www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Cardinal Rivera's prayer to halt swine flu

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cardinal Rivera urges prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe to halt swine flu

Mexico City, Mexico, April 28 (CNA).-The Archbishop of Mexico City, Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera, is encouraging the faithful to pray to Our Lady of Guadalupe for an end to the swine flu epidemic that has taken the lives of more than 100 people in the country.

The cardinal also called for the beginning of novena prayers this past Sunday, asking "the Most Holy Mother of God, Mary of Guadalupe, to free the city and the country of this threat that looms over its inhabitants, as she has miraculously done in the past, especially during the plagues suffered in this same city in 1554, 1695, 1736 and 1850."

The prayer in its entirety reads:

Holy Mary of Guadalupe:
You love us with special tenderness,
You watch over us with maternal intercession
And you always grant us your efficacious help.
We implore your protection and aid
To quickly overcome this epidemic
That has affected our nation.
Shelter us under your mantle,
Deliver us from this illness.
Intercede for all leaders
And those who must make decisions,
That they may have the wisdom to establish measures and priorities
For prevention and the assistance of the entire nation
And especially for those who are most vulnerable.
Grant us prudence and serenity
In order to act responsibly
And thus avoid being infected or infecting others.
Come to the aid of health care workers
Watch over the recovery of the infirm
And give comfort to those who are in mourning.
Mother of the True God for whom we live,
You who have rescued us from other plagues,
Commend us to the mercy of the One who healed us by his wounds
And freed us from death by his Resurrection.
Teach us to unite our suffering to his
In order to find its redemptive meaning
And to come out of this adversity
Strengthened in faith, hope and love. Amen.


The Bishops' Conference of Mexico has issued a statement calling on all Mexicans to diligently observe the guidelines for preventing the spread of the illness.

Health care officials have said "the situation is under control, and therefore we invite all to assist in prevention and to strictly follow the recommendations that are periodically announced to the public," they said.

The bishops also noted they would be attentive to any new information and trust that officials are doing everything possible to eradicate the outbreak.

Although I'm not sure why a new prayer had to be composed, it is certainly a beautiful prayer. His Eminence is truly shepherding his faithful.

Alexis

I have serious doubts about all what is happening.

The system's medias in Mexico have deliberately caused panic, people are extremely afraid of everything, they wear masks in the streets, the government has closed restaurants and cinemas.

Everyday people die "normally" of pneumonia or infections because of poverty or because of their own negligence (or that of their physicians). But these last weeks they "found out" that 159 people have died of lung disease and at this moment only 7 of these deaths have been proved to be linked to the H1N1 virus. Anyways this virus (which is probably infecting people since last year as many other flu viruses) is hardly lethal in normal cases (like any other flu virus) unlike the Spanish Flu which caused the deads of 70% of those who had it during the 1918's.

My country has always been the battlefield of the masonic and super-capitalist interests since our independence and its governments are tools of this power.

The New World Order uses fear as one of its basic tools of control and political manipulation all over the world, wether it be the fear of Terrorism and Al Qaeda, or the fear of the Drug War and now the fear of the Flu virus.

And all in the midst of a serious economic crisis that will bring us to a miserable state, after our economy collapses (tourism is dying, service industry is dying) our country will be fully owned by the international usury institutions the WB and the WMF.

Then other countries will follow is and will also suffer from fear and new forms of supression of privacy and gathering of personal data by the One World Government at airports and borders will be established under the pretext of "health control".

The Prince of this World is coming to his throne.

I was confused by the directive saying that for the time being Communion-in-the-hand would be mandatory for Mass-goers.

What's the rationale behind CITH being less likely to spread the virus than Communion-on-the-tongue?

Mexican clearly has his own conspiracy theories; I have mine as well...

Alexis

I worked in a hospital, so I have some idea why Communion in the hand is being encouraged; most viruses and bacteria are communicated in an easier fashion through bodily fluids, the priest or lay person distributing Holy Communion to the faithful on the tongue are more likely to come in contact with these fluids and then pass them to the next Communicants.

Ah, thank you!

Alexis

de nada

Ed

Anybody having your lips and chin wet from the fingers of the minister when you are not in the first few dozen people in line for Communion can confirm this concern.

Communion in hand is much more sanitary and, in my opinion, it has more symbolic value for adults (who actively participate in the action of consuming).

Shalom,
Memo

Um, guys--most virus are transmitted from hand to hand. And in all my years of receiving Communion off of a spoon that has been in the mouths of dozens of people ahead of me in line (including ankle-biters with yellow elevens), I've never gotten a cold or flu from that source. Most often, I can trace it back to my kids, who in their turn got it from some of their friends.

Memo,

Say what?! People who receive Communion on the tongue don't "actively participate" in the "action of consuming"? Just how are you defining active participation and consumption?

Sanitary? COTT has the advantage of the Host only being touched by one hand, instead of two people's hands. Think about all the germs on your hands, especially in the hippy-dippy glad-handing parishes where people hold hands during the Our Father. Not to mention the "Kiss of Peace" which is really just shaking hands. No, thanks, I'd rather not touch the Host for a variety of reasons (sanitary concerns not being one of them, but ostensibly they could be).

And if only priests touched the Host, then you'd have only one person touching the Host, a person who had just washed his hands a few minutes before at the Lavabo!

A lot of us would say that COTT has a rich symbolic value as well.

Alexis

People who receive Communion on the tongue don't "actively participate" in the "action of consuming"?

Really ? You must inform the Pope and the Patriarchs...

By extension, neither do those of us who receive with the spoon.

Well, I need to say that about the symbolic value of tonge vs. hand, I was just expressing an opinion.

As an adult, it speaks more to me if I receive my nourishment and then actively consume it, as opposed to receiving it directly in the mouth by someone else's hand or by spoon.

Now, as for the sanitary issue, maybe I needed to be more explicit:

The reason why germs are transmitted from hand to hand is because of the presence of bodily fluids (mostly saliva) on the transmitter's hand.

In the Latin rite, the manner of distributing communion on the tonge almost invariable ends with the minister's hands wet with the saliva of dozens of communicants.

Subsequent communicants enter in contact with this saliva not on their hands, but on their chins and lips, which actually, is much more favorable for the transmission of infection.

This is not a theoretical argument, it is simply the voice of experience.

It remains to be explored, if anybody is really interested (I am not all that interested, btw), which forms of ministering Holy Communion are more prone to facilitate transmission of germs. I would imagine that having your lips smeared with saliva from a dozen other people should be close to the top, probably higher than any combination of chalice, spoon and hand.

Shalom,
Memo

"The reason why germs are transmitted from hand to hand is because of the presence of bodily fluids (mostly saliva) on the transmitter's hand."

No, pathogens are transmitted manually because the hand offers all sorts of nooks and crannies to which they can attach themselves. There is no need for exchange of bodily fluids from hand to mouth--the hands themselves are moist enough to provide a growth medium and hand-to-hand transmission is the most common way in which viruses like influenza are transmitted. It has nothing to do with licking your hands.

Properly done, placing a Host on the tongue is no more likely to transmit disease than receiving on a spoon. Improperly done, it's not that bad either. There are many ways people get the flu. Receiving communion doesn't break into the Top 100.

Someone once asked me if, in our Church, we "received communion in the hand". I replied, "That would be very messy".

I took mine on the tongue, despite it being mandatory. I needed both hands to hold on to my 8-month-old son. I have never received in the hands, even when it was normal to, but that is my preference.

I would have received in the had last Sunday if I was not holding Thomas. I was worried that if I had received with one hand, he would have tried to grab the Host and put it in his mouth or fling it somewhere.

Terry