Well, here we all are, distancing socially so that we can keep both ourselves and others well, not tax the healthcare system, and hopefully – and quickly – cut COVID-19 off at the knees. The response to this pandemic has varied wildly, from complete mockery and disregard to downright hysteria and panic hoarding.
But because of our faith, which includes hope and redemptive suffering, Catholics should view this world event differently than the general population.
In this episode of The Catholic Mama podcast, my husband Pat and I discuss the coronavirus – plain facts (no hype) and what we as Catholics can do in the face of this trial.
You can listen to the episode here or listen to it on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or iHeartRadio.
And if you need some suggestions on how to quarantine in the Catholic spirit, check out my list below, and please share your ideas in the comments!
27 Catholic Things to Do During Quarantine
- Pray the rosary.
- Pray all 20 decades of the rosary.
- Read the Bible.
- Put down your phone and spend lots of time with your family.
- Call relatives that you don’t often get a chance to talk to.
- Be open to life with your spouse 😉😆
- Enjoy spiritual communion with a livestream Mass.
- Pray along on the Lectio Divina with the guys from The Godsplaining Podcast
- Watch reruns of Mother Angelica Live on YouTube
- Read a book about a saint like this one or this one.
- Watch EWTN.
- Listen to Catholic radio, like this, this or this.
- Listen to Catholic podcasts (ahem…like mine 😅)
- If you don’t do e-giving to your local parish each week and won’t be there for Mass on Sunday, tithe online.
- Wake up extra early for quiet prayer time.
- Don’t be gluttonous – it’s still Lent!
- Read Theology and Sanity by Frank Sheed
- Read The World’s First Love by Ven. Archbishop Fulton Sheen
- Check on elderly neighbors to make sure they have everything they need and help them as best as possible, if they don’t.
- Visit a cemetery and pray for the dead.
- Go for a walk and enjoy God’s natural creation.
- Start to learn Latin on the Duolingo app and read up on the Traditional Latin Mass.
- Pray the Stella Coeli prayer (see below).
- Set aside 15+ minutes per day for prayer with your entire family and another 15 minutes for prayer with your spouse.
- If you don’t have a home altar/shrine set up, see what you have around the house to work on creating one.
- Listen to Gregorian chant.
- Offer up your daily suffering and works to the Lord for the greater good.
Stella Coeli Prayer
Brief history of the Stella Coeli prayer:
The town of Coimbra (Portugal) having been visited by a violent pestilence, the nuns of St Clare offered their prayers in the following form, whereupon the contagion instantly ceased. This holy prayer, left to the above-named monastery, has preserved many places from contagion where it is recited daily with confidence in God and the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It has arrested this scourge in many places (Source).
The Star of Heaven that nourished the Lord
drove away the plague of death which the first
parents of man brought into the world. May
this bright Star now vouchsafe to extinguish
that foul constellation whose battles have
slain the people with the wound of death.
O most pious Star of the Sea, preserve us from
pestilence; hear us, O Lady, for Thy Son honours
Thee by denying Thee nothing. Save us, O Jesus,
for whom Thy Virgin Mother supplicates Thee.
V: Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God.
R: That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray.
O God of mercy, God of pity, God of benign clemency,
Thou Who hast had compassion on the affliction of Thy
people, and hast said to the angel striking them, “Stop thy
hand;” for the love of this glorious Star, whose breasts
Thou didst sweetly drink as antidote for our crimes,
grant the assistance of Thy grace, that we may be safely freed
from all pestilence, and from unprovided death; and mercifully
save us from the gulf of eternal perdition: through Thee,
Lord Jesus Christ, King of Glory, who livest and reignest,
world without end. Amen.
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