Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Cordoba (Fides Service) – In his apostolic letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae (n. 3) Pope John Paul II exhorts individuals and communities to strive, particularly in this Year of the Rosary, to re-discover the full significance of the Rosary prayer because it “goes to the very heart of Christian life; it offers a familiar yet fruitful spiritual and educational opportunity for personal contemplation, the formation of the People of God, and the new evangelisation.” Responding to the Holy Father’s call, the Dominicans in Cordoba (Argentina) have organised a National Rosary Congress at Saint Dominic’s Basilica and the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary of the Miracle Cordoba, 28 and 29 June.
In preparation for the Congress on 3 and 4 May about 100 people attended a Workshop-Seminar on the Rosary. The participants, pastoral workers, representatives of organisms of the Dominican family, Marian and rosary groups and associations, who will lead the work of the Congress at the end of June. The goal of the Workshop-Seminar on the Rosary was to rediscover the rosary as a method of preaching and an essentially contemplative prayer. The Congress will open on Saturday 28 June with a conference by Father Ennio Staid O.P on the theme “The Rosary in the Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae”, which will be followed by a round table discussion with experts who will illustrate various aspects of this Marian prayer. Then there will be work shop groups. Study and reflection will be alternated with moments of prayer led by children, young people and families. On Sunday June 29, after a plenary assembly and the reading of the conclusions, at 3pm there will be a solemn procession to accompany the image of Our Lady of the Rosary of the Miracle, Patroness of Cordoba, meditating the mysteries of the holy Rosary. The Congress will close with a solemn concelebration of Mass presided by Archbishop Carlos José Ñáñez of Cordoba. All through the Congress Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 giugno, there will be Eucharistic Adoration and the recitation of the Rosary for the success of the initiative. (R.Z.) (Fides Service 6/6/2003; lines 26; words 342)
