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Not to Worry—If Another Pandemic Strikes, Catholic Saints are Ready to Protect Us

June 6, 2023/1 Comment/in Catholic Theme, Faith/by Larry Peterson

Not to Worry—If Another Pandemic Strikes, Catholic Saints are Ready to Protect Us

The Catholic Church has patron saints for many causes. There are so many, they even had to be alphabetized. Under the letter A, there are 23 named saints, such as Saint Agatha, the patroness of bakers and nurses, and the great Saint Augustine of Hippo, the patron saint of printers and brewmasters. Under G, there is Saint George, responsible for fifteen patronages, including butchers, shepherds, and Boy Scouts.

We Catholics have protectors against pandemics

You get the idea; we Catholics have a lot of patron saints, and almost every facet of life experience seems to be covered. We can always turn to Saint Jude, the patron of impossible causes, if it looks impossible.

Since the coronavirus pandemic has passed, we might sleep better at night knowing there are saints in the queue, ready to go to war against any and all attacks by invisible microbes and virulent demons looking to bring us down. Here are a few examples:

Saint Quirinus of Neuss: patron saint against bubonic plague and smallpox

Quirinus was born in the first century and died in the year 116 A.D. Legend has it that he was a Roman tribune and was ordered to execute Alexander, Eventius, and Theodolus. These men had been arrested on orders of the emperor. Their crime: being Christian. But Quirinus witnessed miracles performed by the three men. Instead of executing them, he embraced the faith and was baptized into the faith along with his daughter, Balbina. He and Balbina were decapitated for being Christian and buried in the catacomb on the Via Appia.

We move ahead 1300 years. Documents from Cologne, dated 1485, say Quirinus’s body was donated in 1050 by Pope Leo IX to his sister, the abbess of Neuss. Soon after, Charles the Bold of Burgundy laid siege to Neuss with his army spreading from western Germany, the Netherlands, and as far south as Italy. The citizens of Neuss invoked Quirinus for help, and the siege ended. Wellsprings popped up and were dedicated to him. He was then called on to fight against bubonic plague and smallpox.

There is a saying by farmers associated with Quirinus’s feast day, March 30: “As St. Quirinus Day goes, so will the summer.”

Saint Anthony the Great: patron saint against infectious diseases

Saint Anthony the Great was one of the greatest saints of the early Church. Anthony was one of the first monks and is considered the founder and father of organized Christian Monasticism. He organized disciples into a community and these communities eventually spread throughout Egypt. Anthony is known as Anthony the Great, Anthony of Egypt, Anthony of the Desert, and Anthony of Thebes. He is also known as the Father of All Monks. His feast day is celebrated on January 17.

Saint Anthony the Great is also the patron saint for those fighting infectious diseases. We might all call on him now, since infectious diseases will always be attacking us.

Saint Edmund the Martyr: patron against pandemics

Saint Edmund is the acknowledged patron saint against pandemics. He died in 869, and hardly anything is known about him. Yet there are churches all over England dedicated to him. Saint Edmund cannot be placed within any ruling dynasty, yet the Danes murdered him in 869 when they conquered his army. In addition to being the patron saint against pandemics, Saint Edmund the Martyr is also the patron of torture victims and protection from the plague.

We might mention a few more saints who are patrons of those suffering from familiar illnesses and afflictions:

Saint Damien of Molokai: patron saint of those with leprosy (Hansen’s Disease)
Saint Dymphna: the 15-year-old Irish girl who is the patroness of those suffering from emotional disorders.
The Fourteen Holy Helpers: patron saints against epidemics, bubonic plague, aka the Black Death
Saint Matthias: patron saint of alcoholics and those with smallpox
Saint Tryphon: patron of those fighting off bed bugs, rodents, and locusts.

The list seems endless, so if you ever need a patron saint for anything, check this list of patron saints by occupation and activity.

Most likely there is a saint just waiting for your call.

Loneliness in America—A Growing and Deadly Epidemic spurred on by the Covid-19 Pandemic; where is God in all of this?

September 1, 2020/3 Comments/in Catholic Writing and Publishing/by Larry Peterson

By Larry Peterson

I have learned that loneliness has no boundaries. It stretches out its tentacles and wraps them around those who may have lost a spouse, a child, a parent, a sibling, or even a dear friend. I have been widowed twice and know full well how loneliness can create a desolate place in the widowed equation.

Loneliness holds no prejudice. It randomly chooses those it has decided to torment, and once it does, it attacks mercilessly. Its victims include people from every conceivable walk of life, especially the unsuspecting. Many times the dull ring of the phone or a knock at the door is all it takes to hurl someone into the pit of loneliness. It can attack anyone at any time, and it has become a social condition of almost epidemic proportions.

