Vatican City: Pope Francis prayed a rosary Saturday for an end to the coronavirus pandemic, imploring the Virgin Mary to intercede for healing for the sick, comfort for the grieving, and hope for the future.

“Mother of Help, welcome us under your mantle and protect us, sustain us in the hour of trial, and ignite in our hearts the light of hope for the future,” Pope Francis prayed May 1.

“At the beginning of the month dedicated to Our Lady, we unite in prayer with all of the shrines scattered throughout the world, with the faithful, and with all people of good will,” he said, “to entrust in the hands of our Holy Mother all of humanity, strongly tried in this period of pandemic.”

“In the present dramatic situation, full of sufferings and anxieties that grip the whole world, we turn to You, Mother of God and our Mother, and we seek refuge under your protection.”

Around 160 people, including many families with young children, attended the pope’s rosary, which was broadcast live from the Gregorian Chapel of St. Peter’s Basilica.

The Gregorian Chapel contains the relics of St. Gregory of Nazianzus, a Doctor of the Church, as well as a 7th-century icon of Our Lady of Help.

The chapel altar under the icon was decorated with flowers for the rosary May 1, which kicked off a month of daily rosaries prayed at Catholic shrines around the world for the intention of an end to the coronavirus pandemic and the resumption of work and social activities.

Young adults and families led the Glorious Mysteries of the rosary and read the meditations, based on scripture passages.

At the end of the rosary, Pope Francis asked the Virgin Mary to turn her “merciful eyes to us in this coronavirus pandemic, and comfort those who are lost and weeping for their dead loved ones, sometimes buried in a way that wounds the soul.”

“Support those who are anxious about sick people who, to prevent contagion, cannot be near,” he said. “Instill confidence in those who are anxious about the uncertain future and the consequences on the economy and work.”

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/247494/hope-for-the-future-pope-francis-asks-mary-to-intercede-for-end-to-pandemic