By Fr. Ambrose Pereira, SDB

Sabama, Port Moresby, PNG, 2 November 2023 -- Over 60 parishioners from Mary Help of Christians, Sabama, braved the rain, the distraction of the games and the noise of the people around the church to pray the Missionary Rosary as a parish on 28 October 2023. “We join with the Holy Father and pray for peace in our world, and we pray for peace in our parish and each of our families,” said Fr Ambrose Pereira SDB, Parish priest, at the start of the rosary celebration. It was a prayerful evening with each person praying the Hail Mary in their own language while the congregation responded in English and in Pidgin. Hymns to our lady in the different languages were sung.

In February of 1951, Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen inaugurated a World Mission Rosary. “We must pray, and not for ourselves, but for the world. To this end, I have designed the World Mission Rosary. Each of the five decades is of a different color to represent the continents.” The World Mission Rosary calls to mind an area where the Church continues her evangelizing mission: GREEN for the forests and grasslands of AFRICA; BLUE for the ocean surrounding the ISLANDS OF THE PACIFIC; WHITE symbolizing EUROPE, the seat of the Holy Father; RED calls to mind the fire of faith of missionaries to the AMERICAS, and YELLOW, the morning light of the East, for ASIA.

As the rosary service moved along, hymns to Our Blessed Mother in different languages were sung. The service commenced with the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and the congregation had the possibility of making their confessions with Fr Angelo Fazzini SDB.

Earlier on 27 October, young people from the different mass centers in Gabutu, Sabama, and Serokone joined the Archdiocese of Port Moresby in a Marian Motorcade.

We pray constantly for peace in our world, communities, and families.

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