Archbishop of Colombo His Holiness Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith in an appeal to the country in the face of the fast spreading COVID-19 pandemic urged all Catholics to turn to Our Lady in prayer seeking her blessings to protect the country and its people from this pandemic.

The Head of the Catholic Church noted, “We have already lost a lot of lives and also a lot of people are afflicted by this. Their life patterns have been shattered and there is economic crisis all over the world and many people have lost their jobs and it has brought about much suffering to people all over the world.”

He said that while the Government authorities had put in a great effort in controlling the situation, the public cannot let their guard down as the virus has come back in a more virulent form and many are afflicted. “Therefore, it is our responsibility to cooperate with the authorities as much as possible in order to curtail the spread of this disaster. We can’t afford to let this situation drag on or deteriorate,” he said, requesting people to adhere to all the health guidelines.

The Cardinal also invites all Catholics to return to prayer as this is the most powerful tool in trying times such as this.

“I appeal to all Catholics to turn to the most Holy Mother asking her to intercede for us before God. It has been proven over time how she had intervened for us and helped us. That is why in April we made a special prayer to her at the Basilica of Our Lady of Lanka consecrating this country to her, and asking her intercession on our behalf. I ask all our Catholic brothers and sisters to pray for her and join us in our effort to raise our voices to supplication to God to overcome this problem.”

The Archbishop also stated that several prayer programmes have been lined up seeking divine intervention for our protection from this pandemic on the Catholic Channel Verbum TV and social media in order to recite the special prayer to the Blessed Mother at 6.30 am and 6.30 pm daily. A special prayer meeting has also been organised seeking blessings. Sunday masses would be held based on the directives of the authorities, he said, adding that if required Sunday Mass would be held over Verbum TV.