Covid-19

[little2add]

 

March 25, 2020

[little2add]

 

Vatican City (AFP) - Pope Francis stood alone in vast Saint Peter's Square Friday to bless Catholics around the world suffering under the coronavirus pandemic, urging people to ease their fears through faith.

"Thick darkness has gathered over our squares, our streets and our cities; it has taken over our lives, filling everything with a deafening silence and a distressing void, that stops everything as it passes by," 

 

 

[Luigi]

Here's a message from the Trappist Abbot General. It provides insight into life in Rome, through the eyes of a cloistered monk, of course. It's a little long, but you can read it like a chatty letter from an old friend. 

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March 27, 2020 7:38 am

THE GENERALATE AND CORONAVIRUS

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

Some of you have kindly expressed your interest and concern for us here at the Casa and how we are faring, living as we do in Italy, the present  epicentre of the Coronavirus outbreak and its deadly consequences. I am glad to be able to say that all twelve of us in residence are well, as far as we know, though some are perhaps more anxious than others.

Life goes on here as normal in terms of the monastic day and timetable, but the big difference is that we are all present in the house at the same time due to the restrictions introduced two weeks ago by the government in a decree aptly entitled “I stay at home!” And so we do! We don’t have a choice: exits are allowed for real necessities (food and medicine), for essential work, and for particular personal reasons. Checks are made by the police and one needs to carry an official document justifying one’s reason for one’s journey.

Our cellarer, Brother Javier, who gets our provisions once a week, was stopped at police check points both going and returning from a recent shopping trip. So enforcement of the restrictions is being taken more and more seriously. I can see this just from looking out my window and seeing that the car park in the square is completely empty. Normally, on working days, it is packed tight with about 150-200 cars. Now there is not a car to be seen. Every day is like a Sunday!  The goal is, of course, to reduce human contact and the risk of passing on the virus. The universities are closed, and so our two students (Fathers Maxi and Antonio from Rawaseneng) are working from home while the Abbot General and his Councillors are grounded! But we have plenty with which to usefully occupy ourselves.

In this country the epicentre of the Coronavirus is Northern Italy and, in particular, the region of Lombardy, which is about a 5-6 hours’ drive from us here in Rome. Living for the past few weeks with blue skies and sunshine beaming in the window, it seems strange to hear of the havoc that Coronavirus is wreaking just a few hours up the road. The number of deaths per day in Italy is around 600-700, and most of these are in the North. We hear of the heroic, round-the-clock work of doctors, nurses, hospital workers, clergy, religious, the civil authorities, and even the Army as they give themselves (and, in a number of cases, their lives—33 doctors have died) in the service of the afflicted. One feels small in the face of such self-sacrifice, compassion and solidarity. Three cheers for humanity!

Some days ago a few of us saw a brief video clip that had to do with the city of Bergamo (birthplace of Pope Saint John XXIII). In it we saw 15 large Army trucks full of coffins taking away the dead after nightfall to other towns and provinces, because neither the cemeteries nor crematoria of Bergamo could cope with the numbers of the deceased! It was a macabre reminder of the extent of the loss of life as well as of the struggle of those fighting the virus and the suffering of the bereaved, separated from their loved ones in their suffering and in their death.

Coronavirus has broken in on our world and disturbed the plans of rulers and of nations, and also of our own small monastic world, in a way which no one was prepared for. Our agendas for meetings, visitations, travel plans, even hospital visits, community projects or just daily community life have all been derailed.  Many of us are perhaps experiencing enclosure in a way that was known only to those who lived in the monastery thirty or forty years ago! We have been pushed out of our comfort zone and called to realise in another way the fragility of our lives and how little control we have over them.

We have a new terminology now: we speak of “social distancing” to refer to keeping a safe distance from each other to avoid passing on or contracting Coronavirus! We can see the struggle among the nations of the world, the struggle to protect our own land and at the same time the desire to collaborate with others. We close our borders and at the same time we need each other.  We want to find a cure and we work with others, and yet we want it for ourselves first—if we can get away with it. We live in a situation of crisis and a defining moment for humanity. We need God’s help. And we also need to encourage one another, as St. Paul says. The Italians, at least in some popular quarters, do some of that by singing and making music from their balconies and so lifting their spirits. A little bit of that has happened at the Casa too.

