The coronavirus has tightened its grip, making the world a dramatically smaller place. As self-isolation turns from option to imperative, our personal world is shrinking too. In a lockdown, frustration becomes inevitable, but there is nothing to be gained from venting it. We must remember that we are confining ourselves for the sake of others and that our customary freedoms have always been a privilege. Now, deprived of some of them, we can learn lessons in fortitude and resilience, but also in generosity, public-spiritedness and compassion. This crisis reveals much about mankind. It exposes the dangers of exploiting of God’s earth and the other species that live upon it. It shows how fear can take hold more quickly than even the most novel virus. Plagues, from Biblical times to the 21st century, have shaped history and there are lessons to be learned from the way we respond to them. A plague needs a host, but that host finds ways of coping with the plague and, ultimately, of overcoming it. If we put our faith in nothing – if we panic, acting blindly and incoherently – we become powerless and we will lose the battle. If we put our faith in God, we can find a way to purity, peace and the common good. The words of Psalm 91 could hardly be more relevant: