On October 18, one million children will pray rosary for peace!
AID TO THE CHURCH IN NEED (ACN) is issuing an open invitation to participate in an extraordinary event taking place on October 18: “One Million Children Praying the Rosary”. We talked about this prayer initiative with Father Martin Barta, the Spiritual Assistant of ACN International.
What is this prayer campaign about and when was it started?
The idea for the campaign came about in 2005 in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela. While a number of children were praying the rosary at a wayside shrine, several of the women in attendance strongly felt the presence of the Virgin Mary.
They immediately thought of Saint Padre Pio’s promise: “When one million children pray the rosary, the world will change.” And that is exactly what this is all about: having faith in the power of children’s prayers. After all, Jesus teaches us: “Except ye … become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Mt. 18:3).
How can people join in the campaign?
Quite simply: we are inviting teachers, priests, kindergarten teachers and parents to pray the rosary together with children on October 18 for peace and unity in the world. ACN has instructional materials on the prayers of the rosary, posters and a letter of invitation for children and adults.
Why the 18th of October?
October is traditionally the month of the rosary; the 18th is the feast day of Saint Luke the Evangelist. He has handed on to us the story of Jesus’s childhood and, according to tradition, is said to have been close to Our Lady, the Mother of God. Therefore, the date is quite fitting.
Why has AID TO THE CHURCH IN NEED gotten involved in this prayer campaign?
We not only see ourselves as a pastoral charity, but also as a prayer community. Our founder, Father Werenfried van Straaten, deeply venerated Our Lady of Fatima. There, the Virgin Mary proclaimed to the visionary children, “Pray the rosary every day, in order to obtain peace for the world.”
The daily project work that carried out by ACN in 149 countries allows the organization to see first-hand just how greatly Christians and the entire world are suffering from the effects of terrorism and war.
Only God can bring peace. We can play a part in this – through our work, but first and foremost through our prayers.
Do you receive reports from the world church on how many children take part?
Our materials for the prayer campaign are available in 25 languages, including, for example, Arabic and the West African Hausa language. Children from around 80 countries and on all continents are taking part. Accounts of the events are frequently sent to ACN, over the past year we received reports from countries such as Argentina, Cuba, Cameroon, India and the Philippines. It is truly a campaign of the world church!
Children and the rosary: this is not an easy connection to make for the churches in our part of the world. How do you get young people excited about these prayers?
I believe that it is actually the other way around: children are far more open to the rosary than a lot of adults. When the rosary is prayed correctly and under proper guidance, it reveals a view of the Virgin Mary, one that grows more intimate the longer you pray the rosary. This intimate view of Our Lady is something that we can learn from the children!
For more information on the prayer campaign, go to: www.millionkidspraying.org/en or write to: rosary@churchinneed.org
—Tobias Lehner
Editor’s Notes:
Directly under the Holy Father, Aid to the Church in Need supports the faithful wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need. ACN is a Catholic charity - helping to bring Christ to the world through prayer, information and action.
Founded in 1947 by Father Werenfried van Straaten, whom Pope John Paul II named “An Outstanding Apostle of Charity,” the organization is now at work in over 145 countries throughout the world.
The charity undertakes thousands of projects every year including providing transport for clergy and lay Church workers, construction of church buildings, funding for priests and nuns and help to train seminarians. Since the initiative’s launch in 1979, 43 million Aid to the Church in Need Child’s Bibles have been distributed worldwide.
For more information contact Michael Varenne at michael@churchinneed.org or call 718-609-0939 or fax 718-609-0938. Aid to the Church in Need, 725 Leonard Street, PO Box 220384, Brooklyn, NY 11222-0384. www.churchinneed.org
