COMPARISONS are being made of the current coronavirus pandemic to previous vital outbreaks in history such as that Influenza Pandemic or the “Spanish Flu” of the early 20th century and the Black Death in the 14th century.
The Black Death is one of the most destructive calamities in human history, but the society it ravaged and its impact on Christendom and the Church are not widely understood. Given the current health crisis gripping the modern world, it might be helpful to investigate the period in an effort to shed light on the current situation.
In the mid-14th century, a nasty virus carried to Europe by merchants from the East attacked Christendom. Known at the time as the pestilence, the “plague” or the “great mortality” began also in China, spread to Mongolia, the Byzantine Empire, the Crimea, and then entered Sicily and spread throughout Europe. Every country in Christendom was affected except Poland and Bohemia, which had limited merchant activity with the rest of Europe.
The deadly pestilence occurred in three forms: Bubonic, septicemic, and pneumonic plague. Bubonic plague produced painful buboes in the lymph nodes, especially in the groin, armpits and neck. Symptoms included high fever, swelling of the lymph nodes, diarrhea, vomiting, headaches, convulsions and dizziness.
The septicemic plague involved an infection of the blood and produced black and blue marks on the body, abdominal pain, and other symptoms. The pneumonic plague produced shortness of breath, chest pain, and coughing as the infection settled in the lungs.
Although the plague affected only parts of Europe differently at that time, estimates put the overall death at 50 percent of Christendom’s total population over a two-year period. The impact of the great pestilence on Christendom was widespread. Europe suffered great economic turmoil as trade was reduced and society witnessed a severe shortage of laborers. Spiritually, people gravitated to the Faith and sought solace in prayers and the sacraments.
The Church nearly lost 40 percent of its priests to the Black Death. Some towns saw the death of 90 percent of priests. With the high percentage of clergy deaths because of the plague, monasteries suffered immensely as it wiped out entire religious communities.
The high percentage of clergy deaths caused by the plague produced a shortage of priests, which the church tried to ameliorate by lowering the minimum of ordination age from 25 to 20. The quality of the priesthood, however, suffered and with it the Church as a whole as ecclesiastical abuses became widespread in the 15th century, leading, as many believe, to the Protestant Revolution in the 16th century.
What do we do? Keeping a clean home environment is vital during these trying and dangerous times. We should stay at home as much as possible under self-quarantine, especially the seniors who are more vulnerable to sickness.
Perhaps, in so far as the Philippines is concerned, it helps that we are a country of islands because, if necessary, we can lock out ourselves better from other infected areas by guarding our shores to stop the spread of the virus.
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GEM OF THOUGHT
“The most truthful persons in the world are children. Because of this they are always happy and cheerful.” – The Sage of Truth
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