mars 2020

I dag leste jeg følgende hos Rorate Cæli:

Suspending public Mass is not new. In 1918, during the Spanish Influenza Epidemic, in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, public Masses were suspended for a number of weeks in October 1918.

Philadelphia was particularly hard-hit by the Spanish Influenza of 1918. There was a public war-bonds parade at the beginning of October in which 200,000 people attended. Three days later, Spanish Influenza exploded in Philadelphia, and, within two weeks, 4,500 people had died.

Archbishop Dougherty suspended public Masses on March 4th (in accordance with the order of the Board of Health) and called upon the religious sisters to help care for the sick. He also encouraged the use of church facilities for the temporary care of the sick. The churches in the city of Philadelphia were not ordered to be locked and many remained opened for the faithful. Masses and public devotions including confessions were suspended, though. City churches reinstated confessions on Saturday Oct 26th with public Mass starting the following day, but in many rural churches the public celebration of Mass remained suspended until Nov 3rd.

Philadelphia was not the only city to close churches. A 2007 study looked at how 17 cities responded to the September – December 1918 Spanish Influenza Epidemic. The purpose of the study was to determine the effects of social distancing on the spread of the flu. The authors document 13 cities that curtailed church gatherings: Baltimore, Boston, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Newark, New Orleans, Omaha, Pittsburgh, Seattle, St. Louis, and Washington DC.

During these difficult times in 2020, we should be aware that what we are experiencing is not totally new. As a devout Catholic, suspension of public Mass is a shock, but we should remember that the Church has been here before. Catholics can and should make acts of spiritual communion and pray with due attention. If the churches in your diocese are not locked, make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament and spend some time with Our Lord.

Dette fant jeg på lifesitenews.com:

A ‘flash of creativity’ fills an empty parish church during Mass

A small-town Italian priest, saddened at the prospect of celebrating Mass without his parishioners, sent out a call to them asking them to take selfies and send them to him.

“Send me photographs of yourselves, of you and your family, the photo of your face, I need to see faces in front of me when I celebrate Mass next Sunday,” explained Fr. Giuseppe Corbari, according to a WantedinMilan.com report. “I will print the photo you send me and I will stick it with sellotape on the pew: it is a way to make me feel less alone.”

“Obviously I will put the children in the front benches, the altar boys on the altar, and all the adults in the other places,” added Fr. Corbari, who said he was happy to once again have his church full of smiling faces.”

I avisa Dagen kunne vi nylig lese:

Pave Frans gikk ut for å be om at koronaviruspandemien må ta slutt, …han … gikk først til basilikaen Santa Maria Maggiore, som han ofte tidligere har besøkt for å be takkebønn når han vender tilbake fra utenlandsreiser.

Deretter gikk turen til Piazza Venezia, hvor han spaserte en kort tur langs handlegaten Via del Corso før han stakk innom ei kirke som de fleste turister går forbi, San Marcello al Corso.

– Med sin bønn har den hellige far påkalt slutten på pandemien som rammer Italia og verden, tryglet om at de mange syke blir helbredet, og også mintes de mange ofrene og bedt om at deres familier og venner finner trøst og støtte, sier Vatikanet i en pressemelding søndag kveld.

I en artikkel som egentlig handlet om noe annet, leste jeg også: «the church of San Marcello al Corso, where a miraculous crucifix is housed. In 1522 it was carried in procession throughout the neighborhoods of the city so that the ‘Great Plague’ might cease in Rome.”

Etter hvert fant jeg også ut mer om dette krusifikset, bl.a. HER:

The church of San Marcello al Corso hosts a wonderful, dark wooden crucifix by the fourteenth century Sienese school. … A miraculous episode dates back to the time of the great plague of 1522. The plague struck Rome so violently as to cause concern that the city remained without inhabitants. Mindful of the miracle of the fire, the friars of the order of the “Servants of Mary” decided to take the crucifix in penitential procession from the church of San Marcello to St. Peter’s Basilica. The authorities, fearing the risk of contagion tried to prevent the religious procession, but the collective despair did not accept the ban and the sculpture of the Savior was carried through the streets of the city and followed by public acclaim. The chronicles of the time say that the procession lasted sixteen days, 4 to 20 August of that year. And that’s because, as they proceeded, the plague receded, so that each district was trying to hold back as long as possible the sacred image. When it returned to San Marcello, the plague had completely ceased and Rome was saved.

Mer informasjon HER (gå ned til «Chapel of the Crucifix»).

På Rorate Coeli leste jeg i går, 14/3, dette vitnesbyrdet om et italiensk politikers katolske tro:

Yesterday the Mayor of Venice, Luigi Brugnaro, wearing his three-colored sash of office, visited the Basilica of La Madonna della Salute in Venice – and – along with other prayers , invoking the protection of the Blessed Virgin– consecrated Venice and the entire Veneto region to the Immaculate Heart of Mary with this: “we consecrate the city of Venice and our Veneto lands to Your Immaculate Heart.”