Priests seek to exorcise pandemic through prayer

MANILA, Philippines — Catholic exorcists are storming the heavens with prayers to end the global scourge of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Fr. Jose Francisco Syquia, chief exorcist of the Archdiocese of Manila, on Thursday called on members of the Philippine Association of Catholic Exorcists (PACE) and priests to recite the “Prayers to Stem the Scourge of the Pandemic,” which was adapted from the Libera Nox Prayers of the Church.

The prayer to fight COVID-19 was prepared by Fr. Winston Cabading, an exorcist of the Archdiocese of Manila. 

Cabading said the prayer, which has nine sections, is to be prayed at 8 p.m. every day “until the scourge of the pandemic is lifted by the Lord.”

“Let us pray for our protection and of the whole world from this evil and from the father of this evil. The devil will surely use this present suffering and vulnerability in the world to launch a spiritual attack,” Syquia, PACE secretary-general, said.

“Spiritual warfare is our ministry. This is the side of the battlefield that the Lord has called us to bolster, defend and fight in. May we fight the good fight,” Syquia said.

He recommended the ringing of the “sanctus bells” from the Act of Contrition until the end of the Pope Leo XIII prayer during the 8 p.m. prayer and exorcism.

Meanwhile, Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, in his blog “Panaghoy,” urged the faithful to stay strong and calm amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We have to see that no reality is totally bad. No matter how dark, some brightness is also brought out. Looking at the silver lining can give us hope and it can help us live through the darkness until the light comes out. And light will come out,” Pabillo said.

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it,” he said, quoting a Bible verse. ?Instead of worrying, Pabillo said the faithful should pray and repent during the quarantine, which incidentally coincides with the 40-day retreat for the Lenten season.  

He said COVID-19 is telling the people to look back to when people connected with family, neighbors and Jesus Christ.  – With Robertzon Ramirez