Church bells in the Archdiocese of Tuguegarao will toll every three o’clock in the afternoon to invite the faithful to pray for an end to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Let us toll the bells in all our churches in the Archdiocese of Tuguegarao at 3 p.m., the Hour of Great Mercy, to invite the people to pause,” said Archbishop Ricardo Baccay in a statement.
“I am encouraging all Cagayano faithful to unite ourselves in a particular time of the day to pray for the stop of the spread of the virus,” added the prelate.
He said churches can also continue the practice of ringing bells at 6 p.m. for the Angelus and at 8 p.m. for the repose of the souls of the dead, especially victims of COVID-19.
“May our Faith bequeathed to us strengthen and move us to reach out to people for this appeal of prayer,” said Archbishop Baccay.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines has earlier asked the faithful to pray for an end to the pandemic.
Archbishop Romulo Valles of Davao, president of the conference, urged his fellow bishops to encourage the faithful to “pray fervently and unceasingly for the Lord to intervene.”
“Let us not forget those suffering most from this pandemic, especially the poor families and those who lost their daily income in order to put food on the table,” he said.
“Together, let us put our efforts to bring mercy and compassion to them,” said Archbishop Valles.
The Department of Health on Monday reported 9,628 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the country’s overall count close to a million, with fatalities crossing the 16,000th mark.
