The sacraments in time of pandemic

Introduction

The cloud that is Covid-19 has an important silver lining: it helps us to realise what things in life are of real importance. Last month an opinion poll commissioned by Iona Institute showed that the great majority of people in Ireland will value family and the elderly more after the lockdown ends, while a third of people polled believe that we will be more spiritual as a result of the pandemic and a fifth of people say that they are praying more than usual (see the Iona Institute website: www.ionainstitute.ie). Access to the sacraments has been greatly restricted by the lockdown and it appears that elements of a lockdown will be in place for months to come.

I would like to share with you some practical points regarding the sacraments of the Eucharist and Confession that can help you get at least some of the graces of these sacraments despite being physically unable to receive the actual sacraments themselves.

The Mass

Watching Mass on TV or online is not quite the same as the real thing. And yet it is certainly much better than nothing, and if we watch the Mass piously we can certainly gain much grace. Here are six practical ideas to help you attend Mass well online:

1. Try to follow Mass online with other family members, rather than just by yourself. We will notice the support of their company and it also helps us to avoid distractions. If you find a time that suits you all, this can become a key moment in your day.

2. Put a crucifix or a picture of Our Lady near the screen to set the scene a little.

3. Dress well for Mass – leaving pyjamas for bedtime and tracksuits for sport.

4. Follow Mass as if you were in church: stand for the reading of the Gospel, kneel for the Consecration, etc. Gestures matter.

5. At the time of Holy Communion, pray a spiritual communion, such as that popularised by St Josemaría Escrivá: “I wish, Lord, to receive you with the purity, humility and devotion with which your most holy Mother received you, with the spirit and fervour of the saints.”

6. Don’t be in a hurry. The Mass has an immense value and there is a lot to pray for these days. Stay some moments after the Mass to pray to God for those who have died, for the sick, for health care professionals and politicians and of course for the Church, the Pope and clergy (see https://opusdei.org/es-es/article/consejos-misa-casa/).

Spiritual Communions

For centuries the Church has recommended the practice of “spiritual communions” – that is the personal expression of the pious desire to receive Holy Communion at a time when one is actually unable to receive it. It has been recommended by many saints as far back as St Thomas Aquinas who in his turn was inspired by the theology of St Augustine many years before. St Josemaría Escrivá heartily recommended the use of spiritual communions: “What a source of grace there is in spiritual communion! Practise it frequently and you’ll have more presence of God and closer union with him in your life” (The Way, 540).

The various authors who have written on the matter agree that the effects produced in the soul by a spiritual communion are the same as those produced by the actual reception of the Eucharist. What differs however is the amount of grace produced: in the case of the spiritual communion the amount of grace received is limited by the extent of our desire, but not so with physical reception. The spiritual communion is a temporary substitute for the real reception of Holy Communion, but can never equal the power of the sacrament itself.

How does this work? Only God is the author of grace in our soul, so when we make a devout spiritual communion when unable to receive Holy Communion, God treats the Eucharist as having been received (in a similar manner as happens in Baptism and Confirmation by desire) – in other words God, who is everywhere, overcomes the physical distance to link us and the Eucharist.

Confession

People sometimes ask can they have confession over the phone, or online. The answer is no. Besides the fact that confession online or over the phone would never be safe from eavesdroppers, confession always requires an encounter “in the flesh” between the penitent and the priest who represents – we might even say “impersonates” – Christ, listening to the confession of sins before forgiving those sins. This requirement does not change in times of pandemic. Priests still must be available to hear the confessions of the faithful, though taking all due precautions to prevent the spread of the virus. A priest could still however use the TV or the web to have non-sacramental preparation for the sacrament of confession, for example through an online consideration of the sacrament of confession with an examination of conscience which would increase contrition and the desire for sacramental confession at the opportune time. In this way a person could receive by anticipation the grace of the sacrament.

This is so because something very similar can happen with the sacrament of confession as with the spiritual communions and the Eucharist. When we are unable to go to confession for some reason beyond our control, we can gain the benefits of sacramental confession through an act of perfect contrition. Recently Cardinal Piacenza, the head of the Vatican’s Apostolic Penitentiary – which deals with matters related to the sacrament of confession – reminded the faithful of this fact:

Where the individual faithful find themselves in the painful impossibility of receiving sacramental absolution, it should be remembered that perfect contrition, coming from the love of God, beloved above all things, expressed by a sincere request for forgiveness (that which the penitent is at present able to express) and accompanied by votum confessionis, that is, by the firm resolution to have recourse, as soon as possible, to sacramental confession, obtains forgiveness of sins, even mortal ones (cf. CCC, no. 1452).

Conclusion

We often hear that God gave us the sacraments as channels of grace, but not prisons of grace; that in other words God is not restricted to his sacraments in order to give us his grace. God gave us the sacraments – in all their physicality – as the most appropriate means of dealing with us spirit and flesh creatures. In the words of St Josemaría Escrivá:

What are the sacraments, which people in early times described as the footprints of the Incarnate Word, if not the clearest expression of this way which God has chosen in order to sanctify us and to lead us to heaven? Don’t you see that each sacrament is the love of God, with all its creative and redemptive power, given to us through the medium of material things? (Passionately Loving the World, 53).

These days of involuntary separation from the sacraments, especially from the Eucharist and Confession can serve to increase our appreciation of what God gives us there, and to heighten our desire to meet Jesus once again “in the flesh” in these divine gifts.