A presentation was held at the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, Honolulu, Hawaii on 21 September to mark Hawaii’s winning of the Worldpriest Annual Award for their outstanding participation in the Annual Rosary Relay for Priests 2017.
Speaking after the noon Mass in the basilica on that day, the Most Reverend Larry Silva, Bishop of Honolulu, made the following statement:
‘As we celebrate this feast day of St. Matthew, one of the most unlikely apostles of the Lord, we are grateful to the Worldpriest Apostolate for honouring the priests and people of the Diocese of Honolulu. Although our priests are not perfect men, they are such a blessing to all of us, and I thank God for the wonderful priests who give themselves so lovingly and joyfully to the service of the people of our diocese. We are also grateful to all who support them with their prayers and their love and who serve the Lord alongside them so that we may all give faithful witness to Jesus’.
‘I congratulate Bishop Silva and all involved in organising Hawaii’s participation in the Annual Global Rosary Relay for the Sanctification of Priests on 23 June 2017 in Honolulu’, said Marion Mulhall, founder of Worldpriest, commenting on the presentation. ‘This brings great joy to the Worldpriest team, to see how you unfolded your planning in such a powerful way, namely the sixty-six people of all ages, including a three-year-old, who were involved in praying the Rosary Relay. Not one of those people will never ever forgot this great event. I believe your participation may lead to new good seed being planted for future vocations to the priesthood and religious life and to a deepening of the faith of all people. Through the utilisation of all aspects of social media and of the local television broadcasts, you literally made the Annual Global Rosary Relay go local to the hearts of the people in Honolulu and allowed them to become part of this great movement, which is what participation is all about.’
In an article in the Hawaii Catholic Herald Patrick Downes paid tribute to Easter Almuena, administrative assistant for the Diocesan Office of Worship and Hawaii’s Worldpriest representative, who organised the presentation.
Shining a light upon shrines dedicated to Our Lady – places of great devotion and pilgrimage
*The wonderful mosaics of the sanctuary Parvis outside the Shrine of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Ta’ Pinu.
There are many devotional shrines dedicated to Our Lady in diverse locations around the globe. The stories of some are very well known and they attract thousands of pilgrims and widespread publicity every year.
Others are not so familiar, but they are still regarded as legitimate places of pilgrimage, providing great peace and personal enrichment, as well as opportunities for reflection and deep contemplation within their local communities.
By clicking on to the https://www.worldpriest.com/news/ every month you can read about a different shrine from around the world – its background, location and religious associations. By sharing our knowledge of these special places we can explore beyond borders as we give great glory to Our Lady in thanksgiving for her motherly intercession and care which surpasses all earthly love.
The first in this series is the Shrine of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Ta’ Pinu – Gozo, Malta, which has been a place of veneration since 1545, when it was reported to have been rebuilt. This important shrine was visited by two popes — by St Pope John Paul II on 26 May 1900 and on 18 April 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI.
Your daily priest prayer friend is always there for you
Make a resolution to daily pray for all priests. Without priests there can be no Eucharist and without the Eucharist there can be Church.
Who is there to listen to those of us who have nobody to talk to? To whom do we turn to when the world has turned its back on us? Day and night, priests are called to listen at times of joy but also at times of great pain. The sick, the marginalised, the lonely and the outcast turn to priests to be heard and it is through his priests that Christ is present among his people. Their work is largely unrecognised and their contribution to society is often overlooked. They ask for no reward beyond doing God’s work. Today be a prayer friend to a priest in thanksgiving for his priesthood as you reflect and pray for him.
On the Worldpriest website www.worldpriest.com you can receive a daily suggestion to guide you in prayer for a priest. A meditative picture will also aid your prayer as you commit to being a daily priest prayer friend.
These prayer reflections have proved to be very popular prayer guides since they went on line some weeks ago, reaching thousands of people, especially through social media and online as the word spreads of the gift of this new Worldpriest content section, which reaches out to care and support our priests.
Let’s work together to make 2018 even greater for the Annual Global Rosary Relay for Priests!
We now reach out and ask all participants to use every opportunity at their designated locations around the world to spread the good news of the Annual Global Rosary Relay for the Sanctification of Priests for 2018.
By utilising social media, live streaming and national television broadcasts, along with promotional posters, advertising material and newsletters all supplied by Worldpriest to support you in this unique global gathering of a world at prayer, this will allow 8 June 2018 to be a most memorable global and inspiring event for priests and laity alike – a time when we exceed the amazing ten million people who participated in the 2017 event!
The origins of the Shrine of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Ta’ Pinu are lost in the midst of time. The small chapel, known as “Tal-Ġentili”, dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed Mother of God existed before 1545 when it is recorded to have been rebuilt. In 1587 the church property changed hands and consequently its name, from “Tal-Ġentili” to “Ta’ Pinu”. This happened because Pinu Gauci became the procurator of this church in 1611. He sponsored its restoration and in 1619 commissioned the painting of the Assumption of Our Lady for the main altar, which was accomplished by the Maltese artist Amadeo Perugino.
Worldpriest invites you to journey with us each month along with Father Clifford a truly remarkable and holy priest, who touches the very fiber of our being with his wisdom and deep insights into life.
‘The power of technology and religious fervour really came together this summer to achieve a massive increase in numbers joining the Global Rosary Relay for Priests,’ says Marion Mulhall, founder of Worldpriest, speaking in Dublin.
In Mexico, Rosario en Familia celebrated the Rosary Relay in the parish of Nuestra Madre Santísima de la Luz, Guadalupe, Nuevo León at 5 p.m. We offered a biblical reflection for each decade of the rosary, as well as an intention.
An estimated 10 million to join in prayer this year
The fascination, appeal and sheer scale of the Global Rosary Relay for Priests continues to draw in more and more people around the world – people who want to share in this captivating feast of prayer which by now crosses 24 time zones and reaches into every corner of the globe.
A Special Global Rosary Relay ‘Prelude’ takes place this year at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico on 22 June at 17.00 local time. This prelude of prayer will bring many blessings on Global Rosary Relay day.
The annual Global Rosary Relay for the sanctification of priests is in its eight year. Based on an inspiration to get the world praying, the Rosary Relay will involve over 50 countries in different shrines on the Feast of the Sacred Heart, 23 June 2017. Marion Mulhal, founder and CEO of World Priest explained that each country will pray a particular mystery of the Rosary at a particular half hour on the day and that they will then pass on the Rosary to the next country to ensure a communion of prayer. Miriam Gormally from Soul Waves Radio began by asking Marion about the kind of spiritual benefits this might bring.
The Global Rosary Relay for Priests begins at the stroke of midnight on 23 June (the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus) this year, commencing in East Asia as it begins its journey around the world. We thank you for making this worldwide prayer event a success in the past as we now look forward to sharing in a greatly enhanced event for 2017, when over 100 lead shrines in more than 50 countries around the world will pray the rosary in their local language at their allocated time.
On the Feast of Our Lady of The Rosary, today 7 October 2016, the Worldpriest Apostolate has chosen this special day to allow our beautiful new website to go live. This website, in thanksgiving for the many gifts we have received from Our Lady, is for the world to reflect upon and enjoy.