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Lent

Holy Thursday Amid COVID-19

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With Holy Thursday, we arrive at the Triduum, the most sacred time in our liturgical calendar. These days sometimes have been referred to as the “still days,” but for most…

With Holy Thursday, we arrive at the Triduum, the most sacred time in our liturgical calendar. These days sometimes have been referred to as the “still days,” but for most of us, our prior experience of them has involved very little stillness. While the Church sets aside extra time for special liturgies recalling the mystery of Christ’s passion, death and resurrection, the world generally takes very little notice. It continues on, with its hustle and bustle, with commerce and the cacophonous noise of lives simply moving without pause. And while we might be members of the Church, we are also creatures of this world. It is difficult for us to resist the inertia of that hustle and bustle that too often moves us along unthinkingly, and that makes these days just like those on the rest of the calendar: markers of time come and gone.

This continuous flow of activity impedes us from entering into the requisite stillness to which we are invited. But this year things are markedly different. The outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has ushered in an unanticipated and enforced interruption of activity. The hustle and bustle we simply assumed as a given, that we took to be as natural as the passing of days, is revealed now as what is truly artificial: it is, it turns out when all is stripped away, the stillness that is the constant, not the busyness.

We can resist that disclosure or we can accept it. We can choose to embrace the privileged time and silence to which God has constantly been inviting us. Or we can once more rebuff that offer by desperately searching for distraction instead, as so many will be tempted to do. This moment affords us, though, the possibility of allowing ourselves now to take the plunge into the mystery of God in ways previously unimaginable.

And it is a special challenge leveled at the Church and her members. The world does not know what to do with itself now. But we do. We have this knowledge not through our own merit, but only as those who have already received the gift of God’s largesse. We have been given God’s life and made stewards of it in order to extend it to others. That is the nature of God’s very life — a Triune exchange of giving. Our privilege as the Church is to be invited into this; but that privilege comes with a mandate to draw others — through our service — into this same life. And that summons to service is especially what Holy Thursday and the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper brings to the forefront.

The collect, or opening prayer, of Holy Thursday’s Mass reminds us that the God who has “called us to participate in this most sacred Supper,” is the same God who has entrusted to us “a sacrifice new for all eternity, the banquet of his love,” so that we might draw from so great a mystery “the fullness of charity and life.” In case the meaning of what we have been so entrusted with remains unclear, we have the most dramatic gesture of this annual celebration, which is the washing of the feet. The significance of that action for all of us is stipulated by Christ’s words in the Gospel proclaimed: “I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do” (Jn 13:15).

On Holy Thursday we recall Christ’s institution of the Eucharist, the “sacrifice new for all eternity” alluded to in the Collect Prayer. What will undoubtedly make this particular Holy Thursday memorable, and regrettable for so many, is the inability to receive that very sacrament. But it is worth recalling that reception itself is not its own end. We can take Christ on our tongue repeatedly, all the while being closed to him interiorly. The meaning of our reception of Communion as a believer is to — in St. Augustine’s formulation — become the mystery we have received. Or alternatively expressed: to become like Christ, who is himself “the fullness of charity and life.”

How does one do that? The foot-washing has already shown the way. As he says, “I have given you a model to follow.” We the beneficiaries of Christ’s humble service are likewise called to the same service. Those who have received Christ’s life poured out in them are to pour out themselves for others. The pouring out of Christ for us is most fully expressed in the Eucharist. It is true that COVID-19 may deny us this Holy Thursday the privilege of receiving that Eucharist, but it does not prevent us from being the mystery we receive; that is, it does not preclude us from becoming now Eucharist for the world.

Father Andrew Clyne writes from Maryland.

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Prayer

The Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary in the Time of COVID-19

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First Sorrowful Mystery: The Agony in the Garden It’s instinctive for us to recoil from times of uncertainty, suffering and pain. And it’s natural for us, as a byproduct of…

First Sorrowful Mystery: The Agony in the Garden

It’s instinctive for us to recoil from times of uncertainty, suffering and pain. And it’s natural for us, as a byproduct of our first parents’ act of disobedience at Eden, to always want control. The challenge for us, when faced with trials, is to open our hearts and minds to acceptance of God’s providential care. The struggles Christ faced in the Garden of Gethsemane — fear, anxiety, helplessness, etc. — have been experienced by us all. Currently, the challenges we face in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic are many: temporary separation from the sacraments and distance from our friends and family, unemployment and new financial burdens, even sickness and death. In their face, we might not be able to pray as we ought, we might feel alone, and our thinking can be clouded by temptations to doubt and the pressure of the circumstances. This is what Christ faced the night before everything — his friends, his family, his clothes, even his life — was stripped away from him. But his example compels us to trust that even the crosses that we carry in life have purpose. Let us embrace God’s will above all else by echoing the words of Jesus: “Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me; still, not my will but yours be done” (Lk 22:42).

