Our Mother of Perpetual Help Novena | COVID-19 Peak in U.S.

These next couple of weeks are going to be crucial for the U.S.  COVID-19 will peak, and it will be incumbent upon us to make no trips to indoor public places, to carefully shelter in our homes. Hopefully you have stocked up on groceries, toilet paper, medications, and any other necessities. I don't think it's a coincidence that this peak in the coronavirus is occurring during Holy Week. The significance of the timing might vary from person to person, but I think that it should be taken as a signal for our country to turn back to God.

Yesterday, Palm Sunday, my family watched the first hour of the Mass given by Pope Francis on YouTube, on our Smart TV. This was the portion through the homily. I finished watching the Mass by myself. Today, before beginning homeschooling, my daughter and I read the daily Mass Scripture readings from the USCCB website: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/040620.cfm. You can also view Masses this week with Bishop Robert Barron on YouTube, at his "Word on Fire" program: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSGOpSFAsKU.

I encourage all Catholics to seek out the sources available for participation in Holy Week, and to pray family Rosaries. You could pray a sorrowful mystery each day from today through Good Friday, which will culminate with the Crucifixion of Our Lord. I also encourage all the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ, including those who do not normally observe Holy Week, as well as people of other religious traditions, to make this a time of increased and fruitful spiritual practice.

Today I began a novena (a period of 9 days of prayer) to Our Mother of Perpetual Help, using A Book of Marian Prayers by Loyola Press. There are many online links to this novena in its various forms. Here is one, with the subsequent prayers for each day at the very bottom: http://www.god-answers-prayers.com/mother_mary_prayers/perpetual_help_9days2_novena_prayer/index.html. Calling on Our Lady's intercession at this difficult time will keep us safely under her mantle of protection, through the power of the Holy Spirit, and in union with the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

May you have a blessed Holy Week, mining the treasures of the Christian Faith, and offer up your sufferings in union with Christ on the Cross. Godspeed, Rita Michele