In the silence of the tomb . . .

Deep, deep in the Chilean earth these thirty-three miners are waiting : waiting for the rescue which it appears they – now – can be almost completely certain will reach them . . . eventually.

Until it does, however, they not only have to do the practical things involved in staying alive in what, we understand, is still a comparatively dangerous situation, and horribly difficult conditions . . . they have to cope mentally with what may well be the most stressful and demanding situation in which a group of men have ever been.

When they come out, they will be changed men. Risen, as it were, from the dead : and hopefully supported throughout their ordeal by the Christian (and probably Catholic) Faith which most (if not all) of them possess . . . but nothing can have prepared them for this.

Let us pray for them throughout their time in the tomb. We don’t know how long it will be : but if every Catholic Christian gives them just one prayer a day, it will help.