Press Release – For Immediate Release
Königstein-Montreal, September 2024 – This year, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) once again invites children from all around the world to take part in the One Million Children Praying the Rosary campaign for peace and unity in the world.
In less than one month, on October 18, 2024, the international pontifical charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) will once again be hosting its One Million Children Praying the Rosary campaign, which every year calls upon thousands of children from all around the world to pray with other children for peace. The campaign also emphasizes Mary’s request in Fátima: “Pray the Rosary and there will be peace.”
The charity, with an eye on the many crisis zones and flashpoints in the world, would like to recall the words of the visionary Lucia from Fátima: “The Most Holy Virgin, in these times in which we live, has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the Holy Rosary to such an extent that there is no problem, no matter how difficult it is … that cannot be solved by the Rosary.” Through this year’s campaign, ACN would also like to take part in the “symphony of prayer,” which Pope Francis called for on the occasion of the 2024 Year of Prayer, and which should serve to prepare the way for the 2025 Jubilee Year.
“This year, we are witnessing an increase in the number of conflicts around the world,” says Marie-Claude Lalonde, national director of ACN Canada. “One of the ways to counter the ambient cynicism that can result from these situations, as well as from the ever-increasing poverty, is certainly to pray. The Rosary remains one of the most effective weapons the Catholic tradition possesses. That’s why I invite all Catholics in Canada to join children around the world on October 18. Let’s give ourselves the inspiration and strength to overcome hatred and greed with the serenity that comes from meditating on the Rosary.”
Invite as many people as possible
“Apply strength and imagination, so that in as many places as possible, prayer meetings can take place,” write Cardinal Mauro Piacenza and Fr. Anton Lässer, ACN International’s president and ecclesiastical assistant respectively, in their common invitation to take part in the initiative. “Go to children’s groups, schools, prayer groups, radio and television, digital platforms, social media…and win over your own children and grandchildren for the prayer of the Rosary. Perhaps a children’s prayer group can come out of this prayer meeting.”
Indeed, a milestone was reached last year when over a million children united to pray for peace, serving as confirmation of the words of Pope Benedict in 2008: “…the Rosary is not a pious practice banished to the past … Instead, the Rosary is experiencing a new springtime. Without a doubt, this is one of the most eloquent signs of love that the young generation nourish for Jesus and his Mother, Mary.”
On the ACN Canada landing page for the event, free material is available in both English and French to assist with praying the Rosary in parishes, schools, children’s groups, and families. The prayer kit includes an introduction to the prayer of the Rosary, reflections on the Five Sorrowful Mysterious of the Rosary—as October 18 falls on a Friday this year—and a children’s consecration to Our Lady. There are also downloadable/printable comic-style colouring strips for children. Please visit the special landing page at: https://acn-canada.org/one-million-children/. Participants are also encouraged to register their participation on the ACN International website by clicking on the link at the bottom of the landing page.
The One Million Children Praying the Rosary prayer initiative was born in 2005 in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela. While several children were praying the Rosary at a roadside shrine, some of the adults who were observing the scene immediately thought of the promise of Padre Pio: “When one million children pray the Rosary, the world will change.” The prayer campaign quickly spread throughout the world.
For more information, visit our landing page.
https://acn-canada.org/one-million-children/
