On the basis of the phenomenological concept of the sacrednuminous R. Otto, the development of the meanings of numinous in modern culture in the context of a pandemic is considered. The specificity of the sacred with its foundation in the numinous, as presented by R. Otto, is studied as a methodology for comprehending the empiricism of a pandemic. An appeal to the empirical cut leads to the identification of transformations in the phenomenological status of the numinous. It is noted that the religious experience of a person at the beginning of the 20th century and the religious experience of the modern man has certain differences associated with the development of secular culture. R. Otto’s thought about the reality of the numinous, understood as the Divine expression of the will of an incomprehensible transcendental object, whose intentions largely determine human life, are presented in correlation with the intentionality of the challenge thrown to humanity by the pandemic. At the same time, a certain reduction of the components of the experience of the numinous by the modern man is noted.