Doomsday Book (Oxford Time Travel, #1)

by Connie Willis

‘… but Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart,’ ” Dunworthy finished and went back to his seat. The imam announced the times of the Christmas Day services at all the churches, and read the NHS bulletin on avoiding contact with infected persons. The vicar began his sermon. “There are those,” he said, looking hard at the priest from Holy Re-Formed, “who think that diseases are a punishment from God, and yet Christ spent his life healing the sick, and were he here, I have no doubt he would cure those afflicted with this virus, just as he cured the Samaritan leper,” and launched into a ten-minute lecture on how to protect oneself from influenza. He listed the symptoms and explained droplet transmission. “Drink fluids and rest,” he said, extending his hands out over the pulpit as if it were a benediction, “and at the first sign of any of these symptoms, telephone your doctor.” The bell ringers pulled on their white gloves again and accompanied the organ in “Angels from the Realms of Glory,” which actually sounded recognizable.