Pray Rosary On October 7 For Peace In The Middle East

Most Reverend John F. Donoghue

Published: September 25, 2003

Year Of The Rosary

I write to ask all of the People of God in the Archdiocese of Atlanta to pray the Rosary on Tuesday, October 7, 2003, the Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary. We should all pray the Rosary on that day for the intention of peace in the Middle East and particularly in the Holy Land.

Pope John Paul II, in his October 16, 2002, Apostolic Letter, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, promulgated the new Luminous Mysteries, declared the Year of the Rosary, and advocated recitation of the Rosary particularly for peace and for the family. The Holy Father stated in paragraph 6 of his letter:

“A number of historical circumstances also make revival of the Rosary quite timely. First of all, the need to implore from God the gift of peace (emphasis in original). The Rosary has many times been proposed by my predecessors and myself as a prayer for peace. At the start of a millennium which began with the terrifying attacks of September 11, 2001, a millennium which witnesses every day in numerous parts of the world fresh scenes of bloodshed and violence, to rediscover the Rosary means to immerse oneself in contemplation of the mystery of Christ who “is our peace,” since he made “the two of us one, and broke down the dividing wall of hostility” (Eph. 2: 14). Consequently, one cannot recite the Rosary without feeling caught up in a clear commitment to advancing peace, particularly in the land of Jesus, still so sorely afflicted and so close to the heart of every Christian.”

Let us, therefore, ask our Lady to intercede with her Son (cf. Jn. 2: 3-5) to bring peace to the Middle East and particularly to the Holy Land where they both lived.

With kind personal regards, I am

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Most Reverend John F. Donoghue
Archbishop of Atlanta