Friday for Praying and Fasting!
Vatican City, Aug 20 (EFE).-
Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday urged religious faithful to observe Friday as a day of fasting and prayer for peace in war and conflict zones.
“As our Earth continues to be wounded by wars in the Holy Land, in Ukraine, and in many other regions … I invite all the faithful to live the day of August 22 in fasting and prayer,” said the American pontiff at his weekly general audience in Paul VI Hall at the Vatican.
Friday marks the feast day of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
“Mary is the Mother of the faithful here on earth and is remembered as the Queen of Peace,” the Pope said.
He urged the faithful to join in “imploring the Lord to grant us peace and justice, and to wipe away the tears of those who suffer because of ongoing armed conflicts.”
“May Mary, Queen of Peace, intercede so that peoples may find the path of peace,” he said.
During the audience, also greeting Polish pilgrims, he urged that prayers “include in your intentions the supplication for the gift of peace – a peace that is disarmed and disarming – for the whole world, especially for Ukraine and the Middle East.”
He also asserted that “without forgiveness there will never be peace,” in another greeting to the Portuguese-speaking faithful. EFE
