PRAYER AGAINST THE CORONAVIRUS
You may wish to say this prayer, to invoke Our Lady's prayers for Divine assistance against the physical and spiritual dangers of Pestilence, at home, or indeed to chant it 'en famille'. That would be laudable (see video below).
The Star of Heaven that nourished the Lord drove away the plague of death which the first parents of man brought into the world. May this bright Star now vouchsafe to extinguish that foul constellation whose battles have slain the people with the wound of death. O most pious Star of the Sea, preserve us from pestilence; hear us, O Lady, for Thy Son honours Thee by denying Thee nothing. Save us, O Jesus, for whom Thy Virgin Mother supplicates Thee.
V. In all our trials and necessities.
R. Succour us, O most pious Virgin.
Let us pray : O God who wouldst not the death of a sinner, but rather than he should repent : look down in mercy upon Thy people who turns again to Thee; that as they stand before Thee with pure devotion, so Thou wouldst mercifully take from them the scourges of Thy wrath. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
The origins of this prayer are, as some writings have detailed, from the Sisters of the Monastery of Santa Clara in Coimbra, Portugal, during the plague in 1317. It is fitting that we should sing this in England, our two countries united by the oldest political alliance in existence, signed in 1386, under King Richard II (he of the Dowry of Mary, see our post HERE) and King John I of Portugal, brokered by John of Gaunt, invoked again in the 1940s, and Coimbra is well-known to students of the Duke of Wellington's campaigns. God save the good people of Portugal.
For those who wish to learn the chant, here is a video of the plainsong.
For those who wish to listen to polyphony, here are two recordings, the second one English. Your full and active participation as you listen is then at a spiritual level.
H/T to Rorate Caeli. We see this has now been taken up by several blogs, but this organ was never one to be left behind! Rotate Caeli also has an excellent Spiritual Communion for those who cannot or do not wish at this time to receive Our Blessed Lord in Holy Communion, HERE, for some reason it is only in Italian, but your machine will translate it. We shall do a post on this later.
REMEMBER TO WASH YOUR HANDS