Pope Francis prays before the Miraculous crucifix of San Marcello and to the icon of the Salus Populi Romani to call for the end of the pandemic. The whole world is witnessing a moment of great emotional and spiritual intensity.
A man dressed in white who walks more and more with difficulty, with a marked face prostrates himself at the feet of Christ on the cross to ask that the 'plague' of the third millennium end soon. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and the blessing Urbi et Orbi takes place in a desolately deserted Piazza San Pietro. The sacred place, the heart of Christianity, is made even sadder by the cold and rain.
Pope Francis: "Lord, do not abandon us"
With his heartfelt prayer, Pope Francis asks God "not to abandon us while we are in a rough sea, not to leave us at the mercy of the storm". The pope who came from the other side of the world takes on the suffering of the whole of humanity and presents it at the feet of Christ.
The Successor of Peter prays for the end of the pandemic from Coronavirus in a solitary and silent Saint Peter's Square. There blessing Urbi et Orbi it is addressed to the world but the people of God are not there! The danger of contagion does not allow the presence of the faithful.
"Scared and lost in a raging storm"
“For weeks it seems that evening has fallen - comments the Pontiff - Dense darkness has thickened on our squares, streets and cities. They have taken over our lives, filling everything with deafening silence and a bleak emptiness. We found ourselves scared and lost, taken aback by an unexpected and furious storm. We realized we were in the same boat, all frail and disoriented.
But at the same time important and necessary, all called to row together all in need of comforting each other. We are all on this boat ”. Pope Bergoglio exhorts everyone to “change course by returning to God and to true values, first of all that of solidarity, because we thought we would always remain healthy in a sick world, plagued by wars and planetary injustices. Instead we have realized that we cannot go on each on his own. But only together. Nobody saves himself ".
Making sense of the time we live
"The Lord challenges us and, in the midst of our storm, invites us to awaken and activate solidarity and hope capable of giving solidity, support and meaning to these hours in which everything seems to be wrecked.. Embracing his cross - the Pope exhorts - means finding the courage to embrace all the setbacks of the present time. Abandoning for a moment our anxiety of omnipotence and possession to give space to the creativity that only the Spirit is capable of arousing. To embrace the cross means find the courage to open spaces where everyone can feel called. It means allowing new forms of hospitality, fraternity and solidarity".
Pope Francis blesses those who fight 'in the trenches' against the pandemic
The moment of prayer and reflection is also an opportunity for the faithful to gain the plenary indulgence. This is also an extraordinary opportunity wanted by Pope Francis who in his prayer does not forget who is facing the tough battle against the pandemic 'in the trenches'.
They are the health workers, the police, the workers who are guaranteeing essential services for the good of the community. Also and above all for them, prayer rises in the square of St. Peter's Basilica. Francis, visibly tried by the great tribulation to which the entire world population is subjected, does not hesitate to invoke divine mercy. He entrusts humanity to the clemency of God, despondently asks for the end of an epidemic that is killing thousands from one corner of the planet to another. In an almost ghostly St. Peter's Square, Pope Bergoglio shakes everyone's conscience, even agnostics and non-believers. A moment that will remain in the history of all humanity.