Second Sorrowful Mystery: The Scourging at the Pillar

God’s own son took the punishment that rightly belonged to us. The beatings and blows that he endured were accepted willingly, out of love for each of us. As the prophet Isaiah foretold, “By his wounds we were healed” (53:5). Objectively speaking, Jesus’s scourging was an injustice beyond comparison.

In our own lives, we face difficulties and sufferings. Often do not give much consideration beyond their meaning beyond injustice. That means we can be tempted to grow angry, embittered and jaded. How do we process it all without giving into depression and despair? The key is to join our sufferings to those of Christ.

When imitating Christ’s sacrifice, accepting our sufferings in accord with God’s will and making of them a offering, our sufferings can be transformed as offerings of love. Rather than occasions for self-pity, transforming our suffering in Christ becomes a means to participate in his work of salvation.

In the end, the only way to make sense of life’s sufferings — especially important to remember now amid so much sorrow — is by understanding it all through the transformative love of Christ’s passion. We wonder: Why do bad things happen to good people? Why has this virus attacked the world so viciously? Why must we suffer? Let’s ask God for the grace to see through the pain, take each step forward in faith, and embrace what He has given us, confident in the hope that “does not disappoint” (Rom 5:5).

Third Sorrowful Mystery: The Crowning with Thorns

Christ’s crown was a sign of contradiction; the crown he received was not the crown he deserved. Both acclaimed and denounced as King of the Jews, he received the crown of one whose kingdom was “not of this world.” Those who follow Christ rightfully crown him by inviting him to reign over our hearts. This means we follow “the way, the truth and the life.”

In bearing a crown of thorns, Christ the King raises the dignity of humanity, he gives new meaning to life in this “vale of tears.” He opens our hearts to all who suffer and gives meaning and purpose to all our own suffering. That can be difficult to understand, especially when so many are suffering from the outbreak of a deadly virus or from anxiety, from separation from family and community and from the inability to receive the sacraments. But Christ reigns when we invite him to enter our hearts, when in imitation of him we conform ourselves according to God’s will, and when we imitate his unbounded charity. As citizens of Christ’s kingdom, supported by his grace, may we dare to live by his example: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (Jn 15:13).

Fourth Sorrowful Mystery: Jesus Carries the Cross

Along the road to Calvary, while carrying the cross burdened with the sins of the world, Jesus encountered the goodness of friends and strangers. These models of charity console Jesus’ heart during his final agony and give him an opportunity to rest his weary body. Those who helped Christ or encountered him on the way to Calvary did so knowing they could face harm themselves. But they put their lives on the line to help Jesus carry his cross, wipe his bloodied and sweaty face, or give him a glance or word of love to alleviate his pain.

In the face of the current pandemic, healthcare professionals across the globe are doing the same in service to their sick brothers and sisters. Great are the sacrifices they make. Long is the list of selfless doctors, nurses and medical personnel exhausted from long working hours, often separated from those closest to them for fear of spreading infection, and risking infection themselves. And long is the list of many others making sacrifices to help keep safe the vulnerable in our midst. May the Blessed Mother, St. Simon of Cyrene, St. Veronica and the women of Jerusalem intercede for them!

Fifth Sorrowful Mystery: Jesus dies on the Cross

Those who suffer in extreme from the novel coronavirus, who have difficulty taking even one breath, can identify with the Crucified Christ as he hung on the cross. The weight of one’s body pressed against the lungs is what ultimately brought death for most crucifixion victims (and gave to us the origin of the word “excruciating”). No one wants to contract this virus, and so its victims can identify with the sinless Christ killed for our transgressions. As we hear in the first epistle of Peter: “He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross, so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (2:24).

From the Cross, Christ shouted in misery, “I thirst” (Jn 19:28). Those words resonate with the faithful as we face the coronavirus pandemic and its many effects. Given the serious contagion and associated risk of death, bishops throughout many countries have suspended the public celebration of the Mass. As the faithful are left without the consolation of the sacraments at this moment of crisis, so many hunger and thirst to receive Christ sacramentally in the Eucharist. Many of the dying, especially the victims of the pandemic, find themselves without the ability to unburden their souls of sin by confession to a priest or receive the anointing of the sick, even at the time of death. As Jesus, in his final moments, welcomed the Good Thief into heaven, so we beg the Lord, in his never-ending mercy, to usher these souls into paradise.

