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Spiritual Resources
Though Masses and events are cancelled in the Diocese of Pittsburgh due to the coronavirus, many resources are available to help you live out your faith.
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act of spiritual communion
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When, for any reason, we cannot participate in Mass, the Church invites us to unite with Christ through this prayer of Spiritual Communion. Praying this prayer is a beautiful way to unite our hearts to Christ's when we cannot receive him physically in the Eucharist.
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Making an Act of Perfect Contrition
When it is impossible to go to Confession, forgiveness of both venial and mortal sins is possible through an Act of Perfect Contrition.
An Act of Perfect Contrition is a prayer of repentance motivated by love for God, with a sincere request for forgiveness and a firm resolution to make a sacramental Confession to a priest as soon as it becomes possible. The wording of the prayer isn’t what needs to be perfect. The perfection is in the sincerity of the person’s love for God, sorrow for their sins and determination to turn away from sin.
There is no set wording for an Act of Perfect Contrition. Any prayer of contrition will be sufficient if it is offered from the right motives. A popular form is:
“My God, I am sorry for my sins with all my heart. In choosing to do wrong and failing to do good, I have sinned against You, whom I should love above all things. I firmly intend, with Your help, to do penance, to sin no more, and to avoid whatever leads me to sin.”
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radio programming
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- We Are One Body (WAOB) Catholic Radio (broadcasts daily Masses)
- WAOB-AM 860
- WAOB-FM 106.7
- WPGR-AM 1510.
- Catholic Education Plus, hosted by Father Tom Burke on Sundays at 6:30 am on KDKA-AM 1020
- “Amplify,” hosted by Msgr. Ron Lengwin on Sundays at 9:00 pm on KDKA-AM 1020.
- We Are One Body (WAOB) Catholic Radio (broadcasts daily Masses)
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Stream services from parishes
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Check out Mass and other devotions:
Archangel Gabriel Parish, Sundays at 10 am
Most Precious Blood of Jesus, Brighton Heights
The Pittsburgh Oratory
Saint Joan of Arc & Saint Louise de Marillac, South Hills
Saints John and Paul, Franklin Park
Saints Simon and Jude, Greentree
Saint Teresa of Kolkata Parish
Shrines of Pittsburgh on Facebook or Vimeo
Mass for the fifth Sunday of Lent at UPMC Mercy Hospital
Masses, prayers, and reflections in Spanish.
Misas, oraciones y reflexiones en español.
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keeping the faith
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Check out this and other diocesan videos
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Stay connected to your faith
Click here for prayer, devotions, messages from Bishop Zubik, and reflections from our priests.
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Pray
Spend some time in virtual adoration of Jesus in the Eucharist, asking for his protection and peace in the face of the coronavirus.
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"He is always true to His promise, 'I am with you.'"
Bishop William Waltersheid offers words of comfort during this time. In the absence of public Masses, he outlines ways we can continue to grow close to Christ.
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prayer, scripture, and additional resources
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- Read daily Mass readings and additional prayers through Magnificat for free here.
- The free Laudate app hosts Catholic prayer, devotions, daily Scripture readings, and prayers amid the coronavirus. Multiple languages are available.
- Pray the Divine Mercy Chapet, available here.
- Prayers for the sick, the elderly, and the dying
- Catholic prayers for death and dying
- Prayers for Protection against the Pandemic
- Prayer to the Holy Cross for an End to the Plague
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pope francis' prayer to our lady, imploring her protection amid the coronavirus
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O Mary, you shine continuously on our journey as a sign of salvation and hope.
We entrust ourselves to you, Health of the Sick.
At the foot of the Cross you participated in Jesus’ pain, with steadfast faith.
You, Salvation of the Roman People, know what we need.
We are certain that you will provide, so that, as you did at Cana of Galilee, joy and feasting might return after this moment of trial.
Help us, Mother of Divine Love, to conform ourselves to the Father’s will and to do what Jesus tells us:
He who took our sufferings upon Himself, and bore our sorrows to bring us, through the Cross, to the joy of the Resurrection. Amen.
We seek refuge under your protection, O Holy Mother of God.
Do not despise our pleas – we who are put to the test – and deliver us from every danger, O glorious and blessed Virgin.
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Pittsburgh connection: Blessed Francis Seelos
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When serious illness strikes, Blessed Francis Seelos (1819-1867), a missionary priest from the Redemptorist order, is especially close to the Diocese of Pittsburgh. Father Seelos served the immigrant community in and around Pittsburgh from 1845 to 1854. He founded an orphanage in Troy Hill and gave his own shoes and gloves to people on the street who had none.
He later died in New Orleans of yellow fever he caught while caring for victims of a yellow fever epidemic. Stories of miraculous healing through his intercession began almost immediately after his death and continue. One of the best known occurred in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Lawrenceville, where a dying toddler was reported healed of measles, meningitis and pneumonia in 1872, after his grandmother prayed in Saint Augustine Church for the intercession of Father Seelos. He was beatified in 2000.
Prayer to Blessed Seelos:
Divine Physician, you infused Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos with the gift of Your healing. By the help of his prayers, sustain in me the grace to know Your will and the strength to overcome my afflictions. For love of You, make me whole. May I learn from the example of Father Seelos and gain comfort from his patient endurance. Amen.
-Composed by Byron Miller, C.S.S.R.
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prayer for a pandemic
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O God,
May we who are merely inconvenienced
Remember those whose lives are at stake.
May we who have no risk factors
Remember those most vulnerable.
May we who have the luxury of working from home
Remember those who must choose between preserving their health or making their rent.
May we who have the flexibility to care for our children when their schools close
Remember those who have no options.
May we who have to cancel our trips
Remember those that have no safe place to go.
May we who are losing our margin money in the tumult of the economic market
Remember those who have no margin at all.
May we who settle in for a quarantine at home
Remember those who have no home.
As fear grips our country,
let us choose love.
During this time when we cannot physically wrap our arms around each other,
Let us yet find ways to be the loving embrace of God to our neighbors.
Amen.
- Cameron Bellm
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