Letter of His Holiness Pope Francis
to the Faithful for the Month of May 2020
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The month of May is approaching, a time when the People of God express with particular intensity their love and devotion for the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is traditional in this month to pray the Rosary at home within the family. The restrictions of the pandemic have made us come to appreciate all the more this “family” aspect, also from a spiritual point of view.
For this reason, I want to encourage everyone to rediscover the beauty of praying the Rosary at home in the month of May. This can be done either as a group or individually; you can decide according to your own situations, making the most of both opportunities. The key to doing this is always simplicity, and it is easy also on the internet to find good models of prayers to follow.
I am also providing two prayers to Our Lady that you can recite at the end of the Rosary, and that I myself will pray in the month of May, in spiritual union with all of you. I include them with this letter so that they are available to everyone.
Dear brothers and sisters, contemplating the face of Christ with the heart of Mary our Mother will make us even more united as a spiritual family and will help us overcome this time of trial. I keep all of you in my prayers, especially those suffering most greatly, and I ask you, please, to pray for me. I thank you, and with great affection I send you my blessing.
Rome, Saint John Lateran, 25 April 2020
Feast of Saint Mark the Evangelist
FIRST PRAYER
O Mary,
You shine continuously on our journey
as a sign of salvation and hope.
We entrust ourselves to you, Health of the Sick,
who, at the foot of the cross,
were united with Jesus’ suffering,
and persevered in your faith.
“Protectress of the Roman people”,
you know our needs,
and we know that you will provide,
so that, as at Cana in Galilee,
joy and celebration may return
after this time of trial.
Help us, Mother of Divine Love,
to conform ourselves to the will of the Father
and to do what Jesus tells us.
For he took upon himself our suffering,
and burdened himself with our sorrows
to bring us, through the cross,
to the joy of the Resurrection.
Amen.
We fly to your protection,
O Holy Mother of God;
Do not despise our petitions
in our necessities,
but deliver us always
from every danger,
O Glorious and Blessed Virgin.
SECOND PRAYER
“We fly to your protection, O Holy Mother of God”.
In the present tragic situation, when the whole world is prey to suffering and anxiety, we fly to you, Mother of God and our Mother, and seek refuge under your protection.
Virgin Mary, turn your merciful eyes towards us amid this coronavirus pandemic. Comfort those who are distraught and mourn their loved ones who have died, and at times are buried in a way that grieves them deeply. Be close to those who are concerned for their loved ones who are sick and who, in order to prevent the spread of the disease, cannot be close to them. Fill with hope those who are troubled by the uncertainty of the future and the consequences for the economy and employment.
Mother of God and our Mother, pray for us to God, the Father of mercies, that this great suffering may end and that hope and peace may dawn anew. Plead with your divine Son, as you did at Cana, so that the families of the sick and the victims be comforted, and their hearts be opened to confidence and trust.
Protect those doctors, nurses, health workers and volunteers who are on the frontline of this emergency, and are risking their lives to save others. Support their heroic effort and grant them strength, generosity and continued health.
Be close to those who assist the sick night and day, and to priests who, in their pastoral concern and fidelity to the Gospel, are trying to help and support everyone.
Blessed Virgin, illumine the minds of men and women engaged in scientific research, that they may find effective solutions to overcome this virus.
Support national leaders, that with wisdom, solicitude and generosity they may come to the aid of those lacking the basic necessities of life and may devise social and economic solutions inspired by farsightedness and solidarity.
Mary Most Holy, stir our consciences, so that the enormous funds invested in developing and stockpiling arms will instead be spent on promoting effective research on how to prevent similar tragedies from occurring in the future.
Beloved Mother, help us realize that we are all members of one great family and to recognize the bond that unites us, so that, in a spirit of fraternity and solidarity, we can help to alleviate countless situations of poverty and need. Make us strong in faith, persevering in service, constant in prayer.
Mary, Consolation of the afflicted, embrace all your children in distress and pray that God will stretch out his all-powerful hand and free us from this terrible pandemic, so that life can serenely resume its normal course.
To you, who shine on our journey as a sign of salvation and hope, do we entrust ourselves, O Clement, O Loving, O Sweet Virgin Mary. Amen.
Confessions at OLM on Saturdays are now from 4:00PM until 4:45PM. Confessions on Mondays continue to be from 6:00PM until 6:45PM.
The website Aleteia has posted a wonderful guide for celebrating the Third Sunday of Easter at home. Please go here.
Streaming options at OLM.
OLM Live Streaming for the First Time
Join priests and religious, and pray the Breviary.
