Tagle urges faithful to storm heavens with prayer for rain

We implore God to send us rain. Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle made this plea on Monday, urging the Catholic faithful to storm the heavens with a special prayer for rain to stop El Niño’s scorching heat that had dried up dams and farmlands. FILE PHOTO OF PARCHED FARM BY JOAN BONDOC/PDI

MANILA, Philippines—We implore God to send us rain.

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle made this plea on Monday, urging the Catholic faithful to storm the heavens with a special prayer for rain to stop El Niño’s scorching heat that had dried up dams and farmlands.

The Oratio Imperata ad Petendam Pluviam (Obligatory Prayer to Request for Rain) shall be prayed kneeling after communion during Masses in churches in Manila, Tagle said in a circular issued to the clergy, superiors of religious communities and heads of secular institutes in the archdiocese.

“It is time for our rainy season and yet the rains have not come. People tasked with managing our water/power resources have warned that we face a crisis in those areas,” the archbishop said.

Relief from the sweltering heat and the absence of rain will only come from nature, he said. “And so we implore the Master of all creation, God, our Father, at whose command the winds and the seas obey, to send us rain.”

It hasn’t actually hit, but El Niño is now wreaking havoc on some Luzon farmlands, Inquirer field reports indicate. Weathermen earlier predicted that the phenomenon characterized by below-average rainfall and stronger storms would strike in June or July.

The weather bureau said the water level at Angat Dam continued to dip and would take a month of heavy rains to replenish it. Due to the drop in Angat’s level, water for the irrigation of farms in the provinces of Bulacan and Pampanga had to be cut.

Oratio Imperata is an ordered prayer for a special intention besides the ones prescribed by ritual that the Pope or the bishop of a diocese may require to be said during Mass.

There are different kinds of Oratio Imperata, which can be said either for civil disturbances or deliverance from calamities or illnesses.

“Let us together storm the heavens with our supplication, that God’s mercy be upon us and send us the rain we need,” Tagle exhorted.

The special prayer pleaded for rain to come to irrigate fields, avert power shortage, provide water for bodily health and refresh farmlands that had dried up due to the sweltering heat brought about by the dry spell.

“At your command the wind and the seas obey, raise your hand, Almighty God, to commence the normal rainy season that has now been long delayed, so that this crisis may be averted,” it stated.

The Oratio Imperata also asked God to allow Filipinos to realize the beauty of nature, instill in them a deep love for Mother Earth and become wise stewards of His creation so that they can help protect nature from further exploitation.

Tagle also included in the circular prayer intentions for rain, which the archbishop noted should be inserted into the daily and Sunday Prayers of the Faithful of the Mass.

The intentions stated:

“Lord, hasten to send the rain we badly need, especially in Luzon, so that the damage to crops and other livelihood, and an impending power shortage may be averted, we pray.

“Lord, inspire us in this time of crisis to share in the name of Jesus what we have and to take responsibility for one another and for the environment and resources that you have generously provided us, we pray.”

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