Faith and Devotion During Social Distancing

Our lives have been changing rapidly over the past week as we try as a community to adhere to social distancing and keep people safe. As you know, in light of this, the Ohio Bishops have made the difficult decision to cancel church activities, Mass and Liturgies through Easter.

We encourage you to use this time outside of your normal schedules and busy-ness to anchor your hearts in hope and to grow in faith and devotion. We offer the following suggestions to help you remain active in your relationship with God during this time.

1. Watch Mass on TV or Stream Online

You can still prayerfully participate in Mass by watching it on TV or streaming it online. Here are some recommendations on how to watch Mass on Sunday morning:

Fox 8 — The Diocese of Cleveland airs a weekly TV Mass at 6 a.m. on Sundays for the home-bound members of our community. You can set your DVR to record the Mass and then watch it during your regular Mass time.

EWTN – EWTN airs Mass at 8 a.m. and 12 p.m. on Sundays. They also air a daily Mass during the week. You can check your listings for the channel. You can also watch a recording of the EWTN daily and Sunday Masses online if you don't have the channel on your TV: https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/daily-readings

Prayer of Spiritual Communion – While this in no way replaces physically receiving the Eucharist at Mass, you can say the following prayer during Communion when you are watching the Mass on TV or online:

My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love You above all things, and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.

(Please keep in mind, once Masses have been reinstated, watching Mass on TV or online does not fulfill your Sunday obligation, except for in the case of illness.)

2. Spend Time in Daily Prayer

This is a great time to recommit yourself to daily prayer, as an individual or as a family. Consider taking up one of the following devotions.

The Rosary – The Rosary is a powerful prayer to offer up for your intentions. You will receive many graces through praying the Rosary, and it can help you cling to faith and hope during these difficult days. You can find a guide for how to say the rosary here: http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/prayers-and-devotions/rosaries/how-to-pray-the-rosary.cfm

The Divine Mercy Chaplet – Jesus gave the Divine Mercy Chaplet to St. Faustina and asked her to encourage everyone to say the Chaplet. He said:

"Encourage souls to say the Chaplet which I have given you. Whoever will recite it will receive great mercy at the hour of death. ... Even if there were a sinner most hardened, if he were to recite this Chaplet only once, he would receive grace from My infinite mercy. I desire to grant unimaginable graces to those souls who trust in My mercy."

The Divine Mercy Chaplet can be said using regular Rosary beads. You can learn more about the Chaplet and how to pray it here: https://www.thedivinemercy.org/message/devotions/chaplet

Magnificat Magazine – The Magnificat magazine offers many ways to enter into prayer and reflection. Here you can find Liturgy of the Hours (Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer and Night Prayer), the daily Mass readings, daily reflections and stories about the Saints. You can even use it as a missalette when you are watching Mass on TV as it also includes the Order of Mass.

Because of the challenging times in our country right now, Magnificat is offering the online version of their March magazine for free. You can download it here: https://us.magnificat.net/free

The Stations of the Cross – The Stations of the Cross allow us to prayerfully meditate on the Passion of our Lord. This devotion is particularly appropriate during the Lenten season. Here is a written and audio version you can follow online: https://www.discerninghearts.com/catholic-podcasts/stations-of-the-cross-according-to-the-method-of-st-francis-of-assisi/

3. Watch Videos on FORMED

St. Eugene Catholic Church provides you with a free subscription to FORMED. This subscription includes faith-based videos, ebooks and audio programs for all ages. Take this opportunity to explore what's available to you. You can learn more about signing up here: https://sainteugene.org/formed/

4. Stay Connected Through Our Video Gallery

We'd like to stay connected with you during this time as well. You can view our video gallery (or subscribe to our YouTube Channel) for videos from Fr. Pete: https://sainteugene.org/video-gallery

5. Enjoy the Lord's Blessing of Time

In our busy world, we are rarely given the opportunity to slow down. We can use this time as a blessing from the Lord to be present with our family and reconnect with each other.

In place of all the extracurricular and social activities you would normally enjoy, you can eat dinner as a family, play in the backyard, take a walk around the block, or dust off the board games, playing cards and puzzles.

However you choose to spend this time, we hope you find it full of blessings rather than fear.