On Wednesday night, the Cathedral of St. Paul led a procession around the block and as part of an ancient Roman Catholic ritual, the “Penitential Procession in Time of Mortality or Epidemic.”

In a spiritual response to the coronavirus COVID-19 respiratory disease pandemic that is spreading worldwide, more than 100 people took part in the walk around the downtown block in Birmingham where the cathedral sits and gathered inside for prayer.

The 16th Century ritual included a litany of the saints with petitions. “From plague, famine, and war, Lord, deliver us,” they prayed and repeated. “That you deliver us from the scourge of pestilence, we beg you to hear us.”

Although the ritual dates to the Council of Trent, held between 1545 and 1563 in northern Italy, versions of a ritual against plagues pre-dated the current liturgy, said the Rev. Bryan Jerabek, pastor of the cathedral.

The church is not just praying, but taking precautions, Jerabek said.

“We have to trust in God but that doesn’t mean we don’t take every precaution,” Jerabek said.

Parishioners are urged to wash their hands frequently and if they’re sick, stay home, Jerabek said.

Daily Mass at the cathedral continues as usual, but the holy water font has been emptied as a precaution. No shared chalice is used during communion and physical contact has been discouraged, including during the sign of peace, a traditional time of handshakes and greetings. Archbishop Thomas Rodi, head of the Archdiocese of Mobile, advised not to take communion directly from the minister’s hand to the mouth. St. Vincent’s Hospital cancelled Sunday Masses in its chapels and limited visitors to two at a time.

“Otherwise, we pray and ask God to keep us safe,” Jerabek said.

The Black Plague, which struck Europe in 1347-48 and wiped out an estimated one-third of Europe’s population, was the worst of many medieval plagues. It returned in 1361 and 1374, and the Great Plague of 1665.

The bubonic plague, transmitted to humans by fleas from rats, continues to occur in some places in modern times.

St. Charles Borromeo, archbishop of Milan from 1564-84, took drastic measures during an outbreak of plague in 1576.

“He actually did close the churches,” Jerabek said. “He conducted Mass at major intersections, so people could watch from a distance.”

In times of plague, the church responded with prayers for protection, and when the plague subsided, they thanked God, Jerabek said.

In many European cities, such as Prague, there are public monuments of gratitude for the end of the plague, Jerabek said.

“They thanked God for that,” he said.