Christians & Coronavirus:
Staying Connected in Christ
MARCH 31, 2020
"WILL YOU JOIN THE CRUSADE?"
WILL YOU JOIN THE CRUSADE?
Thousands in need of adoption! Will you join the Crusade?
It’s a matter of life and death. The spread of COVID-19 is providing many opportunities for us to do corporal works of mercy. Yes, that includes visiting the sick, but not in the way we’re used to. Although we are unable to physically visit the sick and dying, we CAN pray with them. Thousands of people across the country and around the world are in hospitals and nursing homes with no family or friends allowed to visit them due to restrictions from the virus. Many of these people will die without loved ones by their side to comfort and console them as they depart from this life.
I recently read about a priest in Ireland who is calling on Catholics around the world to spiritually adopt a dying person and pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy for them. Immediately, I began adopting and praying for these individuals. You can too! All you need to do is: kneel down, close your eyes in prayer and ask Jesus to place you at the bedside of a dying person. Then pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy for that person. I also add prayers to Mary, St Joseph, and the angels to come to the dying person's aid as they pass from this life. I incorporated this devotion into my daily prayer life. And in the middle of the night, when I cannot get back to sleep, I grab my beads, place myself at the bedside of a dying person and pray.
As the quarantine becomes stricter, we can still be of service to others by this beautiful act of spiritual adoption of the dying. Will you please join me? Below are the prayers for the Chaplet of Divine Mercy which is prayed using rosary beads. When you reach Heaven, many souls you never met on earth will greet you in thanksgiving for this beautiful act of love.
JoAnne Lacey
St. Andrew Parishioner