OLM joins social media!
FLOCKNOTE is a new email and texting application for quick and easy communication about what events are happening at OLM. Please sign up so we can continue to reach out to you.
To join go to: OLMparish.flocknote.com or text OLMParish to 84576
When you sign up you have the option to join the many groups at Our Lady of Mercy such as the OLM Young Families Group, Men of St. Joseph and more.
PLEASE SIGN UP TODAY!
A great resource for keeping Sunday holy!
A guide to celebrate the 4th Sunday of Lent at Home
OLM Church Hours
Monday –Friday
8:00AM—7:00PM
Saturday
9:00AM—6:00PM
Sunday
10:00AM—6:00PM
The celebration of Public Masses has been suspended until further notice. We welcome you to come in to Church and pray privately.
Please keep proper social distance (AT LEAST 6 feet) from others IN CHURCH.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION.
THE SACRAMENT OF CONFESSION
MONDAYS
6:00pm —6:45pm
SATURDAYS
3:00pm—3:45pm
Three priests available for Confessions
Anytime by appointment, please call 401-884-4968
to schedule an appointment with one of the parish priests.
PLEASE DO NOT FORM LINES FOR CONFESSION.
PLEASE MAINTAIN PROPER SOCIAL DISTANCING
(AT LEAST 6 FEET) FROM OTHER PEOPLE.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION.
The OLM Outreach Office is available to help those in need of assistance or food. Also anyone needing food, groceries or prescriptions picked up or delivered, help is available at the OLM Outreach Office.
Please contact Mr. Doug Green, OLM Outreach Director, at the OLM Outreach Office 401-884-4410 (please leave a message) or via email at outreach@olmparish.org The OLM Outreach Office is located in Mercy House, the white house adjacent to the OLM Church parking lot.
If anyone is having a personal crisis and needs to speak with someone, please call the OLM Parish Office at 401-884-4868 and speak with Father Healey or Father Barrow.
Here are the opening remarks Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley delivered at St. the Patrick's day Mass at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross March 17, 2020. The Mass was not open to the public and was broadcast by CatholicTV.
As a people, community, and as a nation we are being forced into a stance of social distancing to ward off a potential health disaster. Even as we embrace a methodology of physical isolation, we must reject any stance of alienation and individualism. Our motivation cannot be fear and self-preservation, but a sense of solidarity and connectedness. What is being asked of us is for the common good, to protect the most defenseless among us.
In some ways the present, surrealistic atmosphere is similar to what we experienced after the attack of September 11. We were shaken from our complacency and confronted with the reality that changed our lives overnight. Likewise, today we see the real risk to countless numbers of elderly and infirm persons, to healthcare workers, indeed to our hospital system, and even the economic well-being of millions of people whose lives have been upended by the necessary closings and precautions.
Just as after 9/11 we need to come together as a people with a profound sense of solidarity and community, realizing that so many people are suffering and fearful. We need to take care of each other, especially by reaching out to the elderly and the most vulnerable.
Although we cannot celebrate public masses at this time because we wish to follow the directives of the government, I want to assure all of you that we, your priests, are offering mass each day for all of you. You are all spiritually united in these masses where we pray for the living and the dead. Our priests in the parishes are there and can be contacted. We are trying to use social media and Internet streaming as a means of sharing communications.
I am grateful to all of our priests and parish staffs and the 3000 Catholic school teachers and administrators who are all working diligently to be able to serve our people in these challenging circumstances. Please remember that your parish communities depend on the offertory collections and will need your support going forward to carry on their crucial work.
Let me share with you an account I read many years ago that made quite an impression on me. A group of rowdy university students on the train in France spotted an old man sitting alone praying his rosary. The students who prided themselves on their sophistication and scientific outlook began to mock the old man who seemed unperturbed by their hazing. Suddenly a passenger jumped to his feet and rebuked the students: “stop bothering Dr. Pasteur.” The students were shocked and embarrassed. That old man praying the rosary was Louis Pasteur, a national hero, a rock star, whose research and inventions have saved millions of lives. Pastuer discovered the principles of vaccination and pasteurization. Arguably, he did more than any other person in the history of medicine by his remarkable breakthroughs in understanding the causes and prevention of diseases.
I share this story to preface my request to pray the rosary each day. Many of us remember growing up praying the rosary every evening as a family. In the history of our people, during the wars, famines, plagues, and persecution, the rosary has been the powerful prayer of the Catholic people as we see in the example of the eminent scientist Louis Pasteur. Even if we cannot go to mass, the rosary is always accessible to us. It is a prayer that puts us in touch with God as we reflect on the mysteries of the life of Christ and the Blessed Virgin. It is a prayer that can be prayed by the simplest present and the smartest scientist.