Incredibly, during early March of 2020, loneliness was gifted with a new victim to feast on: it extended its ravenous appetite into the pandemic known as COVID-19, aka the coronavirus. Loneliness and the pandemic joined forces with “experts” and began to ravage thousands upon thousands of people with loneliness, especially senior citizens. One way was to take away their chairs and sofas. Let me explain.

I have been bringing Holy Communion to the homebound on Sundays for over twenty years. It may be the most uplifting thing I do, and I know I have been spiritually rewarded many times over. It was early March when I confronted a new wrinkle among my visits. I visit one lady, Virginia (she is 98), who resides in an apartment which is part of a single-person, independent living facility. It is a reasonably long walk from the parking lot to the building entrance. Once there, you use a keypad to gain access. I scroll to Virginia’s name and get her on the speaker. She buzzes me in.

As the sliding doors open, I stop short. No one is there. Every Sunday, there are four or five, maybe six, people in the lobby sitting around chatting and just visiting with each other. They know my name, and I always get a friendly welcome from them. We exchange a few pleasantries (I usually joke about something), and then I go on my way.

But this Sunday, the lobby was empty. I just stood there because it took me a few seconds to realize that the furniture was gone. There was no sofa, or chairs, or coffee table. Management had decided that “protecting” the residents against COVID-19 was of prime concern. So they had the furniture removed. That simple decision changed the lives of the half dozen people I knew in ways management could not have imagined. It also changed the lives of many others, of whom I was not aware. Management’s action was successful; with no place to sit, the tenants remained in their small apartments—ALONE.

The situation impacted me deeply. I have been visiting the sick and homebound for a long time, and they do not ask for much. However, in their low profile, quiet world, they look forward to sitting together (if possible) and just talking about whatever it is they talk about. My visit is a big deal for them. I see each of my folks from maybe ten minutes up to thirty minutes, depending upon how much “chatting” is needed. I may be the only visitor they see all week. Yet my visit buoys them up for my next visit, which is a week away. The folks that gather in the lobby every week are non-Catholic and do not receive Communion. But I do get to say a short prayer with them, and they like my doing it. So do I.

But on this Sunday morning in March of the year 2020, things changed in a way no one could have ever imagined. The powers that be decided we should be isolated from each other. They want us to avoid each other, not touch each other, and become individual entities. But we are social beings, and like it or not, we need each other. We need to touch and hold and shake hands and hug, especially among family and friends. Mandated loneliness could prove to be, in some cases, more deadly than the actual virus.

The headline for this piece used the word epidemic in referring to loneliness. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the loneliness factor, not just in America, but around the world. Cigna referenced a “Loneliness Index,” which shows how loneliness is an actual epidemic in the United States. This worldwide health service company used the UCLA Loneliness Scale (yes, there is a loneliness scale) in a questionnaire used to determine a person’s social isolation and their subjective feelings. What follows is from their report of May 1, 2018.

47 percent of Americans sometimes or always feel alone
27 percent of Americans feel no one understands them
40 percent think that their relationships have no meaning and feel isolated
20 percent feel they feel close to no one and have no one to talk to
AMAZINGLY–Generation Z (18 to 22) is the loneliest generation. How scary is that?
Social media users have a 43.5 percent loneliness factor, which was comparable to the 41.7 percent for those who do not use social media.

If we think about the actual numbers, these percentages refer to it is mind-boggling. In a nation of almost 330,000,000 people, 20 percent is 66.000,000 of us. When we say 47 percent, we are almost at 150,000,000 people. How can close to half the population of the United States of America, feel alone? How can 66,000,000 people feel close to no one or have no one to talk to? And all of this is prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and its forced isolation.

Over the past 25 years, there has been a 58-percent drop in attendance at club meetings, a 43-percent drop in family dinners, and a 35-percent drop in having friends over. Children have regulated playtime while deprived of social development. We reach in our pockets and pull out electronic devices that allow us to instantly reach each other day or night anywhere in the world, but how many of us are talking to each other? This behavior is fertilizing the seeds of future loneliness.

Is our primary mode of communication now email? How many young people can even write a letter or address an envelope? Job applicants interview over the phone or Skype; couples break up via text message. Families are also having birthday parties for a loved one on ZOOM. Is this a GOOD thing? Where is the hugging, the handshaking, the cheek kissing, the eye contact? We need that–it is who we are. Are we teaching the younger generation how to be lonely? How many families are holding hands as they thank God for the food they are about to eat, together, as a family?

Loneliness is brought upon us by things we have no control over, such as death, injury, accidents, and natural disasters. This, we understand, because this makes sense. Why are so many, especially among the young, feeling so alone with no one to turn to? This must count as one of the saddest commentaries of our era. This does NOT make sense.

