MEXICO CITY (ChurchMilitant.com) – The 69 bishops of Mexico have sent out an invitation for the world to join them on Friday, April 3 for a day of penance.

The call for reconciliation with “God and our brothers” was extended to “the whole human family” and  “to the entire Christian people,” for “the spiritual and bodily health that is needed by all.”

The Mexican bishops’ call for universal repentance is another example of how the pandemic has motivated Catholics the world over to draw on the deep reserves of their faith.

Though the bishops do not specifically say the global pandemic is God’s way of getting humanity’s attention, they are suggesting the appropriate Catholic response to the crisis is reconciliation with God.

This attitude of humility and contrition pervades the bishops’ communication. Their message begins with a well-known reminder from Scripture: “A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (Psalms 51:17).

Though these same bishops suspended Mass several weeks ago, they are now encouraging their flock to stay in touch with their faith through a combination of both traditional and digital means.

They urge all Christians to undertake an entire day of fasting according to established dispositions, to commit to a penitential holy hour (through a digital platform if necessary) and to make an act of perfect contrition.

The Mexican bishops’ invitation says:

We invite you to pray, presenting thyselves before the Lord and imploring Him for help, our intercessor before the Father (1John: 2,1–2) in this serious contingency that we all suffer, with an attitude of humility and trust, asking Him for the forgiveness of our sins, so that He may obtain for us the spiritual and bodily health that is needed by all.

The call for penance on April 3 also corresponds with a day that the bishops say “is traditionally known as ‘Friday of Sorrows,’ the last Friday of the season of Lent, prior to the celebration of Easter.” It is a commemoration of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a popular Catholic devotion dating from the 13th century.

Common examples of piety honoring the seven sorrows are the Servite Rosary, the Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady and Berthe Petit’s Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary.  The seven sorrows represent seven incidents of suffering from Mary’s life as Jesus’ mother:

Prophecy of Simeon

Mary’s sorrow begins as her motherly heart ponders for the next 30 years what must befall her beloved Son.

Flight into Egypt

Mary’s sorrows increase as she’s forced to flee her homeland in order to save the life of her divine Son.

Loss of Jesus in the temple

Mary experiences a mini-Calvary while hoping the worst has not already befallen her young Son.

Our Lady meets Christ on the way to Calvary

Mary’s anguish rushes over her as she beholds her suffering Son on his death-march to Calvary.

Lord dies on the Cross

The sword of sorrow plunges through Mary’s Immaculate Heart watching her loving Son die on the Cross.

Our Lady receives Christ’s body from the Cross

Mary’s heart is now like burning coal lit by God’s burning love with Christ’s death as the incense heaped upon it.

Our Lord is placed in the tomb

Even the consolation of holding her Son’s lifeless body is now removed.

Meditation on these seven sorrowful incidents represents the kind of penitential act that the Mexican bishops hope will flood the world on April 3 and bring about healing.

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