A Rosary For Peace

This evening, Pope Francis assembled at the ancient Basilica of Saint Mary Major with bishops and others from around the world who are in Rome for the current Synod. They prayed the Rosary for peace, anticipating tomorrow’s feast of Our Lady of the Rosary and also the first anniversary of the Hamas terrorist attack that precipitated the ongoing, terrible war in Gaza. This war continues to rage and has now spread to Lebanon. With the Israeli military fighting Hamas and Hezbollah—proxy forces of Iran—the specter of further escalation and even open war between Israel and Iran is a grave concern. Millions of innocent civilians find themselves in the crosshairs of destructive forces that seem willing to attack them with indiscriminate and disproportionate means that some say amount to “total war.”

Meanwhile, the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues, with Russia occupying a third of Ukraine’s sovereign territory while it continues to push west along the front and rain down bombs daily all across Ukraine, targeting civilian infrastructure so as to break down the Ukrainian people’s access to water, heat, and electricity. The Pope has spoken of his closeness to the people of what he always calls “Martyred Ukraine.”

Francis has invited Catholics, Christians, and all people to observe tomorrow’s feast as a day of prayer and fasting for peace. “Invited” means it’s not obligatory, dear Catholics, but it’s still worth doing and much needed. It’s a plea to the Lord, a work of mercy, and a sign of our solidarity with those who are currently suffering greatly from the evil effects of these wars and others that we never hear about. 

We need miracles in this world that is so dominated by violence. Let’s humble ourselves, make sacrifices, pray and beg the Lord for miracles of grace, forgiveness, reconciliation, and healing. The tenderness of the great heart of Mary reawakens our trust in Jesus who is Lord of these difficult times and of all history.

In today’s Rosary, Francis once again showed his particular devotion to the Mother of Jesus through the ancient icon specially venerated by the people of the city of Rome and know as “Maria Salus Populi Romani.”

Here is a portion of a prayer he addressed to the Mother of God after the Rosary:

Turn your maternal gaze upon the human family, which has lost the joy of peace and the sense of fraternity. Intercede for our world in danger, so that it may cherish life and reject war, care for those who suffer, the poor, the defenseless, the sick, and the afflicted, and protect our Common Home.

We invoke you for the mercy of God, O Queen of Peace! Transform the hearts of those who fuel hatred, silence the din of weapons that generate death, extinguish the violence that brews in the heart of humanity, and inspire projects for peace in the actions of those who govern nations.

O Queen of the Holy Rosary, untie the knots of selfishness and disperse the dark clouds of evil. Fill us with your tenderness, uplift us with your caring hand, and grant us your maternal caress, which makes us hope in the advent of a new humanity where “… the wilderness becomes a garden land and the garden land seems as common as forest. Then judgment will dwell in the wilderness and justice abide in the garden land. The work of justice will be peace…” (Isaiah 32:15-17).

O Mother, Salus Populi Romani, pray for us!