Michael R. Heinlein is editor of Simply Catholic. Follow him on Twitter@HeinleinMichael.

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Lent

Good Friday Amid COVID-19

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Good Friday’s is the starkest of the Church’s liturgies: the sanctuary is divested of every encumbrance, the altar left bare, the tabernacle emptied of the Lord’s Eucharistic presence. Such starkness…

Good Friday’s is the starkest of the Church’s liturgies: the sanctuary is divested of every encumbrance, the altar left bare, the tabernacle emptied of the Lord’s Eucharistic presence. Such starkness takes on new meaning, though, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, as it is not just the gathering place of the church, which is so stripped, but the social spaces of the world as well.

And not just these gathering spaces; increasingly, as time marches forward toward an indefinite future, each one of us is being stripped as well. The layers of performance we have developed for the world’s benefit are rendered pointless, as the stages for those performances are made one by one to disappear. We are left only with ourselves, as we truly are, hovering over the abyss of the nothingness from which we emerged and to which we can always return.

When confronted with this — having been unburdened of our delusions of control and power — we become acutely more aware of our need for salvation, for a savior. But the real one: not the innumerable impostors that are the stuff of advertising and politicking. We need the one who actually has the power to lift us from the abyss, because he is the same one who entered fully into our powerlessness, and unlike us, did not reject it, knowing that “power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9).

The power of God’s incarnate weakness is most visibly manifest on his cross, the object of Good Friday’s veneration. We, who have not yet learned to embrace that weakness, are made to confront this instrument of torture, which is the consummate symbol of those who seek to wield power and impose control, when in truth they lack both. The enemies of Christ (which we are through sin) think they can keep him at bay. Wood, nails, hatred or even indifference should do the trick. Only they will not, and for that, thank God. Thank God that our powerlessness before him has not excluded us from being the recipients of his power made perfect in weakness. For as St. Paul reminds us, Christ “while we were still helpless…died at the appointed time for the ungodly,” and in doing so, he “proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners [he] died for us (Rom 5: 6-8).”

Beyond venerating the cross, Good Friday is defined by its silence. The silence with which the service begins, the silence in which it ends: the cry of the crucified Christ enveloped in the silence.

Increasingly our world is enveloped in silence. Not on our screens, surely, from which much noise and silliness continues to spill. But in the places of flesh and blood, in the face to face encounter, the stuff which goes to make up a human life fully realized. There, only a haunting silence.

Silence though, is an interesting phenomenon, for not all silences are in fact the same. Especially with respect to the relationship between silence and love, the type of silence involved speaks volumes.

There is the silence that manifests love’s absence: the silence which refuses to speak the necessary and life-giving truth, the silence of fear which true love casts out, the silence of conspiracy, the silence of indifference, the silence of brooding hatred, the silence that refuses to impart forgiveness. These are a type of silence, the silence which is love’s enemy.

But there is another kind of silence. Adoring and restful silence before the beloved, the contented silence that follows the mutual declaration of love, the silence that follows the exhausting sacrifices of love made visible in action.

Perhaps the last of these is most beneficial to dwell on in this moment. There are all kinds of malicious silences plaguing our world. The trajectory of our hyper-individualistic technologically oriented culture is toward the silence of indifference and neglect. The coronavirus pandemic presents the strong possibility of pushing us further in that direction.

But there is another possibility. We consciously embrace our enforced distance from the flesh and blood encounter and its silence, not out of indifference, but out of concern for others, making it a silence of love. We do whatever we can for those on the front-lines of this struggle, who have been rendered silent by their exhaustion, reduced as they are to speechlessness by their self-giving love. And we take some time to silently and delightfully bask in the wonder of other persons, most especially the person of God.

We embrace these silences of love, knowing they are made possible by God’s own loving silence. For we belong to a God left silent on the cross after saying “it is finished” (Jn 19:30), because with such love expressed, what more needed to be said?

Father Andrew Clyne writes from Maryland.

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Lent

Pondering another COVID-19 Lent

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Many have remarked that the COVID-19 pandemic has felt like a long Lent since the pandemic got fully underway, of course, in the United States in March 2020. Given the…

Many have remarked that the COVID-19 pandemic has felt like a long Lent since the pandemic got fully underway, of course, in the United States in March 2020. Given the spiritual themes of Lent, this analogy is fitting, for we can see many of Lent’s themes present in our lives for the past year.

