Pope Francis is in hospital, with what seems like bronchitis, even if his medical condition, and the severity thereof, is not made public, as is the custom with those who hold the highest office in the Church, at least until the end is imminent.
We pray for him, in charity, each in our own way. One customary prayer that I say goes something like: May the Lord preserve him, give him life, make him blest upon the earth, and deliver him not unto the will of his enemies.
Like all prayers, we make them conditionally, and with layers of meaning. May the Lord preserve him – as long as He so wills, for we all have our span upon this earth, and must face judgement someday. Give him life – yes, as said, as many days as willed, but also eternal life. If there is anything for which Francis must repent, may he have done so, or do so before he shuffles off this mortal coil. Blest upon the earth – here, we mean spiritual blessings, the grace of office to fulfill the heavy munus placed upon him. And deliver him not unto the will of his enemies – that is, the opponents of Holy Mother Church and the office of the papacy. If he is in cahoots with unsavoury characters, wittingly or not, may he be un-cahooted forthwith, and the scales fall from his eyes.
No one should ever want to be Pope. It is, as Shakespeare put it, something thrust upon one. There is a reason that the room in which the newly elected Pope vests the fateful white robe is called the stanza delle lacrime – the room of tears.
All in all, we pray for the Holy Father as we would for anyone on the threshold of eternity. As the Letter to the Hebrews warns, It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, for the least of men, never mind a Pope. By the grace of God, may he prepare himself well, whether to continue in office, or face his Maker, ut Deus vult.
Miserere nobis, Domine!