1M Filipinos to be enlisted to say rosary daily starting Oct. 10

A Million Roses for the World (AMRoW) is a campaign aiming to enlist at least one million Filipinos to pray the rosary for global peace – one country at a time. INQUIRER PHOTO / NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

MANILA, Philippines – It’s prayer power with Geography 101 thrown in.

The Family Rosary Crusade-Philippines (FRCP) launched on Thursday “A Million Roses for the World (AMRoW),” a campaign aiming to enlist at least one million Filipinos to pray the rosary for global peace – one country at a time.
The eight-month campaign calls on the faithful to pray for one nation each day from Monday to Saturday, starting with Angola, beginning October 10 this year (Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary) up to May 30, 2012 (Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary).

Rosaries recited on Sundays will be for the Philippines and the families of those who pray. The last day of the campaign will again be dedicated to the Philippines.

“The goal is to bring the peoples of all the nations to Jesus, His Father and the Holy Spirit through Mary Our Blessed Mother,” said Howard Dee, the FRCP vice chair and former Philippine ambassador to the Vatican.

“[It is] to bring His peace, love and joy and tranquility to every people and every nation, no matter how great or how small, as a gift of love, faith and goodwill from the people of the Philippines,” Dee said.

“AMRoW is the Filipinos’ response to Our Lady’s call to pray the rosary,” added Loudette Zaragoza-Banson, chair of the project’s steering committee.

“Our call to pray the rosary daily may be a small gesture for each of us, but it could grow to be a huge, vital catalyst for us to change hardened hearts and to lessen human suffering in all its forms,” Banson said.

“The rosary will be our primary tool to bring Heaven in our midst. The rosaries we offer daily are like roses to beautify and spread that fragrance of true wholeness all over the world. It

‘A MILLION ROSES’. Viel Aquino Dee, a sister of President Aquino, views a cross and rosary made of bread during Thursday’s launch of the family prayer crusade at Manila Polo Club in Makati City. PHOTO BY NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

is not a daunting task if we do it together,” she added.

Endorsed by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, the campaign coincides with the 60th anniversary of the Family Rosary Crusade.

In a statement, Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas said: This campaign aims to teach our youth that prayer can change the world and people who pray can change the destinies of peoples. Indeed, there can be no world peace without prayer.”

Participants may receive a book and a CD outlining specific intentions for each of the 200 countries.

According to the project organizers, 134,659 people have pledged to take part in the campaign as of August 24.

Several celebrities are serving as project ambassadors, among them President Aquino’s youngest sister and actress-TV host Kris. Their mother, the late President Corazon Aquino, was a known Marian devotee.

They also include Leyte Representative Lucy Torres-Gomez and model Tweetie de Leon-Gonzalez.

“[Being an ambassador] is one way of honoring the Lady who is very much a part of my life and who has made so many of my dreams and missions come true,” De Leon said during the project launch on Thursday at Manila Polo Club.

“My life and my marriage are living testaments of how powerful praying the rosary is,” she added. “We just have to ask and pray to the Mother who grants all the wishes of whoever is sincere in asking favors.”

“My greatest joys in life happen through the intercession of Mother Mary. The saddest times of my life I am able to weather also because of Her,” Gomez added.

Participants need to fill up a form currently being distributed in various communities, schools and parishes. The form comes with a stampita containing the “Prayer of Commitment.”

Organizers will also collect prayer pledge stubs from the participants when they sign up. The first one million stubs will be placed at the foot of the image of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal as “an act of entrustment,” according to Banson.

For more information, visit www.millionrosesfortheworld.org.