Eastern Prayers for Those Infected by the Coronavirus

More than a year has passed and the virus still threatens humanity, especially those struggling to survive in the sad East. In light of dangerous economic and social collapses topped by serious political conflicts putting the region on the edge of a cliff, the Coronavirus was the icing on the cake, adding to the misery, deepening wounds and increasing the pain with thousands of victims and infected daily.

The Coronavirus is putting up a good fight against medicine and the world is still waiting for the vaccine to allow people’s immunity to face of the microscopic enemy. There is no hope for humanity except through prayer and hope. Therefore, the Middle East Council of Churches called for a virtual meeting and an ecumenical prayer on the evening of last Friday, February 12, 2021, where a prayer was raised for all those who are suffering and for the souls of all those who lost the battle against this deadly virus.

"Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?" (Mark 4: 35-41); Under this headline, and as a response to this question in the midst of the storm, the prayer was organized by the department of Communication and Public Relations and the Theological and Ecumenical department in the council. It was transmitted on Zoom, the MECC Facebook page, the pages of Noursat and Abouna website… and dozens of other pages, where believers expressed their hope in the mercy and love of our Lord Jesus Christ in these trying times.

The call was answered by a number of priests and believers from the different Churches in the Middle East: Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Holy Land, the Gulf and the world ... The meeting included meditation, psalms, prayers and hymns, whether live or recorded, from different churches: the Coptic Orthodox, Evangelical, Maronite, Chaldean, Syriac Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, Armenian Catholics, Armenian Orthodox, Syriac Catholics, and Greek Melkite Catholics.

The meeting ended with spontaneous prayers by the participants. They wished to organize more of these meetings full of hope and brotherhood raising the voice of Christians through a united prayer from the East to the whole world.