St Edmund, King and Martyr
Patron of Pandemics
Prayer for intercession of St Edmund
Father in Heaven have mercy on us and on the whole world. We come to you today with our fears and concerns, you know all that is in our hearts. We love You, trust You, we need You. We ask You to be with us. Stay with us. Help us through these times of uncertainty and sorrow.
We know you are the Divine Physician, the healer of all. And so, we ask that you bring your loving and healing presence to all those who are sick and suffering. Comfort them. Be with the grieving families of those who have passed away. Have mercy on those who have died, may they be with You in heaven. Stand at the side of all medical professionals who are putting themselves at risk while they work to bring healing to others.
Lord, we are fearful, we are sorrowful. Bring us your grace to heal us. Send us your peace and overwhelming presence. We pray during this present crisis for all affected by coronavirus throughout the world.
We ask the Fourteen Holy Helpers, those who lived during the time of the plague, to pray for us and all who are at-risk. Jesus, we thirst for You. You chose to enter this world as a vulnerable baby. Be with the most vulnerable now. Help us to continue to return to You with our whole hearts throughout this ordeal. Amen.
Prayer of St Edmund
O Lord, into Your hands and into the hands of Your holy angels, this day I entrust my soul,
my relatives, my benefactors, my friends and enemies,
and all Your Catholic people.
O Lord, by the merits and prayers of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of all Your saints,
keep us today from all evil and unruly desires,
from all sins and temptations of the devil, from a sudden and unprovided death, and from the pains of hell.
Enlighten my heart with the grace of Your Holy Spirit.
Grant that I may ever be obedient to Your commandments.
Let me never be separated from You, O Jesus, who live and reign with God the Father and the same Holy Spirit forever.
Amen.
St Edmund, Patron of Pandemics
After the Battle of Lincoln (1217), it was traditionally claimed that Edmund’s body was stolen by the Count of Melun and subsequently donated to the Basilica of Saint-Sernin in the French city of Toulouse by the future Louis VIII of France. The first record of this is a relic list for Saint-Sernin of around 1425, which included St Edmund among the basilica’s relics. After the city was saved from the plague in the years from 1628 to 1631 — by the saint’s intercessions — the city built, in 1644, a new shrine for his relics in gratitude for its deliverance: his cult flourished there for over two centuries. Edmund’s shrine was of silver and adorned with solid silver statues and when his relics were translated to it, the population came for eight days to honour the saint.
The Fourteen Holy Helpers were first invoked as a group at the time of the Black Death in Rhineland.
St Agatha – against headache
St Barbara – against sudden death & fever & sudden or violent death at work
St Blaise – against maladies of the throat
St Catherine of Alexandria – against sudden death & disease of the tongue
St Christopher – against bubonic plague & dangers while travelling
St Cyriacus – against diseases of the eye & demonic possession
St Denis – against headache & demonic possession
St Erasmus – against intestine & stomach ailments
St Eustace – against family discord & fire
St George – against herpetic diseases
St Giles – against plagues, epilepsy, mental diseases & nightmares
St Margaret of Antioch – against back ache
St Pantaleon – against cancer & tuberculosis
St Vitus – against epilepsy, chorea & venomous or rabid animal bites.
Information from Wikipedia