For the third consecutive year, Holy Cross Family Ministries and the Congregation of Holy Cross teamed up to host a Global Rosary for Peace. Held on 22 October, the Feast of Saint John Paul II, the Global Rosary grew tremendously this year, with over 400,000 people signing up to participate in the prayer, which was broadcast online via several social media channels.

“Although this year’s participation in the Global Rosary well exceeded our expectations, to us in Holy Cross, it more than just about the numbers,” said Br. Paul Bednarczyk, C.S.C., Superior General of the Congregation of Holy Cross. “We want to continue to respond to the needs of the Church and the world, and for us in the Congregation of Holy Cross, as exemplified by Venerable Patrick Peyton, that includes inviting people to prayer so that through the intercession of Mary, they can find comfort and hope in the promise of Jesus Christ that love and peace will one day prevail in the Kingdom of God.”

As in past years, the Global Rosary was the product of an international collaboration, led by HCFM’s mission centers around the world. As a result, the prayer broadcast featured many different languages and cultural expressions, while uniting those praying through one Rosary in a powerful prayer for peace.

“It was a powerfully moving experience to see so many voices lifted up in prayer asking God through the intercession of Our Blessed Mother to heal our world, to bring about conversion, and to bring about reconciliation,” said Fr. Fred Jenga, C.S.C., President of Holy Cross Family Ministries. “Prayer is an active step that we took. While politicians do their part, we too did something powerfully important. All conflict starts in the hearts of men and women.”

At the end of the Global Rosary, Fr. Jenga invited all families to begin a nine-week novena to consecrate their homes to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on Christmas Day. It is a new initiative from Holy Cross Family Ministries to reach out to families in the spirit of what Venerable Patrick Peyton repeated so often: “The family that prays together, stays together.”