Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Toronto (Agenzia Fides) - A ten day Marian Rosary Mission across the Canadian regions of Quebec and Ontario started on Monday July 10. The pilgrim image of the Blessed Virgin Mary Our Lady of Pompei taken across Australia last year will stop in six different parishes. The delegation led by Bishop-Prelate and Papal Delegate for Pompei, Bishop Carlo Liberati, comprises two priests, a missionary of the Pii Operai Catechisti Rurali, a deacon, two Dominican Sisters, Daughters of the Holy Rosary, and eight lay people who have taken part in similar Missions in Italy.
The Mission programme, planned by Marian Rosary Mission delegate Rev Antonio Marrese, will give thousands of Catholics a chance to pray at the feet of the beloved image of Our Lady of Pompei.
The idea of the Mission in Canada came in 2005 when Pompei hosted a group of young Canadian Catholics on their way to take part in World Youth Day in Germany last year. The purpose of the Mission is to show special love and encouragement for devotees to Our Lady of Pompei in Canada, particularly Italians who emigrated to Canada in the past decades.
Father Vito Marziliano of the local organising committee wrote to Bishop Liberati: “Catholics in Toronto and Montreal are waiting with deep joy and expectation for the arrival of the painting of Our Lady of Pompei. She will arrive like the Mother who comes to visit the house of her children gathered as in the Upper Room to receive from her comfort, peace and the strength to continue, sustained by the power of the Spirit, to follow her Son. In the whole of Canada there is not one Italian family without an image, a holy picture, a medal of Our Lady of Pompei … everywhere with her Son Jesus Mary reigns and dispenses graces. Catholics in Toronto and Montreal pray as they prepare to welcome the arrival of Our Lady of Pompei with faith and enthusiasm”. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 11/7/2006; righe 25, parole 353)
