If you do not have an atlas, write the name of as many countries you can recall and lay the list in the centre of your sacred space.

Giving thanks for this new day

God of the universe.
All life comes from you
and all nations are held in your loving embrace.
The pandemic that now holds us hostage
threatens the wellbeing and stability
of the whole world.
With the dawning of this new day
we place our trust in you.
Gather us under your protecting wings
that we might encourage one another
and work together to bring health, safety and peace.

Self-isolation signals a cut-off from many usual and normal contacts.

Social distancing affects every community - family, school, church, town, city, the entire nation, and internationally as well.

This is a terrible global phenomenon.

But perhaps it will bring blessings, as we all come to realise what makes life so precious and the aspects of living we have taken for granted or never really appreciated.

To begin, use some of this prayer time, and some of this day, to reflect on the tragedy of isolation - not simply your own, but the many ways in which people experience isolation: the imprisoned, refugees, social outcasts, the elderly abandoned by family, solo parents, the sick kept in isolation, a person or persons nobody wants anything to do with…

Here are some characters Jesus encountered who knew the pain of isolation: a Leper (Lk 5:12-16), the Gerasene Demoniac (Lk 8:26-39), Lazarus - at the gate of the rich man, (Lk 16:19-31), Zacchaeus (Lk 19:1-10).

There are many more, including Jesus himself; Peter and the other disciples, as a consequence of their abandoning Jesus (Matthew 26:56; Lk 22:54-62; Matthew 27:46).

• Pray these episodes - each of them at different times during the day. Note the ways in which these people were isolated. You may like to look for other examples in the gospel narratives. Note, too, the concern of Jesus to restore people to the community or to help the community to be more accepting of the isolated one. Luke's gospel is particularly concerned with the healing ministry of Jesus and the greatest healing happens when people are at peace with one another.
• Using your atlas or list of countries, locate those most affected by Coronavirus. Consider the amount of isolation affecting the people of these lands and the enormous changes occurring in lifestyle, commerce, transport, and day-to-day living. Pray the following psalm with hope in your heart for healing, for increase in faith and for the strengthening of love between people, isolated or not.

Psalm 91

You who live in the shelter of the Most High,
who abide in the shade of the Almighty,
will say to the Lord, My refuge and my fortress;
my God in whom I trust.

For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence;
he will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge…

You will not fear the terror of the night,
or the arrow that flies by day,
or the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
or the destruction that wastes at noonday…

For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone…

Those who love me I will deliver;
I will protect those who know my name.
When they call to me I will answer them;
I will be with them in trouble.
I will rescue them and honour them…

Rosary Prayer: Pray the 5th Joyful Mystery - the Finding of the Child Jesus.

Jesus becomes "isolated" from the Nazareth "caravan" and is feared lost in Jerusalem. Mary and Joseph search for him through a number of days. Offer this Decade for all who are isolated or lost, and for those desperate to find them and to be reunited.

• Keep contact with people you know to be isolated at this time through phone, email or other social media. The Church has always regarded the "media" as gifts of God. Well used, they can be life-savers and health-givers. Be aware of how much you are now valuing the calls of those concerned for your welfare.

Wonder Counsellor

I give thanks for the many ways
you guide the skills of people to improve and
assist the ways we communicate with one another.
In this time of isolation
when physical contact needs to be avoided
we are blessed with electronic media to
enable support to be given
news to be known and
love to be shared.
May my gratitude continue
beyond this emergency
so that I never misuse any of your gifts.

If you have access to music, conclude by listening to a quiet, reflective piece.

Life as we have known it is completely changed as the nation, along with the rest of the world, wages war against an invisible but deadly enemy, Coronavirus, or COVID-19.

You may have already been "self-isolating"; the "Lock Down" extends that directive to nearly everyone.

Only essential services remain open.

You are a person of faith.

Prayer is an important part of your life.

Worship normally engages you with others and with large gatherings banned, church services, along with concerts, meetings, sporting events and large social celebrations, cannot be held.

We are in a very strange and unfamiliar environment, backpedalling to escape infection and limit the spread of a disease for which there is still no cure.

