a good possibility that you could die without the Last Sacraments.

         Thankfully, Masses were televised and on the internet so all of us could still get some daily and weekly religious meditation time.

         Now, the Church doors are open again and a sense of normalcy has returned, but what if another pandemic or crisis occurs, manufactured or not?  Could we go back to the same nightmare or worse?  Quite possibly, the answer is yes. 

         My prayer and meditation life increased during the pandemic.  Now that the pandemic has ended, believe it or not, I have kept all the practices and disciplines that I started during the pandemic like any good Lenten Penance.

         The most effective prayers that I keep reciting, as mentioned in a previous article, “The Apartment” are the perfect Act of Contrition and the Act of Spiritual Communion.  I add to that an Act of Faith, Hope, and Love along with a chorus verse from a first Holy Communion Hymn “O Lord I Am Not Worthy”.  Let me detail them here.

The Act Of Contrition:

Oh My God, I am heartily sorry for having offended thee, and I detest all my sins because of my deep love for Thee and that they have offended you, oh my God who are all good and deserving of all my love.  I firmly resolve with the help of thy grace to sin no more and avoid the near occasions to sin. Amen

Act of Faith Hope and Love:

Oh my God, I believe in you, I hope in you and I love you above all things with my whole heart, soul, mind, body, and strength.  I love my neighbor for the love of Thee and I ask pardon for those who I have wronged and I pardon all those who have wronged me in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Act of Spiritual Communion:

Oh my Jesus, I firmly believe that you are present in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the altar.  I love you above all things and I desire you now in my soul.  Since I cannot now receive you sacramentally, please come spiritually into my heart.  As though you are already there, I embrace you and unite myself entirely to you.  Never let be separated from you, not for one moment either in time or in eternity.  Amen.

Chorus verse – Oh Lord I Am Not Worthy:

Oh Sacrament, Most Holy, Oh Sacrament Divine, All praise and all thanksgiving be every moment thine.

         In case of a lack of a priest when you are about to die, reciting these prayers with fervor gives spiritual Viaticum, Food for the Journey.  Also, it gives at least a foot in the door of the vestibule of Heaven, namely Purgatory after the Particular Judgment.  More articles on the subject of Purgatory are to follow.

         There are also other pandemic prayers and meditations that I will detail in a later article.

         Laus Tibi Christe.  Deo Gratias.  Praise be to God.  See you in Paradise.