This Sunday, 22 March, in the church of Saint Michael the Archangel at Castiglione di Garfagnana, Mass will be celebrated behind closed doors, without a congregation, according to the recent edicts of the Italian state, and broadcast on television. At the conclusion of the service there will be a plea for the intercession of the Madonna of the Rosary who in 1631 saved Castiglione from the plague. This occurrence is remembered annually at the so-called “Festa del Regalo” (Feast of the Gift) which takes place on the first Sunday of the year.
Yesterday, on our visit to Kandy’s world heritage site of the Temple of Buddha’s Tooth we heard the chanting of monks praying for the deliverance of the nation of Sri Lanka from Covid-19 and broadcast loudly on speakers throughout the sacred enclosure.
In both cases I am aware of a similar return of prayers to a supernatural force for deliverance from the plague. At school we were taught that people no longer needed to pray to Gods to save themselves from the plague: the progress of medical science and the resources of modern hospitals obviated the need for such observances now considered quasi-superstitious. Even the catastrophic ‘Spanish flu’ pandemic of 1918-9, which killed an estimated 500 million (a third of the world population at that time), was considered unrepeatable. Yet since that time we have had further pandemics:HIV, H1N1 (2009 flu) and now the rapidly spreading coronavirus. The contageous horrors of the plague are, apparently, ever with us.
I recollect a visit to the church of Saint Mary the Virgin in Ashwell, Hertfordshire. The majestic west tower has poignant mediaeval graffiti carved on its walls by victims of the Black Death in the fourteenth century. One of them, in translation from the Latin, reads:
“1350. Miserable, wild, distracted. The dregs of the mob alone survive to witness.”
I hate to think what lack of medical facilities existed at that time. However, today at our local hospital of Northwick Park, Harrow, (appearing as the introduction to the Fawlty Towers episode where Sybil Fawlty is admitted for ingrown toenail surgery) a critical incident was declared when it ran out of intensive care beds because of a surge in corona virus cases.
Near to our village of Longoio in Italy at the junction that leads to Vetteglia are the ruins of the church of San Rocco (Saint Roch).
The saint was invoked against the plague and, judging by the number of churches dedicated to him, was particularly venerated. Born in a noble family the saint gave his wealth to the poor and became a mendicant pilgrim. During his travels the town of Acquapendente became badly affected by the Black Death; Saint Roch stopped there and healed its victims by making the sign of the cross over them. He cured the sick from several other plague-ridden towns without catching the disease himself. However, when the saint reached Piacenza in northern Italy he fell a victim and a fetid ulcer developed in his leg. So rank was its smell that people kept well away from him. Luckily a dog befriended Roch and brought him some food on a daily basis and even licked his ulcer clean. Hence St. Roch has also become the patron saint of dogs.
I am not sure whether, as a practising agnostic, I would go as far as praying to San Rocco in the present somewhat distressing situation. However, everything is possible and I am quite sure that religious fervour is increasing in the wake of a disturbingly uncertain phenomenon. One thing is sure: like the aftermaths of the Black Death and Spanish Flu our lives will never be quite the same again and we may truly revalue the simple things in life like hugging a loved one or friend, having a cappuccino in a bar, shopping in a supermarket or taking a turn without any reason, apart from the sheer pleasure of it, in the country amid wondrous nature which is now awakening with the song of Spring at its solstice.
