October 16, 2024

Diocesan Rosary Congress draws people to Christ

REGIONAL
By Carolee McGrath

Worcester Bishop Robert McManus leads the Eucharistic procession at the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy to close the Diocesan Rosary Congress, Oct. 11. (IObserve photo/Carolee McGrath)

STOCKBRIDGE – On Friday, Oct. 11, a crisp fall afternoon, Worcester Bishop Robert McManus led the Eucharistic procession from the Our Lady of Mercy Oratory on the grounds of the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy in Stockbridge up to the shrine. The closing procession, Holy Hour and Mass marked the end of the third annual Diocesan Rosary Congress held at the shrine Oct. 5-11. People signed up to cover hours through the night for the seven days of perpetual adoration and adorers prayed the rosary on the hour.

“These hours have been filled with people who are there to adore the Lord and seek our Lady’s intercession for the sake of really bringing peace to the world, peace to our hearts, in a world that desperately needs peace and healing,” said Marian Father Mark Baron, the director of the Association of Marian Helpers.

The Congress opened on the feast day of St. Faustina Kowalska, Saturday, Oct. 5. St. Faustina, a Polish nun, received revelations from Jesus about his message of mercy for the world in the 1930s. The National Shrine of the Divine Mercy in Stockbridge is a ministry of the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception, who have been promoting the message given to St. Faustina since 1941.

“You are before love itself. You’re before he who is the second person of the Holy Trinity, through whom all things were created,” Father Baron continued.

“Our creator is the king of mercy. When we sit before the Blessed Sacrament, we’re not sitting before him in judgement. We are sitting before Jesus who is looking upon us in mercy and recognizes that we don’t have it all together, that we’re kind of a hot mess, like I say. We have our limitations. We have our failures. We have our sin. But Jesus is like come to me and I will give you rest,” he said.

The very first Eucharistic Rosary Congress was held in Poland in 1979, when the Communist government was resistant to having then Pope John Paul II visit the country. After seven days of prayer and perpetual adoration, the visit was permitted.

The Diocese of Springfield joined more than 40 others dioceses across the country holding a Rosary Congress during the same week.

“This has been a beautiful time together to draw people to adore Jesus and also to recognize that we live in our Mother’s heart,” said Marya Makuc, who helped organize the event.

“My friend put it so beautifully the other day when she said why worry, don’t you know you are in your mother’s heart? That’s why we’re here. That’s why we’re here to remember that because we need that reminder all the time. So people are bringing their prayers to Mary knowing that just as she courageously held Jesus in her for 9 months and watched him through his life through the joys, through the struggles, that she too can hold what we have and bring it to her beloved Son,” she said.

Makuc also directs youth ministry for the Berkshires. She said several of her youth and their families signed up for hours to pray before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

“Every single week in Lenox at St. Ann Parish, we have a Holy Hour for youth that brings together our students from grades 5-12. These students look forward to spending time with Jesus each week. When they heard about this, they were very excited to bring their families in front of our Lord,” Makuc said.

A video version of this story will be on an upcoming edition of “Real to Reel” which temporarily airs Sunday mornings at 6:30 a.m. on WWLP-22 NEWS.