For those who are praying for the people impacted by and suffering from coronavirus: The Vatican is encouraging a day of prayer and fasting in order to invoke divine help and intervention against the coronavirus in Rome, Italy, and the world.

Many Catholics are praying a Novena prayer to St. Rocco, who has been venerated for centuries as the protector against the plague and all contagious diseases. A Novena (from Latin: novem, “nine”) is an ancient tradition of devotional praying in Christianity, consisting of private or public prayers repeated for nine successive days or weeks.