This Sunday 26 November, the feast of Christ the King, at 2.30pm, faithful around Ireland will gather around the coast to pray the Rosary for the restoration of faith and protection of the unborn. More than 250 churches, cathedrals and other locations along Ireland’s coast and throughout the country will take part in this lay-led initiative.
Archbishop Eamon Martin will be attending an end of the Church year prayer service in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh, uniting his prayers with all who are gathered around the coast of Ireland. Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan will lead a Rosary service at the Plaza on the Quay in Waterford, and many other priests and bishops will be joining in the prayer intentions of the day.
Other services being held around the country include prayers at Saint Colman’s Cathedral in Cobh in Cloyne diocese, at Saint Muredach’s Cathedral in Ballina in Killala diocese, and in Christ the King Cathedral in Mullingar in Meath diocese, the first cathedral in the world to be dedicated to Christ the King in 1939.
According to the organisers, Rosary on the Coast for Faith and Life Ireland, the feast of Christ the King was chosen as, ‘Ireland was the first country in the world to be consecrated to Christ the King. Acknowledging Christ as King has relevance for the spiritual, social, cultural, legal and political life of Ireland. When we honour Christ as King, we are immediately brought to His Queen, Mary and her Immaculate Heart.’
The event follows a recent ‘Rosary at the Borders’ initiative in Poland which saw more than one million people encircle the Polish borders as they prayed for the preservation of the faith and for unborn human life in their country.
Other Rosary prayer locations can be found on www.coastalrosaryireland.ie.