Starting this Sunday Mass, Catholics will be praying the “Oratio Imperata” or special prayer asking God to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) issued the prayer and asked Catholics to cooperate with health authorities.

God our Father,

We come to you in our need

To ask your protection against the 2019-nCoV,

That has claimed lives

And has affected many.

We pray for your grace

For the people tasked with studying the nature and cause

Of this virus and its disease

And of stemming the tide of its transmission.

Guide the hands and minds of medical experts

That they may minister to the sick

With competence and compassion,

And of those governments and private agencies

That must find cure and solution to this epidemic.

We pray for those afflicted

May they be restored to health soon.

Grant us the grace

To work for the good of all

And to help those in need.

Grant this through our Lord, Jesus Christ, your Son,

Who lives and reigns with You, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

God forever and ever. Amen.

Mary Help of all Christians, pray for us.

St. Raphael the Archangel, pray for us.

St. Lorenzo Ruiz, pray for us.

St. Pedro Calungsod, pray for us.

The bishops urged parishes to pray the oratio “after Holy Communion, kneeling down.”Take communion by hand and refrain from holding hands during the “Our Father” and the exchange of the “Sign of Peace.”

For announcements, email [email protected].