Pray for Jesuit Priests Killed in Moscow

Father Victor Betancourt and Father Otto Messmer were killed in Moscow at the end of October. Please pray for them.

International Herald Tribune

Andorra

Andorra is a small country in the Pyrenees between France and Spain. The Population about 90% Catholic. Here's a report from Operation World and from EWTN's New Evangelization site. The patron saint of Andorra is Our Lady of Meritxell.

World Mission Sunday 2008

This Sunday, October 19. 2008 is World Mission Sunday. Organized by the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, World Mission Sunday, is a day set aside for Catholics worldwide to recommit themselves to the Church's missionary activity through prayer and sacrifice.

Here is Pope Benedict XVI's message for World Mission Sunday.

Let's pray this week for the Church's mission in the world and especially for part in it. As Pope Benedict XVI says, "Dear Brothers and Sisters, may the celebration of World Mission Day encourage everyone to take renewed awareness of the urgent need to proclaim the Gospel." And please pray for me!

St.Luke, pray for us.
St. Therese of Lisieux, pray for us.
St. Francis Xavier, pray for us
St. Peter Claver, pray for us.

Keep praying for India and Vietnam

Things seem to be somewhat better in India and Vietnam. Let's continue to pray for them.

H/T to Mark Shea for the reminder.

Vietnam

Pray for a peaceful resolution to the trouble in Hanoi, Vietnam. More info from Whispers in the Loggia here and here.


This from the AP, Vietnam News Service and AsiaNews.It.

Since St. Joseph's Cathedral is near Thai Ha parish, let's ask for his intercession.

St. Joseph, pray for the Church in Vietnam.

UPDATE: Media is the same everywhere...

Orissa Update

Here is an update on Orissa. Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, pray for us.

Orissa India

The Hindu-Christian violence continues in Orissa, India. A gag order has been placed on the Missionaries of Charity, story here. Another story from Catholic News Service. Let's pray for peace in this troubled region.

More on Myanmar

So what connection does Myanmar have to Yonkers, NY? According to Deacon Druding, priests from Myanmar come to St. Joseph's Seminary in Dunwoodie for advanced studies. They return to Myanmar and help the Church there by passing on what they've learned. Vince tells me the seminary in Yangon (Rangoon) Myanmar is named St. Joseph's! Yangon is also home to St. Mary's Cathedral. Myanmar also has shrines to Our Lady of Lourdes.

St. Joseph, pray for us.
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.

On the Road to Mandalay

At the request of the Reverend Mr. Vince Druding, now a transitional Deacon, this week's mission prayer focuses on Myanmar, once known as Burma. You may recall that this name change has the distinction of being featured in and episode of "Sienfeld". J. Peterman tells Elaine that he is in Burma saying, "You most likely know it as Myanmar, but it will always be Burma to me."

Myanmar is ruled by a military junta that strongly opposes Christianity. The Christians in Myanmar are undergoing severe persecution, yet the Church is doing what it can.

Here's a bit of good news about cyclone relief efforts.

You Are Like A Hurricane

My plan for this week was to ask for prayer for the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, MN. Of course there is also the matter of Hurricane Gustav. So keep one eye on the weather and one on Minnesota. Go Gophers!

News from China

From Zenit.com

Another Chinese Bishop Arrested
BEIJING, AUG. 25, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Shortly before the spectacular closing ceremonies of the Olympics, Chinese authorities arrested another bishop. More.

Happy Days Are Here Again? or Rocky Mountain High

This weeks mission field is one that will challenge the greatest prayer warriors of all time: The Democratic National convention! Here's a little history to get you started.

Let's not pray that a given candidate will lose (or not), or that God will smite (nicely) our enemies. Let's pray that we learn to love those we disagree with, that the Holy Spirit will speak to the hearts of the attendees and candidates to draw them close to Christ. Let's also ask that God's people in at the convention will have the courage to speak the truth in love and to give reason for the hope they have with gentleness and reverence.

Goodnight Ladies

The Olympics come to a close tonight. We'll be wrapping up our time of focusing on China. So if you haven't prayed for missions this week, now's the time!

Feast of the Assumption

Today is the Feast of the Assumption of Mary. In the Eastern Churches, it is referred to as the Dormition of Mary. Either way it's a good day to pray the Rosary for missions in China during the Olympics!

Day by Day

Are you settling into your Olympic viewing? While you're grabbing the chips, dip and frosty cold beverage, don't forget your Rosary! To help you out, look under the "Rosary and World links" list for History of the Catholic Church in China or click here.

Color My World

No doubt tonight's opening ceremony will be bright, colorful and at least a little over the top. Here's a way you can redeem the time. During the parade of nations, or every time you see a national flag, say a brief prayer for that country. Pray for the people you see profiled. And don't forget to pray for this apostolate. Thanks.

When I Find Myself in Times of Trouble, Mother Mary Comes to Me

Once I decided to start this blog to coincide with the Olympic Games in Beijing, certain things became clear. Certainly the Blessed Mother, Mary, had been involved, not only in using the Rosary to pray for missions but because of the important Marian celebrations that occur in August: the Assumption on the 15th, her Queenship on the 22nd and my favorite, but little known, Our Lady of the Snows on the 5th (same day as the dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major, of course). On the 8th, we have the feast of St. Dominic whose Dominican order helped popularize the Rosary.

However, I decided to start the blog officially on August 6th, the feast of the Transfiguration of Jesus. In the Transfiguration, Jesus showed Peter, James and John his divine glory. You can read about it here. What better day to start praying for missions to change the world by revealing who Jesus is! The Transfiguration is also one of the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary given to us by Servant of God Pope John Paul II.

Again, if you’re not used to praying the Rosary or it makes you uncomfortable, feel free to pray any prayer that will help you think of the great needs of the world and Christ’s greater love for it. After all, that is what the Rosary does!

You May Ask Yourself, How Did I Get Here?

My hope for this blog is to encourage praying the Rosary for world missions. The idea first came to me after a series of talks and Eucharistic Adoration given at my parish church by a seminarian friend of mine, Vince Druding. While the basis of the talks were Rick Warren’s “The Purpose Driven Life”, I think the inspiration had less to do with the book than Vince’s take on it. In the talks he had managed to bring a Catholic viewpoint to it. The discussion groups that followed helped me see a need for deeper teaching and prayer in the parish. I also felt a desire to help meet this need.


The idea for Rosary Around the World came to me soon after. I remembered Patrick Johnson’s book “Operation World” which I had once used. It gives basic demographic information and lists prayer needs for every country in the world. I thought how helpful it would be to have something similar for Catholics to use in prayer, which immediately led me to the Rosary. I thought of a set of Rosary beads encircling the globe as if in an embrace. It seemed that combining the Rosary with information about specific countries or mission needs would be a great way to encourage prayer for “the New Evangelization.”


Of course, it didn’t take long for me to completely forget about this idea! That is until thinking about the Olympics in China this year and of another (Baptist!) friend of mine who has a great love for missions in China reminded me of Rosary Around the World. I also realized the need to keep the blog ecumenical. So while praying the Rosary is greatly encouraged, any prayer for bringing the gospel of Jesus Christ to the nations and peoples of the world is welcome!

Our Lady of the Snows, pray for us.