Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, on Tuesday called for a statewide day of prayer and fasting for “comfort to those who have lost a loved one to COVID-19.”
Edwards, a Catholic, wrote in a press release that he and his wife would participate in the fast because they believe that “prayer coupled with fasting is pleasing to God.” Edwards noted that it is the liturgical season of Lent, when many Christians typically fast in preparation for Easter.
In his message, Edwards included a Bible verse from the Gospel of John that highlighted the verse reading, “Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
Edward’s call for a fast came a day after Republican Pennsylvania state Rep. Stephanie Borowicz introduced a resolution calling for a day of “humiliation, fasting, and prayer” in her own state. The resolution, modeled on a national day of fasting and prayer proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, asks that Pennsylvanians acknowledge God and “to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow.”
“Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!” the resolution says. “It behooves us then to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.”
Borowicz’s resolution proposes Pennsylvania’s day of fasting and prayer for March 30.
President Trump declared March 15 to be a national day of prayer. Vice President Mike Pence has been vocal in asking the aid of God through the coronavirus pandemic as well. During a press briefing on Saturday, Trump said that if a treatment to the coronavirus were discovered, it would be a “gift from heaven.”
“This would be a gift from God, if it worked,” he says. “So, we’re gonna pray to God that it does work.”