St. Ignatius of Loyola once said that we must work as if everything depended upon us, and pray as if everything depended upon God. It is indeed encouraging to see how many people are visiting our churches for personal prayer and adoration during this time of enforced social distancing. May this strange Lent that we are living, help us to overcome the physical distance by growing closer to God and by strengthening our sense of solidarity and community with each other.
An Act of Spiritual Communion
My Jesus, I believe that thou art present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love thee above all things, and I desire to receive thee in my soul. Since I cannot at this moment receive thee sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace thee as if thou wert already there and unite myself wholly to thee. Never permit me to be separated from thee. Amen.
Statement of Bishop Thomas Tobin Regarding the Suspension of Public Masses in the Diocese of Providence
March 16, 2020
In light of the growing coronavirus crisis in Rhode Island, in response to the request of public officials, and upon the recommendation of health experts, I hereby direct that the celebration of all public Masses and other liturgical services be suspended in the Diocese of Providence effective Tuesday, March 17, 2020 and continuing until further notice.
The celebration of funerals and weddings may continue, but must be celebrated without Mass using approved liturgical forms. Every effort should be made to limit the size of the congregation to necessary participants only and the health precautions previously announced by the Diocese of Providence and the State of Rhode Island should be carefully followed.
To the extent possible, churches should remain open during the day for personal prayer, devotions and visits to the Blessed Sacrament. Individual confessions may also be heard during this time.
This is an exceedingly difficult and painful decision, but it is necessitated by our commitment to promote the health and well-being of our brothers and sisters, especially the frail and the elderly. That is a moral priority we should all share. May we continue to pray for and support one another in these very trying times, and through the intercession of Saint Patrick, Saint Joseph and Our Lady of Providence, may God be with us.
Cancellations at OLM in Response to RI Department of Health Guidelines and Diocesan Directives
This page will be updated as needed, please check back. Updated: 3/16/2020
OLM Parish
Per order of the Diocesan Bishop all PUBLIC Masses and devotions at Our Lady of Mercy are CANCELLED until further notice.
Private Masses are said by the priests for your intentions.
Confessions will still be held at their normal hours or by appointment. However, ALL DAY CONFESSIONS are CANCELLED.
The Church will be open for private prayer throughout the week.
If this is a sacramental emergency please call the parish at (401) 884-4968.
All Religious Education Classes and Confessions are cancelled for the Month of March.
All First Communion Class Retreats are cancelled.
Stations of the Cross on Fridays.
Adult and Children’s Choir is cancelled until further notice.
St. Patrick Day and St. Joseph Day Receptions and Public Masses are cancelled.
St. Patrick Day Dinner at St. Luke on March 30 is cancelled.
All CAL Basketball Games are cancelled.
OLM All Sports Banquet on April 5 is cancelled.
OLM School
We are acting in accordance with the recommendation of Governor Raimondo to not participate in events that will include more than 250 people. To that end, Our Lady of Mercy School will not host or participate in public events through the end of March. These include:
Students will not attend School Mass (including all daily Masses, St. Patrick’s, and St. Joseph’s Day Masses) for the Month of March.
School Stations of the Cross on Fridays at 8:30am.
The Senior Band Competition on March 26.
The Eighth Grade Field Trip to the Boston Museum of Science on March 27.
The Father-Daughter Dance on March 28.
School Confessions on March 30.
CAL Basketball Championship Games on March 14.
OLM All Sports Banquet on April 5 is cancelled.
A Prayer for the Cornavirus
Heavenly Father, loving and merciful God, we worship and adore You. In faith, we come before You asking for mercy and forgiveness for our sins against You and Your creation.
In this time of anxiety and distress, we lift up to You the COVID-19 situation throughout the world. Abba Father, we beg You to halt the spread of this disease and to grant healing and comfort to those afflicted. Please cover everyone with the Precious Blood of Your Son, Jesus and protect all of us, especially those in the medical field, from any infection and harm.
Lord Jesus, we beseech You to grace government leaders and medical experts with wisdom and knowledge to combat the spread of COVID-19 and to find a cure for it.
Holy Spirit Lord, please breathe peace and new life into everyone. May You grace us with a strong sense of social responsibility to do the necessary, and to be prudent and considerate in our actions. Bless all people to work together as one family of God and to be compassionate to one another.
