CV NEWS FEED // The third-ever Effatha revival campaign recently launched to promote 40 days of perpetual Eucharistic adoration worldwide.
The campaign began officially on February 8 and will end on March 19. Anyone may participate and pray alongside thousands of people around the world before the Blessed Sacrament for the Effatha campaign intentions, primarily that hearts may “be open to God and others.”
Earlier this month, Effatha began with a Eucharistic procession through the streets of Derry in Northern Ireland. The first Effatha revival, sponsored by Cenacle London, or the Charismatic Prayer Group in London, began in London in 2021, with intentions that centered around the spiritual and physical impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns.
The second Effatha revival started in London in 2022 with intentions for the peace and protection of Europe. The Franciscan Friars of the Renewal (CFR) have since partnered with Cenacle to promote the campaign.
London resident Ania Graglewska started Effatha in 2021. She worked on the global campaign in collaboration with Fr. Antonio Diez de Medina, CFR, and Christian Carestia, and many others.
For Graglewska, the inspiration for starting Effatha is deeply rooted in Marian and Eucharistic devotion.
“The inspiration for the worldwide adoration came to me in August 2020 when I heard a homily while visiting Poland,” Graglewska told CatholicVote. “It was the anniversary of the Miracle of Vistula, and the priest shared how Poles, by opening their churches for 40 days of perpetual adoration, saved their country and miraculously won the battle with the significantly bigger Red Army.”
“The story of the miracle of Vistula and Our Lady’s apparition was truly inspiring and made me wonder why the whole world was suffering due to the pandemic, with many losing faith and hope as churches remained closed for months,” Graglewska said:
When I heard what Our Lady did in Warsaw over 100 years ago and how she helped to win the battle with Soviet soldiers, I thought the only way to end the pandemic and reopen the world and churches was to seek Our Lady’s help again. The idea came to copy what Polish people did in Warsaw and start 40 days of perpetual adoration.
People from over 80 countries joined in the first campaign, Graglewska said, crediting Carestia with designing the Effatha website that allowed for so many participants to sign up. Graglewska added, “What is more, COVID lockdowns and church restrictions were lifted in the UK a few days after we ended 40 days, and other countries followed soon after as well.”
Lifting such restrictions fits almost uncoincidentally with the actual name of the campaign, Effatha, which means “be opened.”
“Effatha comes from Our Lord’s words to the deaf and mute man,” Diez de Medina, CFR, told CatholicVote. “Jesus spoke to Him saying to his ears, ‘effatha’ – be opened, and they were opened (cf Mark 7:34).”
When asked about how many participants the Effatha Revival is hoping for, Diez de Medina responded, “As many as possible! We aim for all 960 hours to be covered in the 40 day period of adoration.”
Diez de Medina highlighted that for the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal (CFR), Eucharistic adoration is “part of their daily prayer routine, it is essential to our life.”
Graglewska added, “There is power when we pray and adore Jesus together and how much He loves us when we come to Him. Our heart’s deepest longing is for God’s love, which we experience so strongly in Adoration.”
“Once the hardest hearts are truly conformed to Jesus Christ, then things start to shift, and peace and love come as there is no place for anger, violence and lies,” she continued:
Change in the world has to happen at the level of the heart! That’s why adoration is the answer, as adoration is nothing more than a heart-to-heart conversation with God – King of the universe! So when we come to adoration, we are going there to be converted, “to be opened,” and once we are converted, we are going to give people something different.
Among the intentions are an end to abortion, euthanasia, and human trafficking, prayers of reparation, and for the “undoing of global forces of fear, lies, evil and sin.” Other intentions are for “priests to be deeply Marian and Eucharistic,” for “revival and unity in the Church,” and for “the Spirit of Truth to bring freedom.”
Diez de Medina also pointed out that there is an ongoing theme of life within the intentions for this year’s Eucharistic revival.
“With every Effatha campaign, there’s a sense of urgency that we need to intercede and pray for the times we are in,” he said. “This one is no different. As we know, life itself is under attack. There is an anti-culture of death that devalues human life, especially the unborn, the elderly, and those with disabilities.”
“Moreover, even what it means to be a man or woman is brought to confusion. There are some who say there are too many people in the world, and others who have given up on life, or at least on any higher purpose or meaning,” Diez de Medina continued:
Some even despair that their lives are worth living. We know that every life is valuable in God’s sight, and that Jesus shed His Blood on the Cross so that every person–made in His image & likeness–might live in the freedom of the children of God. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
He said that this year’s intentions “are the fruit of much prayer, thought and dialogue. One of them, the intention to pray for the end of human trafficking, is directly inspired by the powerful movie, Sound of Freedom.” He noted that it is no coincidence that the campaign began on the feast of St. Josephine Bakhita, the patron saint of victims of human trafficking.
“Ending the campaign with the Solemnity of St Joseph is also a powerful reminder for men in particular to step up for the cause of life, laying down their lives like he did, and imitation of Our Lord,” he added.
For those participating at their local parishes in the Effatha revival, Graglewska suggested “a thanksgiving Mass for the end of Effatha,” as well as a Eucharistic Procession. “We want to end the joyful campaign with the Festival of Life – in the parish hall with children and family as a powerful celebration of life,” she said.
Those interested in signing up to participate can find more information here.
