In addition to our previously recommended prayer resources for use when Mass is not available, our readers may find the following prayers and articles helpful:
1. Act of Perfect Contrition: The Holy Father has recently drawn attention to the fact that, before Easter, many faithful go to Confession to meet with God again. “However,” he acknowledged, “many will say to me today: ‘But, Father, where can I find a priest, a confessor, because one can’t leave home? And I want to make peace with the Lord, I want Him to embrace me, that my Papa embrace me . . . What can I do if I can’t find priests?’”
“Do what the Catechism says,” the Pope stressed, “it’s very clear: if you don’t find a priest to hear your Confession, talk with God, He is your Father, and tell Him the truth: ‘Lord, I’ve done this, and that, and that . . . I’m sorry,’ and ask Him for forgiveness with all your heart, with the Act of Contrition and promise Him: ‘Afterwards I will go to Confession, but forgive me now.’”
“If you do all this,” Francis said, “you will return to God’s grace immediately. As the Catechism teaches,” he reminded, “you yourself can approach God’s forgiveness without having a priest at hand. Think: ‘it’s the moment!’ And this is the right moment, the opportune moment. An Act of Contrition well made,” Francis said, “will make our soul become white as snow.”
– Pope Francis, Daily Mass Homily, Friday of the Third Week in Lent,” 20 March 2020
While there is no set formula for making a Perfect Act of Contrition, a common one reads as follows:
My God, I am sorry for my sins with all my heart.
In choosing to do wrong and failing to do good,
I have sinned against You, whom I should love above all things.
I firmly intend, with Your help, to do penance,
to sin no more, and to avoid whatever leads me to sin
Read more about making a Perfect Act of Contrition in the following article.
2. Prayer Resources: The following is a comprehensive and continuously updated list of prayer resources in both English and Spanish:
3. Plenary Indulgence: The Apostolic Penitentiary of the Holy See has granted that the following persons may obtain a Plenary Indulgence, that is, the full remission of the temporal punishment due to sin, when they perform the following along with the usual conditions for obtaining an indulgence (i.e., sacramental confession, Eucharistic communion, and prayer for the Holy Father's intentions):
1. The faithful suffering from the Coronavirus, subject to quarantine by order of the health authority in hospitals or in their own homes if, with a spirit detached from any sin, they: (a) unite themselves spiritually through the media to the celebration of Holy Mass, (b) recite the Holy Rosary, (c) engage in the pious practice of the Way of the Cross or some other form of devotion, or, at least, recite the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and a pious invocation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, offering this trial in a spirit of faith in God and charity towards their brothers and sisters.
2. “Health care workers, family members, and all those who, following the example of the Good Samaritan, exposing themselves to the risk of contagion, care for the sick of Coronavirus according to the words of the divine Redeemer. “No man has greater love than this: to give his life for his friends” (Jn 15:13).”
3. “Those faithful who offer a visit to the Blessed Sacrament, or Eucharistic Adoration, or the reading of Sacred Scripture for at least half an hour, or the recitation of the Holy Rosary, or the pious exercise of the Way of the Cross, or the recitation of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, to implore from Almighty God the end of the epidemic, relief for those who are afflicted and the eternal salvation of those whom the Lord has called to Himself.”
4. “The Church prays for those who are unable to receive the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick and the Viaticum, entrusting each and every one of them to Divine Mercy by virtue of the communion of saints and granting the faithful a Plenary Indulgence on the point of death, provided that they are duly disposed and have recited a few prayers during their lifetime (in this case the Church makes up for the three usual conditions required). For the attainment of this indulgence the use of the crucifix or the cross is recommended (cf. Enchiridion indulgentiarum, n.12).”
Read more on the practice of indulgences in the following article.
4. Live streaming Masses: Priests may wish to consult the following resource for tips on successfully live streaming Masses.
5. CDWDS Decrees on the Liturgies of Holy Week: On March 19, the Holy Father and his Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments issued directives on the celebration of Holy Week and the Triduum without an assembly. These were intended for the year 2020 only and were directed to the world’s bishops. On March 25, Archbishop Arthur Roche of the CDWDS issued a slightly updated version.
A Vatican News report on that same March 25 document can be found at the following link.