We noted here that on  Sunday afternoon, March 15, Pope Francis made a short “pilgrimage” to the Icon of Our Lady Salvation of the Roman People at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, and he then went on to visit the miraculous cross in the Church of St. Marcellus, also in Rome. This cross was carried through the City in 1522 to end the great plague.  Pope Francis went there to pray for an end to this pandemic, for healing for the sick, for lasting peace for the dead and the comforting of the bereaved. He encouraged the use of the prayer he recited on this occasion for our present circumstances. Living in Rome as we are, we here at the Casa have taken to saying the attached prayer together after Vespers and then spending some moments in silence. We find it good to do this and we trust that it does good.

So now you have a little window into our present life at the Casa. Thank you for your concern. Let us entrust ourselves with confidence into God’s hands and pray together for the wellbeing of all, and especially for an end to the Coronavirus pandemic and for the healing of the ills it has brought to the lives of so many.

With our fraternal prayers and good wishes,

On the solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord,
March 25, 2020.

Eamon Fitzgerald
Abbot General

Edited March 28, 2020 by Luigi

[Guest]

The book "Faith and The Future" by Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) is to me prophetic.  Especially these three short paragraph excepts: https://www.catholiceducation.org/en/religion-and-philosophy/spiritual-life/the-church-will-become-small.html 

While it might be scary to read - it is at the same time, a message of Hope and this reflects the message of the Book of Revelations, the Apocalypse.

 

Worth reading are the books by Fr Michael Fallon MSC (above), who is a South Australian scripture scholar of renown.  About Fr Michael http://mbfallon.com/about_me.html

His books on Scripture are invaluable, especially on the four Gospels.  In one column is the actual Gospel verses and in the opposite column is an invaluable commentary.  I wrote to him many years ago communicating to him that I hoped God would allow him to live long enough to write a commentary on the whole of Scripture.  He must be getting close I think.

I especially recommend at this time "Apocalypse" - a message that history is Graced.

http://mbfallon.com/books.html (Scroll down to Apocalypse)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Apocalypse-Michael-Fallon/dp/1875463003 (available in Kindle)

 

[tinytherese]

Jennifer Fulwiler, Catholic author and radio host on The Catholic Channel just sent this email.

"Friends,

People have been asking why my radio show was all replays this week, so here's the honest answer: I had a sobbing meltdown the week before.

When I asked people on Instagram to tell me honestly how you're doing, I saw that I'm not the only one who's kinda losing my mind right now.

I had not considered just how much stress it adds to our lives when:
 

We have to make brand new decisions EVERY SINGLE DAY about the most basic stuff like how to buy food or educate our kids
 

We can't socialize in person (yes, this is even hard for us introverts)
 

We live with an omnipresent worry that we're all going to go bankrupt just before we die painful deaths from coronavirus

This is a very mentally and emotionally taxing way to live. What I learned the hard way is this:

We're all going to need to double up on the self-care right now. I made a bold move and told my boss I needed an entire week off from my radio show. I told my husband I needed extra time for prayer and solitude (by which I mean "binge watch shows and drink wine"), and encouraged him to think about how I could help him as well.

A lot of us don't feel like we can ask for what we need right now. You don't feel like you have the right to tell that friend that you really need a video chat because you're so lonely, or to tell your family that you need to go lock yourself in your room for an hour or five.

So I am here to give you permission to do that: This week, ask for what you need. It might feel like a bold move. You will probably find that when you get really honest about what you need to be sane, it's way more than usual. That's okay. Ask for it anyway. I'm going to say it again for those of you who are just scanning this email and did not see any of the other words in this paragraph:
 

ASK FOR WHAT YOU NEED
ASK FOR WHAT YOU NEED
ASK FOR WHAT YOU NEED
ASK FOR WHAT YOU NEED
ASK FOR WHAT YOU NEED
ASK FOR WHAT YOU NEED
ASK FOR WHAT YOU NEED
ASK FOR WHAT YOU NEED
ASK FOR WHAT YOU NEED
ASK FOR WHAT YOU NEED
ASK FOR WHAT YOU NEED
ASK FOR WHAT YOU NEED

It's not selfish. In fact, when you have the courage to make space for your own needs, you will be better able to love and serve everyone else.

Hang in there, guys. We're going to get through this.

Your friend,

Jen"

Edited March 29, 2020 by tinytherese

[Luigi]

Monk Shaves Beard Off due to Covid-19 (so you know things must be getting serious)... 

 

Edited April 1, 2020 by Luigi

[islandanchoress]

Writing  from my cocoon. We who are old and maybe ill too but just old are now officially "cocooned" ie not to go out at all. And help is a phone call away...each parish has workers assigned. Also only island residents are allowed to land on the offshore islands  My supplies are coming in well and I am walking the lanes at first light in total anchoritic solitude. Easy for me, but hard for many lonely and now totally isolated old folk and for their families; please pray for them . This is all going to be a long haul all around the world. Blessings and peace, NB the Irish news can be read online at rte.ie or breakingnews.ie 

[Luigi]

Glad to know you're doing well. I think I could live your kind of life, but it is currently a viable option.

