New York City, N.Y., Jun 9, 2012 / 06:26 am
On June 15, as the Catholic Church celebrates both the Feast of the Sacred Heart and World Priest Day, over 500 priests and deacons will pray the Rosary at 60 shrines in 60 countries around the world.
"At this time in history, we priests need to pray more, and we need our lay brothers and sisters to pray for us, so we can become better and holier priests so as to better serve God and his Church," said Father John Trigilio, president of the American Confraternity of Catholic Clergy, in a June 7 statement.
Fr. Trigilio urged "all my ordained brothers to join me in praying this rosary for ourselves and our brethren all over the world."
Organized by the confraternity in honor of the World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests, the Rosary Rally for Priests features 24 hours of continuous international Marian devotion. Beginning in Los Angeles, California, the Rosary prayer chain will travel the globe in half-hour increments.
Participating U.S. locations include New Jersey's National Blue Army Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima; the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.; the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help in Wisconsin; and EWTN's headquarters in Irondale, Alabama.
Vatican-based Cardinal Raymond L. Burke is involved in the effort, and will lead a recitation of the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary.
Clergy and laypersons can coordinate their own Rosaries with those taking place at the shrines, through a schedule available at http://worldpriestday.publishpath.com/60-mysteries.
Thomas McKenna, executive director of the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy, pointed to the "indispensable" connection between the Rosary and the Catholic priesthood, in his group's statement on Thursday. He encouraged all Catholics to seek the Virgin Mary's intercession for the ordained.
"From Saint Dominic to Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI," he noted, "Holy Mother Church has consistently and traditionally encouraged the faithful to pray for priests."
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