The Vatican's dicastery for evangelization has organized a worldwide Rosary for peace, which the Holy Father will lead on Saturday, May 30, at 7 pm Rome time (1 pm EST).
May is the traditional month of Mary.
From the Lourdes Grotto in the Vatican Gardens, Pope Leo will again show the importance of the Rosary in the prayer for peace. Last October, he asked the faithful to pray the Rosary every day for peace.
Shrines around the world are invited to join; several have already announced their participation: The Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (Washington DC); Shrine of the Mother of God (Zarvanytsia, Ukraine); International Shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage (Antipolo, Philippines); Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary (Fatima, Portugal); Shrine of Our Lady Queen of Peace (Medjugorje, Bosnia and Herzegovina); Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes (Lourdes, France); The Shrine of St. Charbel Annaya (Byblos, Lebanon); and the Pontifical Shrine of the Holy House (Loreto, Italy).
Those in Rome can also participate in person, either by obtaining free tickets to enter the Vatican Gardens, or via Saint Peter’s Square by means of the large screens installed there.
From Pope Leo's words at October vigil
Let us listen once more to the words of Jesus: the leaders of this world build empires with power and money (cf. Mt 20:25; Mk 10:42), “but not so with you” (Lk 22:26).
This is not how God acts: the Master has no throne, but girds himself with a towel and kneels at the feet of each one of us. His empire is the small space required to wash the feet of his friends and care for them.
It is also an invitation to adopt a different perspective, to look at the world from a lower position: through the eyes of those who suffer rather than the mighty; to view history through the eyes of the little ones, rather than through the perspective of the powerful; to interpret the events of history from the viewpoint of the widow, the orphan, the stranger, the wounded child, the exile and the fugitive; to see things through the eyes of the shipwrecked and of the poor man Lazarus lying at the rich man’s doorstep.
Otherwise, nothing will ever change, and a new era, a kingdom of justice and peace, will never dawn.
