BRAINTREE -- Like other Catholic organizations, local religious orders have had to adapt their ministries to the restrictions intended to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Several have taken this time of "social distancing" as an opportunity to grow in prayer and be innovative in the ways they serve.

The apostolate of the Daughters of Mary of Nazareth, who are based in Quincy, includes various forms of pastoral care, such as ministry in hospitals, nursing homes, prisons, and homeless shelters. They also give catechesis and organize retreats and conferences.

While the Daughters can no longer carry out these ministries because of the ongoing stay-at-home advisory, they have been finding other ways to serve and encourage people. They regularly reach out to their elderly neighbors who live alone, offering help with their grocery shopping. On April 3, they sent flower arrangements and notes of encouragement to 24 public service locations, two urgent care centers, two emergency rooms, several fire departments, a post office, a financial center, and the Quincy Police Department.

The Daughters have also dedicated time to praying for those impacted by the pandemic, holding daily adoration from noon to 7 p.m.

"Our time in the chapel adoring the Lord and interceding for people has become our daily offering for God and people," the Daughters said in a statement, explaining that they pray "to console the Heart of Jesus Who is suffering with His Mystical Body, the Church," and "to console hearts of people who long to be one with Him."

The Sister Disciples of the Divine Master, an international Pauline order, have also experienced a deepening of prayer during the pandemic. One sister who asked not to be named said that the past few weeks have been "a time that the Lord has given us to intensify the contemplative side of our charism and the ministry of intercession for the whole world."

Two Sister Disciples work at the Regina Cleri residence for priests and have been staying there for the past few weeks, since the retirement home is not allowing people in or out. The residents stay in their rooms, no longer congregating for Mass or group prayer, but one of the sisters accompanies a priest to bring the Blessed Sacrament to each resident in his room.

"Besides our continual prayer for priests, this has been a time when we have felt a stronger union with Jesus in the care and service of Jesus in the person of our retired and senior priests at Regina Cleri," the Sister Disciple said.

At their house in Boston, the Sister Disciples have been using their time at home to deepen their communal life. They have also been having more adoration, praying for priests around the world and people who work in communications.

"Right now, it's a very important time to be praying for all those who work with the means of social communication," one sister said, noting that people around the world are turning to television and the internet to learn news and stay connected while self-isolating.

Another Pauline order, the Daughters of St. Paul, has also felt the importance of media and communications during this time of physical separation. Although their bookstores are closed, they are still receiving phone calls and shipping orders, and engagement in their online store has increased. They have been having phone sessions with their sisters across the country and calling up friends and benefactors to check on them and pray with them.

Because many of the Daughters of St. Paul have a strong presence on social media, they have been using the internet to launch several initiatives.

Sister Kathryn J. Hermes, FSP, author of "Surviving Depression: A Catholic Approach," has been going live once a week to talk about dealing with depression during a pandemic. Sister Maria Kim-Ngan Bui, FSP, director of marketing and sales at the Daughters of St. Paul's publishing house in Boston, said they are planning to release content about dealing with anxiety.

They have also started an online initiative called #SpiritualCommunion with components for both children and adults.

For children, they are making "Storytime with the Sisters" videos in which they read their publishing house's children's books, and they plan to hold an Easter coloring contest. For adults, they livestream four times a day at three-hour intervals to pray and talk about a spiritual topic.

"We were thinking about what to call this initiative, and our hearts were breaking because we were thinking people wouldn't be able to receive Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. So we started by talking about spiritual communion," Sister Maria Kim said in an April 2 interview.

She said the idea of spiritual communion is twofold: it means both communion with Jesus and communion with other people in the Body of Christ.

"We always try to mention that it's not just the people that are around us, but we also have spiritual communion with the angels and the saints and our loved ones in purgatory," she said.

Being isolated "doesn't mean that we're alone," Sister Maria Kim said.

"We need the eyes to see and the ears to hear that we're being cheered on, there's people on our side, heavenly, celestial beings on our side, strengthening us and interceding for us," she said.