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CV NEWS FEED // The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem is inviting his diocese to pray, fast, and do penance on October 7, which, he wrote, in addition to being the feast of Mary, Queen of the Rosary, is “a date that has become symbolic of the drama we are experiencing.”
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa wrote in a September 26 letter addressed to his diocese that for the past year the Holy Land “has been plunged into a vortex of violence and hatred never seen or experienced before.”
“The intensity and impact of the tragedies we have witnessed in the past twelve months have deeply lacerated our conscience and our sense of humanity,” he continued.
He noted that amid the Latin Patriarchate’s reiterated calls for the end to violence and the conflict at hand, “We can only call once again on those in authority and those who bear the grave responsibility of making decisions in this context, to a commitment to justice and respect for every person’s right to freedom, dignity and peace.”
The Cardinal emphasized that the faithful should support those affected by the war, and that the faithful have an obligation to remain rooted in peace, especially through rejecting hatred and embracing charity toward all.
“Yet, we also need to pray, to bring our pain and our desire for peace to God,” he wrote. “We need to convert, to do penance, and to implore forgiveness.”
He extended the invitation for October 7 to be a day of prayer, penance, and fasting, noting that October is a month dedicated to Mary. In the letter he also provided a “Prayer for Peace.”
“May each of us, with the rosary or in whatever form he or she sees fit, personally but better again in community, find a moment to pause and pray, and bring to the ‘merciful Father and God of all consolation’ (2 Cor. 1:3), our desire for peace and reconciliation,” he wrote.
He concluded by invoking Mary Queen of the Rosary for the Holy Land and its inhabitants.
The Prayer for Peace can be found here.
As CatholicVote previously reported, several days after the deadly Hamas terrorist attack against Israel on October 7, 2023, Cardinal Pizzaballa said he was willing to exchange himself for children who were being held hostage by Hamas. The Cardinal also called for October 17, 2023, to be observed as a worldwide day of prayer and fasting for peace.