Penance

Lent is a time of penance, and certainly the last year has been full of opportunities to suffer. The challenge of the Christian is to unite these sufferings to the Lord, thereby finding meaning, strength and hope. As baptized Christians, we have been conformed to Christ crucified, and this pandemic has given us the opportunity to truly respond to that call. Lent is the opportunity the Church presents to us for taking stock of our own lives and how well we are living up to that call. And we do so as we journey alongside Christ, partaking in his suffering, on the way to Calvary.

Purification

Lent is also a time of purification. In many ways, this pandemic has served as a great purging. We have gone without a great deal of what we have known and loved to be commonplace — in an unexpected way. We have seen much less time spent with family and friends, even from receiving the Eucharist. Much, both good and bad, has been stripped away from us. Through it all, however, we are presented with an opportunity: to see how God is alive and active, even during a pandemic.

Fasting

Lent is a time of fasting. Because of the pandemic and its effects, we have been forced into all kinds of fasting in the past year. We have fasted from friends and relations, vacations, and from celebrating birthdays and holidays. Church life and institutional structures have been diminished. Perhaps, most of all, we were forced to fast from celebrating the sacraments, attending Mass and regularly receiving the Eucharist. It’s up to us to seize upon God’s gratuitous grace so that these are moments of opportunity rather than occasions for despair. For God does not abandon his people.

Holiness

Lent’s focus on preparation for baptism, or the renewal of our baptismal promises, shifts our focus to the purpose of our lives: to become saints. This is a call to daily follow Christ and make him the center of our lives. Our invitation to follow after Christ comes, after all, not as one of wealth, power, pleasure or honor. It is, rather, to take up our cross and follow him. And so, these times are ours. These times are for us. God calls us to share more fully in his life and to mirror it to the world through the crisis we face. Fortified by God’s grace and formed by his Word, we are called to respond to our circumstances as the saints have done.

For more, see “Finding Christ in the Crisis: What the Pandemic Can Teach Us” (OSV, $1.95) by Father Harrison Ayre and Michael R. Heinlein. Don’t miss the companion free study guide for Lent.

Michael R. Heinlein is editor of Simply Catholic.

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Prayer

A Plague Litany

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It is an ancient tradition in the Catholic Church that when plagues strike the people would recite litanies. A litany is a series of invocations, usually of saints or titles…

It is an ancient tradition in the Catholic Church that when plagues strike the people would recite litanies. A litany is a series of invocations, usually of saints or titles of a saint, that ask for intercessory prayers. A litany is a prayer of petition.

Some litanies are public and others for private use only. The Directory on Popular Piety (No. 235) says, “The Litanies of the Saints contain elements deriving from both the liturgical tradition and from popular piety. They are expressions of the Church’s confidence in the intercession of the Saints and an experience of the communion between the Church of the heavenly Jerusalem and the Church on her earthly pilgrim journey.” Likewise, the Code of Canon Law states in canon 1166 that, “sacramentals are sacred signs which in a sense imitate the sacraments. They signify certain effects, especially spiritual ones, and they achieve these effects through the intercession of the Church.”

Certain litanies were popular when a plague struck a region or nation. Often they invoked saints that were known to be powerful intercessors for the sick or in case of natural disasters. Often they were prayed during processions in an antiphonal manner. One of the more popular litanies during the time of plague was the Litany of the Saints. In addition, particular saints were often called upon singularly or in groups, such as the 14 Holy Helpers.

In this time of pandemic, especially since public worship is difficult or impossible, we can still invoke saints and pray litanies. Popular devotions can help sustain our faith. We believe that we are part of the communion of saints and that their prayers are efficacious. The saints want to help us.

Here is a litany of some of the saints that were often invoked during times of sickness and plague. This litany is for private use only. Feel free to add your own special patrons.

Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

Christ, hear us. Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us. Christ, graciously hear us.

God the Father in Heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us.
Holy Mary, Help of the Sick, pray for us.
Holy Mary, Health of the Roman People, pray for us.
Holy Mary, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, pray for us.
Holy Mary, Consoler of the Afflicted, pray for us.

St. Joseph, Spouse of the Virgin Mary, pray for us.
St. Joseph, Hope of the Sick, pray for us.
St. Joseph, Patron of the Dying, pray for us.
St. Joseph, Terror of Demons, pray for us.

