The month-long “Marathon” Rosary came to an end in the Vatican Gardens. During the month of the Virgin Mary in May, many pilgrimage sites on the five continents of the world responded to this activity of earnest prayer for ending the epidemic. Pope Francis stood before the portrait of the Unknotted Virgin in the closing ceremony, praying: “Please untie the knots of selfishness and indifference, war and violence.” There were many children, families and families who prayed with the Pope. Priests, they prayed for the recovery of the sick, the unemployed, scientific research and social life.
(Vatican News Network)“We continue to ask the Lord to protect the world from the epidemic, and hope that all people will have the opportunity to be blessed by the vaccine as soon as possible, without any kind of exclusion.” Pope Francis resolved in the Vatican Gardens on the evening of May 31 With a heart of pain and hope in front of the Virgin Mary, she begged God and the Virgin Mary so that the current COVID-19 pandemic would end.
The Pope looked up at the statue of the Virgin and said: “Tonight, we are gathered in front of you, our Virgin Mary, in front of the beloved Virgin Mary. In fact, many knots bind our lives, They bind our activities. They are knots of selfishness and indifference, knots of economy and society, knots of violence and war.”
The prayer meeting in the Vatican Gardens that day is the end of the spiritual “marathon” in May this year: this is a 31-day prayer event, opened by Pope Francis himself on May 1 at the St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. Catholics from all over the world either go to major pilgrimage sites, or connect via the Internet, TV and other channels to recite the “Rose” in one accord. The major pilgrimage sites participating in this “marathon” prayer are in Nigeria, Argentina, the Philippines, Belgium, Australia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. They pray for many people, including medical staff, unemployed, people who have lost their loved ones, war-torn countries, Consecrated persons, priests, the future of the young generation, the sick and the infected.
At the beginning of the ceremony, the Pope said: “Mary, our holy mother, during this May, many faithful pray in one heart at the many pilgrimage sites that are dedicated to you all over the world.” “We hold the holy hands every day. My rose rosary, turn my eyes to you, my benevolent mother, pleading for the end of the global epidemic, and the world can resume a safe and secure daily life.”
The etiquette of the night was unfolded in a solemn parade. Bishop Bertram Johannes Meier, the Diocese of Augsburg, Germany, led the procession. Young people from the St. Peter and St. Paul’s Association carried the portrait of the Virgin Mary, and the Pope’s Swiss Guard and the Vatican Guard followed respectfully. In the singing of the chant of the Parish of Rome, the believers slowly shuttled between the pond and the trees in the Vatican garden, and welcomed the Unknotted Madonna to the seat where the icon was placed. This statue of the Virgin is set against the background of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, under the arched wreath.
The Virgin of the Unknotted is an oil painting completed around 1700 by the German painter Johann Georg Melchior Schmidtner (Johann Georg Melchior Schmidtner). Pope Bergerio has loved this icon for many years, and he also enshrines a replica in the House of St. Mart. In the evening of the same day, the Pope looked at the statue of Our Lady of the Unknot, and urged the mothers of the world to ask for salvation for every man, woman, child and family affected by the epidemic. The Pope said: “Holy Mother, we beg you to untie the knots that oppress us materially and spiritually, so that we can joyfully bear witness to your parents and children, our Lord Jesus Christ.”
The children dressed in white worship the Virgin devoutly. One group of them are the first-time Eucharist children in a church of the Virgin Mary in Viterbo, Italy. This church took the lead during the epidemic to provide a venue for Italian health units to set up vaccination stations. The other group of children in white clothes are young people who have just led the strengthening of the Saint Dominic Church. In addition, there were also Scout groups in Rome, several families and nuns who attended the ceremony.
The chanting of the Rosary was from different groups of believers: first it was the young people in the Catholic Church, then the newlyweds, the families of pregnant women, and the families of the deaf and mute. One of the deaf-mute family members responded to the vocation of monasticism. These believers pray for “the recovery of social and economic life” and for those “companies that are struggling to protect their employees but cannot protect themselves.” They prayed for the victims of domestic violence, the tensions in society, and the “injustice and disunity”. They pray that everyone will put aside their selfish attitude and not only think about economic benefits, but also hope that scientific results will especially benefit the poor and the weak. In addition, they also pray that “the church can muster the courage to always go out and resist the spreading indifference.”
When reciting the “Rosaic”, the pope sat on the lawn chair, holding the rose rosary without leaving his hand, and devoted himself to the prayer of the closing event. After reciting the Rosary, the pope got up and approached the Unknotted Madonna and put a crown on the Madonna. At the end of the meeting, the Pope thanked the Holy See for the New Evangelization Committee for organizing this prayer event, and also thanked the 30 pilgrimage sites that took turns leading the Rosary prayers this month. The Pope said: “I have seen so many people of God participate enthusiastically, millions of people praying to the Holy Mother of God through the media and many pilgrimage sites around the world.”
The Pope finally eagerly appealed: “We continue to ask the Lord to protect the world from the epidemic, and hope that all people will have the opportunity to be blessed through the vaccine as soon as possible, without any type of exclusion.”