MANILA, August 28, 2011—The Family Rosary Crusade in the Philippines is spearheading a campaign to get one million Filipinos to pray one million rosaries in 200 days for all nations in the world.
Dubbed “A million roses for the World: Filipinos at Prayer: Peace for All Nations”, the campaign aims to rally Filipinos here and abroad to offer one rosary each day for a particular country in the world in 200 days.
The nationwide activity will begin on October 7, 2011, the feast of our Lady of the Rosary and ends on May 31, 2012, Feast of Our Lady of All Nations. The event will be launched officially on October 8 at the UST grounds.
The rosary campaign will come with catechesis, highlighting the importance of prayer for Christian life, of the rosary as a gospel story and the need for Catholics to get engaged in contemporary issues confronting society, says the FRC website.
CBCP president and Tandag Bishop Nereo Odchimar lauded the FRC campaign, saying that with one million peace-loving Filipinos praying together, “we can claim peace for the world from the hands of the good Lord and his mother.”
He said “the tool may be simple but this simplicity will open for us the doors to lasting peace for the world and lead us to the path for the healing of our nation.”
Odchimar called on all parishes, BECs, schools and overseas Filipinos to join in the rosary campaign.
“I see this as a potent tool for catechesis on prayer, on the need for social engagement among Catholics and on the real meaning of peace as taught by the Lord in the gospels,” he said.
Lingayen-Dagupan joins rosary campaign
Meanwhile, in a circular addressed to the clergy of Lingayen-Dagupan, Archbishop Socrates Villegas urged both priests and laity to actively participate in the rosary campaign.
Villegas heads the Episcopal Commission on Catechesis and Catholic Education (ECCCE) which partners with the Family Rosary Crusade for the completion of the “One million roses for the world” project.
He also encouraged the faithful to join a similar rosary campaign for schools nationwide dubbed “One Point One on Eleven Eleven”.
In this specific activity all Catholic schools, colleges and universities nationwide pray simultaneously one million one hundred rosaries at 11 am on 11 November 2011.
“This will be a good occasion to animate our youth to love this beautiful prayer of the Church,” Villegas said, urging schools and parishes to prepare their respective communities for the activity.
“This campaign aims to teach our youth that prayer can change the world and people who pray can change the destinies of peoples. Indeed there can be no world peace without prayer,” he stressed.
A prayer of commitment for the rosary campaign will be prayed in all Masses within the archdiocese beginning September 1 until 30. (CBCPNews)