Most Holy Trinity, we believe in You and we place all our hope in You.
You are our strength and our shield; in You our hearts trust; so we are helped, and our hearts exult, and with our song we give thanks to You.
(Psalm 28:7)
Immaculate Conception, Mary our Mother, we seek your intercession for us, our loved ones, our communities and everyone in this world.
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, our Messiah and King, we trust in You. (X3)
Amen.
Silvia Costantini | Mar 05, 2020
Advice from infectious disease expert and deacon Tim Flanigan.
As the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues to infect more and more people around the world, and while science seeks to find a way to curb the spread of this virus before it becomes a pandemic, we as Catholics need to ask ourselves how to behave. There are two levels to this question: one regarding the safety guidelines we should adopt, and the other regarding our responsibility as Christians in the face of this still largely mysterious disease.
We spoke with Dr. Timothy Flanigan, a professor of medicine at Brown Medical School and infectious disease specialist at The Miriam and Rhode Island Hospitals, and a Catholic deacon of the Diocese of Providence, who volunteered in Liberia for months during the ebola crisis.
Let’s begin with the question that every reader would like to ask you: How should we behave regarding the coronavirus? What are the basic norms of health and hygiene we should all observe?
This virus is spread in a similar way to influenza. During the time of an outbreak we should not shake hands and not kiss, but should smile and nod and greet in a very friendly way, but without touching. If anyone is sick with a respiratory illness, they should stay at home until they are better. Colds and other viruses complicate the situation, so the fewer respiratory infections during the time of an outbreak the better. It is OK to get together but it is good to avoid very close crowding. Staying one meter away from others is called “social distancing,” and this has been shown to decrease the spread of respiratory viruses.
What kind of measures do you think a bishop should take to avoid the spread of the virus in the churches in his diocese?
I would recommend at this moment to stop communion by the chalice. The sacraments are very, very important during difficult times of crisis. The sacraments can be delivered safely. The host can be provided to a person without skin to skin contact by placing it in the hand. This is a good time to avoid the handshake of peace. We can all greet each other with a big smile but don’t need to shake hands. We should make sure our smiles are twice as big. We need to help others. During this difficult time, we can visit those who are experiencing financial difficulty or who are socially isolated. We can visit them safely and help safely. The key is to avoid touching, good handwashing, and staying one arm’s-length away.
Let’s talk Catholic doctors and hospitals. How can they be witnesses of the faith in the current epidemic crisis? What could be their added value?
The witness of doctors and healthcare providers and most importantly nurses is incredible. I am convinced that heaven will be full of nurses. There may be a few doctors there but I think that is because the nurses will say, “You can let them in, too.” The nurses are at the heart of health care. They are heroes, and they are so courageous.
What do people need to know about this epidemic? Do you think the media is actually helping communities to understand and to face the virus properly?
The media can be a huge help in order to stop community spread of viral illnesses. But the media can also be a great ally of the virus when the information is incorrect or superficial. The virus of bad information is as dangerous as the coronavirus. This is a top priority. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and World Health Organization give very, very good information and we should utilize that all the time.
In what way can the Catholic community contribute to help the most vulnerable people (like the homeless, the elderly) now that the epidemic is an actual threat?
For the last 2,000 years the Catholic Church has helped those in most need. Hospitals were started by monasteries. We are providing care as a Church when others have run away. This continues today.
American sociologist Rodney Stark, author of The Rise of Christianity (1996), explains how in the first centuries of the Christian era the behavior of Christians during epidemics was decisive: they didn’t flee the cities like the pagans, and didn’t run away from other people, but motivated by faith, they visited and supported each other, prayed together, and buried the dead.
The witness that Catholics can offer to the world in this difficult moment is to be present: it is the strongest witness possible.
As reported on https://aleteia.org/2020/03/05/the-coronavirus-what-should-catholics-do/
MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
FOR LENT 2020
“We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God”
(2 Cor 5:20)
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
This year the Lord grants us, once again, a favourable time to prepare to celebrate with renewed hearts the great mystery of the death and resurrection of Jesus, the cornerstone of our personal and communal Christian life. We must continually return to this mystery in mind and heart, for it will continue to grow within us in the measure that we are open to its spiritual power and respond with freedom and generosity.
