CEBU CITY, May 7, 2009— In response to a mounting concern and anxiety over the grim prospects of the dreaded H1N1 influenza, also known as the swine flu, Cebu Archbishop Ricardo J. Cardinal Vidal issued an Oratio Imperata for the protection of Cebu and the country from such affliction.
The mandated prayer, which asks the intercession and protection of the patroness of Cebu, Our Lady of Guadalupe de Cebu, was recited in all parishes since Sunday, May 3.
The supplication to the Lady of Guadalupe has a historical ring to it because it was to the same Blessed Mother that Cebuanos sought refuge during a cholera epidemic in Cebu in 1902.
According to local historians, in July 16 of 1902 a procession of the image of the Lady of Guadalupe was held in the streets of Guadalupe district, now the largest barangay of Cebu City, and the epidemic abated. Nowadays, the church of Guadalupe located in the district is an archdiocesan shrine.
This latest oratio imperata is the third issued by Cardinal Vidal in relation to a public health threat. In 2003 he issued one for the SARS epidemic that hit East Asia, and in 2005 he again issued a similar public prayer for the Bird flu crisis.
His appeal for prayers as a way to fend off this latest public health crisis is in step with the similar measure bishops around the country had taken to seek divine protection, like Manila Archbishop Gaudencio B. Cardinal Rosales who issued his own public prayer for the archdiocese.
The mandated prayer is in consonance also with the pastoral exhortation by the CBCP, issued by its president, Archbishop Angel N. Lagdameo.
The oratio imperata reads:
Our Lady of Guadalupe of Cebu, once more we come before you full of confidence that you will help us because you are our Mother given to us by Christ at the cross and we are your children.
We pray not only for ourselves but also for the whole world. Obtain, O dearest Mother, from your Divine Son, that the Blood and Water that gushed forth from his pierced side as the fountain of grace and mercy may wash the whole world now from this virus that threatens us.
Cover us, Our Lady of Guadalupe of Cebu, with your mantle of love and protection, so that like you we may always be ready to be generous, to be of service, and to be of help to those in need. So that the world will know that with you, O Virgin Mary, nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen. (Fr. Marnell Mejia)
