5 saints Catholics are calling on to fight the coronavirus pandemic
Pope Francis praying during a recent Mass in Vatican City. Photo courtesy Vatican press office.
NEW YORK — The coronavirus outbreak has led millions upon millions of Christians around the world — and other faith traditions as well — to prayer. Pope Francis prayed the rosary last Thursday with Catholics around the world via internet to ask God to end the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed more people in Italy than anywhere else.
The Vatican also announced that Holy Week and Easter services would go on without any public participation for the first time ever. Churches around the world have closed to help stop the spread of the deadly virus. As a result, people are worshipping from home. As the need for for more respirators and protective masks grows to combat the pandemic, more and more people are praying these days.
Pope Francis called on the leaders of all Christian churches worldwide, as well Christians everywhere, to join together in praying the Our Father on Wednesday to combat COVID-19.
In both the Catholic and Eastern rite traditions, saints are venerated and given special ecclesiastical recognition. These exemplary models are looked upon for help through the power of prayer — what some Christians call intercession — especially in times of need.
The church’s 2,000-year history can give us a glimpse into how Christians reacted to past pandemics. Plagues, being quarantined and social distancing (a monastic life in religious terms) are nothing new to Christians. As a result, Catholics around the world have primarily called for the intercession of Mary and a great number of saints who have defeated plagues and epidemics over the centuries. There are scores of saints that be called upon in a time of illness, including a group called the 14 Holy Helpers.
In the book Saint of the Day, editor Leonard Foley, wrote: “[Saints’] surrender to God’s love was so generous an approach to the total surrender of Jesus that the Church recognizes them as heroes and heroines worthy to be held up for our inspiration. They remind us that the church is holy, can never stop being holy and is called to show the holiness of God by living the life of Christ.”
With Masses cancelled in the United States and around the world, Catholic media outlets have been very good about spreading the word on what to do and how to handle these situations. America magazine, for example, had a piece on how to practice your faith from home. The National Catholic Register has also done a very good job advising people on what to do and the latest from the Vatican through its updated coronavirus page.
People in Italy and Spain, two large epicenters of the contagion, have been singing from their balconies and thanking medical workers for weeks. Many of those citizens have also been praying in public, invoking the help of saints familiar with defeating past plagues.
Below are five saints that Catholics are invoking these days as the world continues to battle the contagion.
Saints Cosmas and Damian
Cosmas and Damian pack the punch of two saints in one. These early Christian martyrs, who were believed to be twin brothers, lived in Syria during the third century. Nothing is known of their lives except that they suffered martyrdom during the persecution of the Roman Emperor Diocletian.
Both doctors, Cosmas and Damian are regarded as the patrons of physicians, surgeons and pharmacists and are sometimes represented with medical emblems.
Saint Pope Gregory the Great
Pope Gregory I — commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great — served as pope from the years 590 to 604. Considered a saint in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox church, as well as among Anglicans and various Lutheran denominations, Gregory the Great lived a monastic life for many years before becoming pope.
When a plague hit in Rome in 591, Gregory organized a procession to take place in the city’s streets and ending at the Basilica of Mary Major. This was perhaps unusual at the time, since Rome was traditionally associated with St Peter’s protection, but it may have been a result of Byzantine influence since Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) was often put under Mary’s protection.
Saint Rosalie
Born in the year 1130, Rosalie was born in Palermo at a time when the Italian city was a part of the Kingdom of Sicily. A religious woman, she lived a monastic life — you can say she was social distancing — in a cave on Mount Pellegrino, where she died alone in 1166.
In 1624, a plague overcame Palermo. Rosalie (Rosalia in Italian) appeared to a sick woman, then subsequently to a hunter. She told the hunter where her remains could be found — and ordered the bones taken to Palermo in a procession. As a result, the city was saved from the plague. She remains the city’s patron saint.
Saint Casimir
Casimir Jagiellon was a prince of the Kingdom of Poland and of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania during the 15th century. Over the course of his lifetime, Casimir became known for his devotion to God and generosity towards the sick.
Casimir died in 1484 at the age of 25 from tuberculosis, a respiratory illness that many at the time associated with the plague. His remains are interred in Vilnius Cathedral, where the dedicated Saint Casimir's Chapel was built in 1636. Aside from being the patron of Poland and Lithuania, Casimir’s intercession is called upon during times of widespread illness.
Clemente Lisi is a senior editor and regular contributor to Religion Unplugged. He is the former deputy head of news at the New York Daily News and teaches journalism at The King’s College in New York City. Follow him on Twitter @ClementeLisi.