The remedy may be right in our face, but the secular world will never factor it in. You see, nowhere is the name of God mentioned in these findings. In fact, nowhere is the importance of the God-based, family even considered.

Regarding our faith, often called the One, True Faith, we have this incredible gift of The Holy Eucharist. Our core teaching is that Transubstantiation occurs when the priest says the words of consecration over the bread and wine during the celebration of Holy Mass. The bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ Himself. It is NOT symbolic. Yet 70% of professed Catholics reject this dogma. This leads back to the loneliness factor.

We have this beautiful tradition of having Eucharistic Adoration. Christ, truly present in the consecrated Host, is placed in a monstrance and put on the altar. We believers can come and visit with Him, sit with Him, talk to Him, even simply just look at Him. On First Fridays, we have all-night Adoration at my parish, which ends with 8 a.m. Mass on Saturday morning.

During the night, there will be those of us who will come and sit with the Christ present in the Eucharist, and just “hang out” with Him. For you lonely Catholics who do not believe, you are missing so much. You do not need to be alone. Jesus is there for you–and for all of us–all the time. If you are feeling lonely, why not call your local parish and ask them when they have Adoration. Then go over and sit with Jesus. You will not be alone.

Getting back to God and family would be akin to putting the lynchpin back into the hub of life. Then, people, kids included, might be taught that they can turn to Jesus and think of His words from Matthew 28:20 And behold, I am with you always, until the end of this age.

Interestingly, the first three words of the Bible are “In the beginning …”. Could the Bible or an app for the Bible be the beginning for someone to believe that they are NEVER alone?

“Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted
is the most terrible poverty.”
St. Teresa of Calcutta

The Strange Paradox of COVID-19: Saving the lonely by making them lonelier

April 7, 2020/4 Comments/in Catholic Writing and Publishing, Current events, Mercy/by Larry Peterson

I have learned that loneliness has no boundaries. It reaches out for everyone and captures many of the unsuspecting, including the seemingly happy, satisfied, and successful. Yes, loneliness is capable of dragging the lonely into a world of hidden misery and often depression. It can attack anyone at any time, and it has become a social condition of almost epidemic proportions.

I have been widowed twice and know full well how loneliness can occupy a unique place in the widowed equation. Loneliness also reaches out and captures those who may have lost a child, a parent, a sibling, or even a dear friend. I carry the loneliness package from all of those.

Suddenly, loneliness has been gifted with a new victim to feast on: It can now extend its ravenous appetite into the pandemic known as COVID-19, AKA the coronavirus. Loneliness is about to ravage the senior citizen in ways never imagined. One way will be to take away their chairs and sofas.

I have been bringing Holy Communion to the homebound on Sundays for over twenty years. It may be the most uplifting thing I do, and I know I have been spiritually rewarded many times over. One Sunday in early March, I confronted a new wrinkle in my visits. Virginia (age 98) resides in an independent living apartment. It is a reasonably long walk from the parking lot to the building entrance. Once there, you use a keypad to gain access. I scroll to Virginia’s name and get her on the speaker. She buzzes me in.

But this Sunday no one is there. I just stood there because it took me a few seconds to realize that no one was there because the furniture was gone. The lobby was empty. There was no sofa, or chairs, or coffee table. They had been removed, and there was no place to sit and talk. This was done courtesy of the management “protecting” the residents against COVID-19 or coronavirus. We must keep the elderly SAFE. No problem; just keep them in their rooms — ALONE.

The situation impacted me deeply. I have been visiting the sick and homebound for a long time, and they do not ask for much. However, in their low-profile, quiet world, they look forward to sitting together (if possible) and just talking about whatever it is they talk about. My visit is a big deal for them. I see each of my folks for about ten minutes each, sometimes a bit longer.

I may be the only visitor they see all week. Yet my visit buoys them up for my next visit which is a week away. The folks who gather in the lobby every week are non-Catholic and do not receive. But I do get to say a short prayer with them, and they like my doing it. So do I.

But now, on that Sunday morning in March of the year 2020, it seems things had changed in a way no one could have ever imagined. The powers that be want us to be alone. They want us to avoid each other, not touch each other, and become individual entities. But we are social beings, and like it or not, we need each other. We need to touch and hold and shake hands and hug, especially among family and friends.

Nursing homes all over the country have been placed on “lockdown.” Patients in these places will be relegated to their beds. Family and friends will not be allowed to visit them. Independent living apartments will have empty lobbies and courtyards. There will be no place for the tenants to sit and congregate.

Will our country and maybe the world soon have billions of separate individuals with no one to talk to or visit with? It is such a strange paradox: saving the lonely by making them lonelier than they already are.

We had all better pray like we never prayed before that this coronavirus is vanquished quickly. We cannot live this way for very long.