Bengaluru: The Latin Catholic Church in India will hold a one-hour national prayer service on Saturday (August 7) from 8.30 to 9.30 pm in view of the difficult times that people of the nation are facing on account of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Click CCBI National Prayer Service – Text to participate in the prayer. You can also view the service by clicking here.
In a statement issued by the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI), it said, “We are all going through a very difficult time and many of us are facing seriously challenging situations on account of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Those who lost their dear ones to the virus had to resign themselves to having a dismal funeral rite accorded to their beloved. Many are still in the hospitals, struggling under the grip of the invisible enemy. Many others lost their jobs and are finding it hard to make ends meet.”
The letter has been addressed by Archbishop of Goa and Daman and President of CCBI, Most Rev. Filipe Neri Ferrão; Archbishop of Madras-Mylapore and Vice President, CCBI, Most Rev. George Antonysamy and Archbishop of Delhi and Secretary General, CCBI Most Rev. Anil Couto.
With a view to pray for the departed souls, express solidarity with the grieving families and communities and pray for the health of the world, the CCBI Office bearers resolved, at their last online meeting on the 9th instant, to hold a one-hour national prayer service on Saturday, 7 August 2021, from 8.30 to 9.30 pm.
The event will be conducted from the tombs of St. Thomas, St. Francis Xavier and St. Teresa of Kolkata and from the Marian Basilicas of Bandra (Mumbai), Sardhana (Meerut), Hyderabad, Shivajinagar (Bengaluru) and Vailankanni. This special prayer service with a Eucharistic Benediction will be telecast on Catholic satellite television channels like Shalom TV, Goodness TV, Madha TV, Prarthana Bhavan TV and Dhiyavani TV; it will also be streamed through leading Catholic YouTube channels.
They have requested everyone, particularly families and religious communities to join in the prayer service and asked that this event be shared also with those whose family and community members are abroad, so that they too may join in.
Dioceses, religious congregations, associations, movements as well as diocesan, regional and national bodies have been requested to refrain from organizing any meeting or programme during this time, so as to enable as many as possible to participate actively in this national prayer service. The main details of this Prayer Service will be communicated to all in due course, it said.
“Let us pray as one family to Our Lord and ask the mediation of our Blessed Mother and our beloved Saints to help us in this time of pain and suffering,” the statement added.