Monday, April 13, 2020

Italians Turn To Saints For Their Intervention During The Coronavirus Onslaught


Saints -- Italian and non-Italian -- in heaven
Image courtesy: aleteia.org/

Italy, having the headquarters (the 'throne' of the popes -- who were mostly Italian) of the Roman Catholic Church, is a breeding ground for saints. So far, this country has a greater share of several thousand saints than any other country. There are hundreds of cathedrals, basilicas, shrines, and churches with the names of saints. Many lanes and bylanes of Italian cities and towns have little family shrines to Italian saints, who are venerated and whose intercession is sought. 

 There are also saints' entire bodies, body parts (skulls, hands, and fingers), other types of bones, and relics in different churches and chapels in Italy. Many a time, veneration of and prayer to saints is overdone, neglecting required veneration of God and Jesus Christ the Saviour. 

 Saints work as role models for Catholics. Their veneration is an important part of Catholicism. Seeking their intercession during the time of anxiety, crisis, epidemic, and war is a must for Catholics. There are stories of saints who, in the long past, had intervened miraculously during epidemics. St. Corona, an Italian, is one of them. 

 During this COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, many Italians, especially elderly ones, died in droves. Many of them and the living ones have sought the miraculous intervention of God, Jesus, and saints. More than 100 Catholic priests, in the service of the coronavirus patients in Italy, died of this same disease. Other Catholics in the world are desparately seeking the help of saints, too. So far, there is no sign of any miraculous mass cures from the virus attack or a sudden remission of it.

 The Catholic Church now is more than 2,000 years old. In the early centuries, men and women, deemed holy by the local populace were canonized on their public acclamation. Then local bishops could canvass for the canonization of persons under their care. It was then easy to get saints in one's midst. Due to natural human frailties, there were some bogus acclamations and some favoritism and nepotism in the absence of a neutral investigative process. Later, as redress to this problem, the saint-making process became a little more difficult and lengthened with the introduction of the 'devil's advocate' (advocatus diaboli). From Pope John Paul II's time,  the devil's advocate position was removed and saint-making became a little easier and faster. 

 Please read below for more information on saints:
(Updated on April 14, 2020)

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Posted by Jerome D'Costa at 9:51 PM
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