[Luigi]

The previous post is supposed to say "it is currently NOT a viable option." (sigh*)

[little2add]

thank you 

[Luigi]

Here's a link to a story that ran on NPR this morning, from Sylvia Poggioli, about how the people of Naples, Italy are helping each other. Honorable mention of St. Giuseppe Moscati, a doctor during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. It also gives honorable mention to the works of mercy. San Giuseppe Moscati, prega per noi. 

 https://www.wnyc.org/story/in-southern-italy-charity-is-now-a-major-means-of-sustenance

[Fr Augustine Wetta]

We're all monks now...

 

[little2add]

 

 

COVID-19: U.S. at a Glance*†

Total cases: 459,165

Total deaths: 16,570

Jurisdictions reporting cases: 55 (50 states, District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands)

 

16,570 deaths is a far cry from the model prediction of 100,000 to 240,000 deaths.   
 

The cure is now worse than the disease.

Never in our history has such a catastrophically imprudent abuse of the common good been perpetrated in the name of "saving lives"--by the same people who will go back to promoting infanticide, assisted suicide, "death with dignity" for the inconvenient elderly, and so forth.
Can you not see the blatantly political motives behind this madness.

[Anomaly]

little2add,

Please know this is the opinion of an ex-Catholic atheist. Most of my family, including my wife are practicing Catholics so I am involved and interested in Church life. 

The Catholic Church has exemplified responsible behavior as far as large gatherings as well as making services available online, in TV, and on radio.   So much has been unknown about the effects and attributes of C-19 that it was prudent to be careful and avoid the possibility of widespread death and disease.  

The Church has chosen the moral high road and reasonable position.  In Florida, it’s well known the State has not outlawed Church services.  It’s been strongly recommended and guidelines for physical safety are established, similar to laws for building codes and public safety. We have some local Protestant churches flaunting the law and having services anyway.  They made national news and they can only be charged for minor infractions. It’s really up to the Churches

Show a little respect for the Church hierarchy and the decisions they are making and try not to beat it into a political conspiracy of yours or others fantasy.  If there was the God your Church professes, I’m sure he would understand the prudent attempts to protect lives and health   It’s the correct moral thing to do.

Who knows, maybe this will change things for the better, like no more Eucharistic Ministers passing out wafers and wine like at a sample station in a grocery store.  I go to Mass often, I see the “reverence and attention”. Maybe just the priest will offer communion. Maybe the Protestant habit of holding hands during the Our Father will die out too.

But the entire Catholic Church hierarchy is not a unwitting patsy in political machinations.    

C’mon man.   You know better than that

Be safe.  Be clean.  Be KIND.

Edited April 11, 2020 by Anomaly

[Guest]

On 4/4/2020 at 1:19 AM, Luigi said:

Glad to know you're doing well. I think I could live your kind of life, but it is currently a viable option.

Don't you DARE leave Phatmass, Luigi.  I for one only will grieve deeply

But then if The Lord calls, He knows what He is doing.........I rarely do......I do what I think I can....leave The Lord to clean up the mess as it were.  So if The Lord is calling, Luigi, I will permit you to go...........and grieve deeply.  Unless, of course, in your solitude somewhere or other now and then you can give a bit of time to Phatmass.  Then I wont grieve so much at all.

Regards..........Barb  

On 4/5/2020 at 4:46 AM, little2add said:

thank you 

We sure can!

When COVID-19 is just an injection once a year or so, I think that a gold medal should be struck by an international body.  A one only in history medal - and given to all front line workers of any kind at all.

Went to the new garage at the end of my street tonight (took a torch).  Now these are at risk here at the best of times because in Australia carrying a gun is illegal.  Hence they are vulnerable and every so often we have a armed robbery here of garage (sell petrol) workers. Especially garages open late, even all night garages.

I was in desperate need of cigarettes.  The guys in the new garage (also, thankfully, a convenience store meaning I do not have the long walk uphill slightly to Coles and our local shops) were of either middle eastern origin or from India.  One guy went out the back, the other served me.  He was such a pleasant young man and we had a little chat about CVirus and a few other things (reminds me, I have to locate my cross on a leather thong, somewhere in the disaster area my home has become during the worst bipolar episode in 17 years).  These migrants to Australia will take any sort of job whatsoever to get by, most to feed their family, even extended family as well.

So many heroes and heroines on the front lines of this pandemic.  Deo Gratius Laudate Dominum.