1. The paschal mystery as the basis of conversion
Christian joy flows from listening to, and accepting, the Good News of the death and resurrection of Jesus. This kerygma sums up the mystery of a love “so real, so true, so concrete, that it invites us to a relationship of openness and fruitful dialogue” (Christus Vivit, 117). Whoever believes this message rejects the lie that our life is ours to do with as we will. Rather, life is born of the love of God our Father, from his desire to grant us life in abundance (cf. Jn 10:10). If we listen instead to the tempting voice of the “father of lies” (Jn 8:44), we risk sinking into the abyss of absurdity, and experiencing hell here on earth, as all too many tragic events in the personal and collective human experience sadly bear witness.
In this Lent of 2020, I would like to share with every Christian what I wrote to young people in the Apostolic Exhortation Christus Vivit: “Keep your eyes fixed on the outstretched arms of Christ crucified, let yourself be saved over and over again. And when you go to confess your sins, believe firmly in his mercy which frees you of your guilt. Contemplate his blood poured out with such great love, and let yourself be cleansed by it. In this way, you can be reborn ever anew” (No. 123). Jesus’ Pasch is not a past event; rather, through the power of the Holy Spirit it is ever present, enabling us to see and touch with faith the flesh of Christ in those who suffer.
2. The urgency of conversion
It is good to contemplate more deeply the paschal mystery through which God’s mercy has been bestowed upon us. Indeed, the experience of mercy is only possible in a “face to face” relationship with the crucified and risen Lord “who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20), in a heartfelt dialogue between friends. That is why prayer is so important in Lent. Even more than a duty, prayer is an expression of our need to respond to God’s love which always precedes and sustains us. Christians pray in the knowledge that, although unworthy, we are still loved. Prayer can take any number of different forms, but what truly matters in God’s eyes is that it penetrates deep within us and chips away at our hardness of heart, in order to convert us ever more fully to God and to his will.
In this favourable season, then, may we allow ourselves to be led like Israel into the desert (cf. Hos 2:14), so that we can at last hear our Spouse’s voice and allow it to resound ever more deeply within us. The more fully we are engaged with his word, the more we will experience the mercy he freely gives us. May we not let this time of grace pass in vain, in the foolish illusion that we can control the times and means of our conversion to him.
3. God’s passionate will to dialogue with his children
The fact that the Lord once again offers us a favourable time for our conversion should never be taken for granted. This new opportunity ought to awaken in us a sense of gratitude and stir us from our sloth. Despite the sometimes tragic presence of evil in our lives, and in the life of the Church and the world, this opportunity to change our course expresses God’s unwavering will not to interrupt his dialogue of salvation with us. In the crucified Jesus, who knew no sin, yet for our sake was made to be sin (cf. 2 Cor 5:21), this saving will led the Father to burden his Son with the weight of our sins, thus, in the expression of Pope Benedict XVI, “turning of God against himself” (Deus Caritas Est, 12). For God also loves his enemies (cf. Mt 5:43-48).
The dialogue that God wishes to establish with each of us through the paschal mystery of his Son has nothing to do with empty chatter, like that attributed to the ancient inhabitants of Athens, who “spent their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new” (Acts 17:21). Such chatter, determined by an empty and superficial curiosity, characterizes worldliness in every age; in our own day, it can also result in improper use of the media.
4. A richness to be shared, not kept for oneself
Putting the paschal mystery at the centre of our lives means feeling compassion towards the wounds of the crucified Christ present in the many innocent victims of wars, in attacks on life, from that of the unborn to that of the elderly, and various forms of violence. They are likewise present in environmental disasters, the unequal distribution of the earth’s goods, human trafficking in all its forms, and the unbridled thirst for profit, which is a form of idolatry.
Today too, there is a need to appeal to men and women of good will to share, by almsgiving, their goods with those most in need, as a means of personally participating in the building of a better world. Charitable giving makes us more human, whereas hoarding risks making us less human, imprisoned by our own selfishness. We can and must go even further, and consider the structural aspects of our economic life. For this reason, in the midst of Lent this year, from 26 to 28 March, I have convened a meeting in Assisi with young economists, entrepreneurs and change-makers, with the aim of shaping a more just and inclusive economy. As the Church’s magisterium has often repeated, political life represents an eminent form of charity (cf. Pius XI, Address to the Italian Federation of Catholic University Students, 18 December 1927). The same holds true for economic life, which can be approached in the same evangelical spirit, the spirit of the Beatitudes.
I ask Mary Most Holy to pray that our Lenten celebration will open our hearts to hear God’s call to be reconciled to himself, to fix our gaze on the paschal mystery, and to be converted to an open and sincere dialogue with him. In this way, we will become what Christ asks his disciples to be: the salt of the earth and the light of the world (cf. Mt 5:13-14).
Francis
Rome, at Saint John Lateran, 7 October 2019
Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary