White Mass offered to pray for those caring for others during the COVID-19 pandemic
CHARLOTTE — A “White Mass” was offered May 9 at St. Patrick Cathedral to pray for those on the front lines caring for people stricken with the COVID-19 virus.
The special liturgy is so named by the white uniforms traditionally worn by doctors and nurses and others in the healing profession of medicine. It is an opportunity to ask God’s blessing upon the patient, doctor, nurse and caregiver alike.
The White Mass was streamed live on the cathedral’s YouTube and Facebook pages, kicking off a Catholic health care ethics conference held online May 9 by the St. John Paul II Foundation, in partnership with the Diocese of Charlotte and Belmont Abbey College.
It was celebrated by Father Cory Catron of St. Vincent de Paul Church in Charlotte, who reflected in his homily on Mary’s title of “Health of the Sick” (“Salus infirmorum”), one of her titles listed in the popular Litany of Loreto.
The prayer, which dates from the Middle Ages, has been invoked by the Church during plagues throughout history. In the present COVID-19 pandemic, the Litany of Loreto can be a particularly meaningful prayer for those sick in body, mind and soul, Father Catron noted in his homily.
Mary is called “Health of the Sick” because “Mary is mother, and Mary is disciple,” he said.
Mary is the mother of Jesus, and she was given to us by Jesus on the cross to be our spiritual mother, he noted.
“Mary is our mother, so she cares for us in our infirmities,” he said, just as our parents took care of us when we were sick as children.
“Who is it that we think of taking care of us when we are sick, particularly when we were children? It’s our mother. Just as our earthly mother cared for us when we were ill as a child, so also as children of the Heavenly Father in His Son Jesus Christ, our spiritual mother, our heavenly mother, cares for us when we are infirm.”
Mary is also called “Health of the Sick,” because she was Jesus’ first and greatest disciple, and everything she did pointed to Jesus, to the Truth.
“Jesus went about healing the sick, and Mary accompanied Him as He did this,” Father Catron said. Similarly, Mary accompanies those who do the work of healing today.
Health care “is an act of charity … an act of mercy, and it’s one that must be tempered by the truth,” he said.
Being a disciple means being a learner, someone who seeks the truth, he explained.
“In everything that we do, if we are to attain the glory of God, if we are to be made holy by our labors, it must be in union with the will of God, it must be with the heart of Jesus Christ.”
“This is important now more than ever,” he said, when we don’t always see ethical medical practices.
“Even now in the midst of the present crisis, we have discussions of: are vaccines being developed ethically, are certain measures being taken correctly,” he said. “We can hardly hope to heal in the name of Jesus Christ if we do not seek to do the will of the Father who sent Him.”
Seek out the truth, seek to be real disciples of Jesus Christ and bring His mercy into the world with the help of Mary’s motherly care, Father Catron said.
“May our hearts be open to always reflecting the mercy of God given to us in Jesus Christ, to seeking His truth, and invoking His mother as ‘Health of the Sick,’” he prayed.
The health care ethics conference, “Converging Roads,” offered continuing education for health care professionals to help them practice the highest ethical and medical standards of their profession. Originally scheduled as an in-person event, the third year of this conference was held online.
“This conference is incredibly important for Catholics working in health care to attend so they can continuously be educated on where their faith and practice intersect,” said Jessica Grabowski, the Charlotte diocese’s Respect Life program director.
— Kimberly Bender and Patricia L. Guilfoyle, Catholic News Herald
Pictured at top: Image from "Blessed Virgin Mary, health of the sick,” located at the Oratory of the Hospital Universitario Austral in Pilar Partido, Argentina.
More online
Learn more about the Litany of Loreto: https://aleteia.org/2018/05/05/this-litany-to-the-virgin-mary-is-one-of-the-most-popular-litanies-of-the-church/
Learn more about what a White Mass is: http://www.cathmed.org/resources/white-mass-planning-resources/
Mass al fresco
GREENSBORO — A holy anticipation grew to a crescendo May 10 as many North Carolina Catholics attended open-air Masses and received Our Lord in the Eucharist for the first time since pandemic restrictions began eight weeks prior.
Greensboro’s Our Lady of Grace Church offered three outdoor Masses in English, Spanish and Latin. Individuals and families knelt in the grass six feet apart as they worshiped together for the first time since March 14. Tears started flowing as Franz Schubert’s “Ave Maria” filled the air in the familiar voice of Andrew O’Connor, the parish’s music director.
“People were elated, joyful and showing great piety,” O’Connor said. “I think this is going to bring a renewed vigor of people’s faith because they’ve been without the Eucharist for so long.”
As unusual as the current situation is, emotions ran high at open-air Masses in Greensboro once before. In the fall of 1941, the nation faced a different global crisis – the Second World War. As the
U.S. prepared to enter the conflict, Greensboro hosted thousands of troops on break from the rigors of mock warfare in Eastern North Carolina.
St. Benedict – Our Lady of Grace’s “mother church” – ministered to the Catholic troops offering hospitality and a multitude of outdoor Masses to accommodate crowds. The optics were starkly opposed to those on May 10, however. Several hundred servicemen huddled together to worship, and there appeared to be no limit on congregation size.
Greensboro native Monsignor Joseph Showfety, then 14, recently recalled the events. “They used the stoop for Mass, and the men would kneel on the same level as the hall or in the middle of the street,” he said.
“They (the police) blocked off Elm, Eugene, Greene, and the priest would say Mass outdoors, and people would sit out on front porches to watch the whole thing.”
Monsignor Showfety also noted that the pious soldiers caught the attention of many in the Protestant community, including a nearby Presbyterian minister who was so impressed with the young men’s midnight fast prior to Mass that he talked about it on the radio.
Spiritual warriors Benedictine Father Eugene Egan and Benedictine Father Cornelius Diehl offered the Masses as did Father James P. McLarney of Chicago and “The Catholic Hour” radio program. The church’s four-Mass schedule swelled to nine before it was all over, and an estimated 800 soldiers attended one service. A week later, there were about 2,000 troops at the Sunday Masses.
St. Benedict came of age in its wartime role, making a deep impression on people in Greensboro and across several states. With influence beyond its usual scope, the parish unified thousands and brought Jesus in the Eucharist to scores of servicemen, spiritually fortifying them before they headed into the bloodiest war in history. Today, this fortification is as crucial as ever.
— Annie Ferguson, Correspondent