St. Michael, Light and Hope of souls near death, pray for us.
St. Michael, our most sure aid, pray for us.
St. Michael, receiver of the souls of the elect after death, pray for us.
St. Raphael, God’s remedy, pray for us.
St. Gabriel, God’s messenger, pray for us.
Guardian Angel, my protector, pray for us.
All you holy angels, pray for us.

St. George, valiant martyr of Christ, pray for us.
St. Blaise, zealous bishop and benefactor of the poor, pray for us.
St. Erasmus, mighty protector of the oppressed, pray for us.
St. Pantaleon, miraculous exemplar of charity, pray for us.
St. Vitus, special protector of chastity, pray for us.
St. Christopher, mighty intercessor in dangers, pray for us.
St. Dionysius, shining mirror of faith and confidence, pray for us.
St. Cyriacus, terror of hell, pray for us.
St. Acacius, helpful advocate in death, pray for us.
St. Eustace, exemplar of patience in adversity, pray for us.
St. Giles, despiser of the world, pray for us.
St. Margaret of Antioch, valiant champion of the Faith, pray for us.
St. Catherine of Alexandria, victorious defender of the Faith and of purity, pray for us.
St. Barbara, mighty patroness of the dying, pray for us.
All you Fourteen Holy Helpers, pray for us.

St. Luke, patron of physicians, pray for us.
St. Agatha, patroness of nurses, pray for us.
St. Martin De Porres, patron of public health, pray for us.
St. Roch, who did expose your life to heal the sick, pray for us.
St. Sebastian, comforter of the dying, pray for us.
St. Corona, patroness of plague victims, pray for us.
St. Benedict, protector of those who cry to you, pray for us.
St. Charles Borromeo, whose selflessness during a great plague won the hearts even of your foes, pray for us.
St. Gregory the Great, whose prayers ended a plague, pray for us.
St. Aloysius Gonzaga, who died as a result of caring for the sick, pray for us.
St. Rosalie, by whose intercession a plague was ended, pray for us.
St. Casimir, known for generosity to the sick, pray for us.
Sts. Cosmas and Damian, holy brother-physicians, pray for us.
St. Camillus de Lellis, patron of the sick and health care workers, pray for us.
St. John of God, patron of hospitals, pray for us.
St. Frances of Rome, dedicated to the sick and the poor, pray for us.
St. Quirinus of Neuss, patron of those affected by plague, pray for us.
St. Anthony the Great, patron of those infected by disease, pray for us.
St. Edwin the Martyr, patron of pandemics, pray for us.
St. Damien of Molokai, compassionate to the sick and outcasts, pray for us.
St. Godeberta of Noyon, who miraculously brought an end to a plague, pray for us.
St. Henry Morse, who cared for plague victims, pray for us.
St. Marianne Cope, who saw in the sick the face of Jesus, pray for us.
Bl. Francis Xavier Seelos, holy priest who died caring for the sick, pray for us.
Blessed Engelmar Unzeitig, chaplain amid an outbreak at Dachau, pray for us.
All holy saints of God, pray for us.

From every evil, Lord save your people.
From every sin, Lord save your people.
From your anger, Lord save your people.
From sudden and unforeseen death, Lord save your people.
From the snares of the devil, Lord save your people.
From anger, hatred, and all ill-will, Lord save your people.
From the spirit of uncleanness, Lord save your people.
From lightening and tempest, Lord save your people.
From the scourge of earthquake, Lord save your people.
From plague, famine, and war, Lord save your people.
From everlasting death, Lord save your people.

Be merciful to us sinners, Lord, hear our prayer.
That you will spare us, Lord, hear our prayer.
That you will pardon us, Lord, hear our prayer.
That it may please you to bring us to true repentance, Lord, hear our prayer.
To deliver our souls from eternal damnation, and the souls of our brethren, kinsmen, and benefactors, Lord, hear our prayer.
To give and preserve the fruits of the earth, Lord, hear our prayer.
To grant eternal rest to all the faithful departed, Lord, hear our prayer.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world: spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world: graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world: have mercy on us.

Let us pray.

Almighty and eternal God, our refuge in every danger, to whom we turn in our distress, in faith, we pray, look with compassion on the afflicted, grant eternal rest to the dead, comfort to mourners, healing to the sick, peace to the dying, strength to healthcare workers, wisdom to our leaders and the courage to reach out to all in love, so that together we may give glory to your Holy Name. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Father James Goodwin writes from North Dakota.

