Signs of Hope: 98-year-old Catholic bishop overcomes coronavirus

 

source Catholic Say

Monsignor Zhu Baoyu, Bishop of Nanyang is the oldest patient cured of the coronavirus.

Bishop Joseph Zhu Baoyu of Nanyang, China, is 98 years old. He fell ill with pneumonia from Covid-19 (the coronavirus first identified in Wuhan, China) on February 3. On February 12 he tested negative, and on February 14 his lungs were no longer infected.

Bishop Zhu had other illnesses such as arrhythmia and pleural effusions besides the virus, and was cured thanks to a thoracic drainage catheter. Doctors and epidemiologists say that his case and his recovery are exceptional, since the virus is proving fatal for the elderly and for those patients with complicated clinical conditions.

Bishop Zhu had to endure hard years of imprisonment and “re-education” labor along with about twenty priests and hundreds of nuns from the congregation of St. Joseph. Later, on March 19, 1995, he was ordained bishop and exercised his ministry until age and health forced him to retire.

As could not be otherwise, the case of Bishop Zhu has made a splash in Chinese public opinion and is becoming an example of how to overcome the illness.

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Prayer to Our Lady-by Pope John Paul II

You are blessed among all women!
Blessed are you who have believed!
The Mighty One worked marvels for you!
The marvel of your divine motherhood! 
And in view of it,

The marvel of your immaculate conception!
The marvel of your “let it be done to me”!

You were so continually associated to the whole work of our redemption,
associated with the cross of our Savior;
your heart was pierced, at the side of his heart. 
And now, in the glory of your Son
you unceasingly intercede for us, poor sinners. 

You watch over the Church whose mother you are. 
You watch over each of your children. 
You obtain from God, for us, all these graces
symbolized by the rays of light
coming from your open hands. 
If only we dare to ask them from you
and come to you with the confidence and simplicity of a child. 

And so you guide us unceasingly
toward your Son Jesus.