As the Church celebrates the Marian month of October, the Congregation of Holy Cross is inviting families to pray together for peace, especially on October 22, feast of Pope St. John Paul II.
By Br. Adolf Mugume, C.S.C.*
The Catholic Church dedicates the month of October every year to the Holy Rosary, during which we are reminded that through Mary, Queen of Peace, we are drawn closer to her Son.
The late Pope Francis often reminded the Church of the Rosary’s power to heal hearts and transform history. On October 27, 2023, the Congregation of Holy Cross joined him in a day of fasting, penance, and prayer for peace.
After that experience, feeling called to do more in response to the violence and suffering plaguing the world, the Superior General, Br. Paul Bednarczyk, called upon the Congregation throughout the world to come together again in praying for peace.
The Holy Cross General Administration again teamed up with Holy Cross Family Ministries, one of the Congregation’s apostolates, to host a Global Rosary for Peace on the first Friday of Lent, on February 16, 2024.
In keeping with the Pope’s appeal that “Mary, Queen of Peace, intercede so that peoples may find the path of peace,” the invitation was extended to the wider world and universal Church, and many thousands across the globe joined in a Rosary for peace.
As Pope Leo XIV recently emphasized, “Mary is the Mother of the faithful here on earth and is remembered as the Queen of Peace. In entrusting our prayers to her, we recognize that peace is not achieved through human effort alone, but through God’s grace.”
In this spirit, the Congregation of Holy Cross and Holy Cross Family Ministries have teamed up again to invite all people of every age, language, and nation to join in hosting another Global Rosary for Peace on October 22.
That day is the Feast of Saint John Paul II, who himself had a strong devotion to Mary and was an untiring advocate for world peace.
Young people pray the rosary
Give your 30 minutes as a gift to pray for world peace
This worldwide moment of online prayer follows the success of last year’s Global Rosary, which centered on Our Lady of Sorrows.
Given that the Church is currently celebrating the Jubilee Year as “Pilgrims of Hope” and the Congregation of Holy Cross is celebrating its own special Year of Mission to promote “Hope Beyond Borders,” this year’s Rosary takes on special meaning.
The choice was made to meditate on the Joyful Mysteries. These mysteries, which begin with the Annunciation and culminate in the finding of the child Jesus in the Temple, place us at the heart of the Incarnation, the moment when Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, entered our world.
Peace began in Bethlehem, in the humble acceptance of Mary to God’s will and the birth of Christ. As we reflect on these mysteries, we are invited to entrust our fractured world once again to the one who came to bring peace to all nations.
Pope Leo XIV and his predecessors often reminded the faithful that peace is not merely the absence of conflict, but a gift from God, a fruit of justice, dialogue, mercy and love.
Today, as wars ravage the world and human suffering intensifies, the Holy Rosary, in this light, is not simply a devotional practice, but a spiritual weapon placed in our hands by Mary, our Mother and Queen of Peace.
Venerable Patrick Peyton with young people
A world at prayer is a world at peace
Holy Cross Family Ministries was founded by the Venerable Patrick Peyton, a Holy Cross priest known by many as “the rosary priest,” who dedicated his life and priestly ministry to evangelizing about the importance of family prayer and in particular the Family Rosary.
He frequently preached, “The family that prays together, stays together.” He also reminded everyone that the “rosary is a powerful weapon in our hands.”
Fr. Fred Jenga, C.S.C., the President Holy Cross Family Ministries reflected on this reality, saying “the Church and the world now need all of us to be part of this army that wields the power of prayer against the violence, suffering, war and strife that plague our world.”
The Global Rosary will begin at 4:00 PM Rome time on Wednesday, October 22, and all are invited to participate from the quiet corners of homes, to chapels, parishes, schools, and larger communities.
In different languages, from every culture and continent, the faithful will lift up a single prayer for peace. For more information visit the webpage https://www.hcfm.org/prayforpeace
* Director of Communications, Congregation of Holy Cross