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Sacraments

What To Do With No Confession: Forgiveness In The Time Of Coronavirus

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These times are difficult for everyone. The current COVID-19 pandemic has affected virtually every part of our lives. For Catholics, it is a special trial, especially since we cannot go…

These times are difficult for everyone. The current COVID-19 pandemic has affected virtually every part of our lives. For Catholics, it is a special trial, especially since we cannot go to Mass and Confession. It is truly a Lenten penance.

This is not the first time the Church has encountered such a situation. We have been through plagues and natural disasters before where normal sacramental life was disrupted. God does not abandon us in these situations and continues to work through his Church.

For many, right now the fear is that we might become ill or even die without the chance to receive the sacraments. Most priests would be willing to risk going to the dying, but the civil authorities might prevent them. So, what do you do if you are in such a situation and want to go to confession?

The Church’s Code of Canon Law says: “Individual and integral confession and absolution constitute the only ordinary means by which a member of the faithful conscious of grave sin is reconciled with God and the Church. Only physical or moral impossibility excuses from confession of this type; in such a case reconciliation can be obtained by other means” (Canon 960).

Let’s parse that out. The ordinary way we are forgiven for grave, or mortal, sins is by confession. That does not mean there are not extraordinary ways that God can work outside of the sacraments. Note that this is for mortal sins, as venial sins can be forgiven routinely outside of the confessional. The canon says that physical and moral impossibility excuses one from confession. God does not require of us the impossible. How is that determined?

The next canon in the code states that there must be danger of death, insufficient time to hear confessions and grave necessity (see Canon 961). In that situation, general absolution can be given to groups of the faithful. The diocesan bishop is the one who determines this to be the case. All that is required of the faithful is that they be disposed properly and promise to confess their sins when the opportunity becomes possible.

However, what do you do if there is no priest present at all? Fortunately, the Holy See’s Apostolic Penitentiary, the Holy See’s tribunal responsible for issues pertaining to the forgiveness of sins, has responsibility for cases like this and issued a note on March 19:

“Where the individual faithful find themselves in the painful impossibility of receiving sacramental absolution, it should be remembered that perfect contrition, coming from the love of God, beloved above all things, expressed by a sincere request for forgiveness (that which the penitent is at present able to express) and accompanied by votum confessionis, that is, by the firm resolution to have recourse, as soon as possible, to sacramental confession, obtains forgiveness of sins, even mortal ones (cf. CCC, no. 1452).”

This means that if we find ourselves in a grave situation without access to confession, we can make an act of perfect contrition, with the intention of confessing our mortal sins when we can, and God will forgive our sins.

Perfect contrition is sorrow for our sins for the love of God — not just the fear of hell. How can we have that kind of contrition? Most importantly, it is a grace given by God, but God is not stingy with his gifts. If we sincerely want this kind of contrition, we can be sure that God will give it to us. It is not merely a feeling, but a motive. The motive of love for God does not exclude secondary motives, such as fear of hell. Therefore, make the act of contrition, which contains the promise to confess, and know that our loving and merciful God is always ready to offer the graces necessary of salvation. We can predispose ourselves to receiving his grace by the means of prayer and penance. Use this time to pray and grow closer to God. The Apostolic Penitentiary recommends such prayers, devotions and actions: “Visit to the Blessed Sacrament, or Eucharistic adoration, or reading the Holy Scriptures for at least half an hour, or the recitation of the Holy Rosary, or the pious exercise of the Way of the Cross, or the recitation of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, to implore from Almighty God the end of the epidemic, relief for those who are afflicted and eternal salvation for those whom the Lord has called to Himself.” We can all gain a plenary indulgence to help us to live in a state of grace.

We can also receive a plenary indulgence at the time of death. The Apostolic Penitentiary reminds us:

“The Church prays for those who find themselves unable to receive the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick and of the Viaticum, entrusting each and every one to divine Mercy by virtue of the communion of saints and granting the faithful a Plenary Indulgence on the point of death, provided that they are duly disposed and have recited a few prayers during their lifetime (in this case the Church makes up for the three usual conditions required). For the attainment of this indulgence the use of the crucifix or the cross is recommended (cf. Enchiridion indulgentiarum, no.12).”

Like a mother, the Church offers us Christ’s salvation even in extreme circumstances. We don’t need to despair. God is with us and wants to forgive our sins. Make the act of contrition daily and entrust yourself to the infinite mercy of God. He is with you.

Father James Goodwin writes from North Dakota.

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