This means minimal or no contact with others, no touching, no sharing, keeping our distance from one another and keeping everything clean.

It's like we're living "in reverse", backing away from what we've regarded as normal.

Indeed, as social beings, we need contact with others.

Reversing what is natural and necessary is unnerving and extremely disruptive.

So here is a package of reflections to take you through this time of being locked down!

Whether on your own or at home with family, I hope you will find here something to ease the isolation and to let you know you are still connected. Let the spirit be our touchstone and our bridge to one another.

They explore the "In Reverse" title, accepting that while it is unnatural to be apart from others, this time on your own can help you to place more value on community, to become more mindful of those without friends or contacts, and to nurture seeds of kindness and compassion.

Prayer in a time of isolation offers a spiritual bond that will remove loneliness from your time alone and strengthen your appreciation of "togetherness" when you return.

Pray Day One - The water of Life

Give thanks for this new day:

God of life and light, I thank you for another new beginning.

For the light shining through my window

For the trees and their colours

The birds and their songs

Though I am, for some days, alone

The beauty I see speaks your presence

And gives me confidence to live this new day.

Frequent handwashing plays a significant role in preventing the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19).

The virus can survive on hands for up to ten minutes and in that short time can be transferred to anything touched.

Cleanliness is vital in the fight against this new virus.

It is appropriate, therefore, to open our special 14 prayer days with a focus on water, the first element in creation.

Water: so essential for life, but with the potential to be extremely destructive.

Water sustains all forms of life, including the life of our planet.

Droughts - the absence of water, prevent life and growth. Floods - the excess of water, destroy life.

Baptism is the gateway to faith for Christians.

By "water and the Spirit" we are gifted new life, becoming "a new creation", washed free of the virus of selfishness and made one with the People of God, the Church.

In Baptism there is both a washing away and a washing into life.

Reflect today on your own baptism

How has your faith developed since that momentous occasion?

It's what happens after baptism that shapes the way you will experience its effects. How are you living your new life?

Consider

Baptism is the sign instituted by Jesus to unite us with his own baptism.

He asked his disciples when they were seeking his favour, "Are you willing to be baptised with the baptism with which I must be baptised?" St Paul made this perfectly clear:

When we were baptised in Christ Jesus we were baptised in his death; in other words, when we were baptised we went into the tomb with him and joined him in death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the Father's glory, we too might live a new life. [Romans 6:3-4]

• Give yourself 5-10 minutes meditating on the above. If you no longer have your baptism candle, or have no other candle, light a table lamp or torch. Let its glow accompany you in this quiet time.
• After your mediation write about what you have experienced, what you heard in the scripture, what dying and rising with Jesus might mean for you today and in the future.
• If you have access to the song, Christ Be Our Light [Bernadette Farrell], play it, listening carefully to the words. What do they say to you about the consequences of your baptism? This song will also help you know that, though you are now alone, you remain linked to all the baptised. Here is the chorus:

Christ be our light

Shine in our hearts, shine through the darkness

Christ be our light

Shine in your Church gathered today.

Pray

Pray one (or more) of these three Rosary decades, while giving thanks for those who have shared faith with you and helped it to develop.

• The Baptism of Jesus - 2nd Mystery of Light
• The Crucifixion of Jesus - 5th Sorrowful Mystery
• The Resurrection of Jesus - 1st Glorious Mystery

Closing Prayer

Awaken Me
Risen One,
come to meet me
in the garden of my life.

Lure me into elation.
Revive my silent hope.
Coax my dormant dreams.
Raise up my neglected gratitude.
Entice my tired enthusiasm.
Give life to my faltering relationships.
Roll back the stone of my indifference.
Unwrap the deadness of my spiritual life
Impart heartiness in my work.

Risen One,
send me forth as a disciple of your unwavering love,
a messenger of your unlimited joy.

Resurrected One,
may I become ever more convinced
that your presence lives on,
and on, and on,
and on.

Awaken me!
Awaken me!

• Joyce Rupp, Out of the Ordinary, 2002. Used with permission, Ave Maria Press