Pope ordains nine priests "at the service of the brethren".Good Shepherd Sunday: "Jesus defends, knows and loves every sheep".During the month of May, at the request of Pope Francis, a 'marathon' of prayer will be dedicated to invoke the end of the pandemic, which has been ravaging the world for more than a year now, and for the resumption of social and work activities. This is reported by the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, an initiative that will unite the shrines of the world in prayer to invoke the end of the pandemic.
Of the whole Church...
"Pope Francis wanted to involve all the Shrines of the world in this initiative, so that they can become instruments of the prayer of the whole Church. The initiative is carried out in the light of the biblical expression: 'Prayer went up unceasingly to God from the whole Church' (Acts 12:5)," reads the communiqué of the Pontifical Council.
The Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, to which the Pope has entrusted the organization of the event, in addition to providing the liturgical resources for this initiative (the Omnes reader can download them at here), informed today of the thirty representative shrines throughout the world chosen to lead the Marian prayer on one day of the month.
Sanctuaries
These are the Shrines Our Lady of Walsingham in England; Jesus the Savior and Mary Mother in Nigeria; Our Lady of Częstochowa in Poland; Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth; Holy Virgin of the Rosary in South Korea; Our Lady of Aparecida in Brazil; Our Lady of Peace and of the Good Journey in the Philippines; Our Lady of Luján in Argentina; Holy House of Loreto in Italy; Our Lady of Knock in Ireland; Our Lady of the Poor in Belgium; Our Lady of Africa in Algeria; Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima in Portugal; Our Lady of Health in India; Our Lady Queen of Peace in Bosnia; the Cathedral of Saint Mary in Australia; Immaculate Conception in the U.S.A.; Our Lady of Lourdes in France; Virgin Mary in Turkey; Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre in Cuba; Our Lady of Nagasaki in Japan; Our Lady of Montserrat in Spain; Our Lady of Cap in Canada; Our Lady of Ta'Pinu in Malta; Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico; Mother of God in Ukraine; Black Virgin of Altötting in Germany; Our Lady of Lebanon in Lebanon; Our Lady of the Holy Rosary of Pompeii in Italy.
The prayer at each of these Shrines will be transmitted through the official channels of the Holy See at 6:00 p.m. Rome time. In addition, "each Shrine in the world is invited to pray in the form and language in which the local tradition is expressed, to invoke the resumption of social life, work and the many human activities that were suspended during the pandemic. This common convocation is intended to be a continuous prayer, distributed throughout the meridians of the world, which the whole Church unceasingly raises to the Father through the intercession of the Virgin Mary".
With the participation of the people
Hence the Shrines "are called to promote and solicit as much as possible the participation of the people, so that, thanks to communication technologies, everyone can dedicate a moment to daily prayer, in the car, in the street, with the Smartphone for the end of the pandemic and the resumption of social and work activities".
The Holy Father will open and close the prayer, together with the faithful from around the world, from two significant locations within the Vatican. On May 1, Pope Francis will pray before Our Lady of Help, an icon venerated as early as the 7th century, depicted in a fresco above the altar of St. Leo in the south transept of the early Vatican Basilica, and then placed, where it still stands today, inside the new Basilica of St. Peter, built by Pope Gregory XIII in 1578, in the Gregorian Chapel, where, in addition, the relics of St. Gregory Nazianzen, Doctor and Father of the Church, are preserved.
A gift from the Pope
The Holy Father will bless rosaries specially designed for the occasion, which will then be sent to the thirty shrines directly involved. Some families from the parishes of Rome and Lazio will take turns praying and reading, together with young representatives of the Movements of the New Evangelization. On May 31, instead, Pope Francis will conclude the prayer from a significant place in the Vatican Gardens, about which more information will be given later.
