At least 2000 faithful participated in an annual London Rosary Crusade of Reparation on Saturday – a notably large gathering that organisers hope reflects a fledgling revival of faith in England. Source: National Catholic Register.
Participants of all ages and backgrounds prayed the Rosary and sang hymns along the 3km procession from Westminster Cathedral to the London Brompton Oratory.
This year marked the 40th annual crusade in reparation for sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Inspired by the apparitions of Our Lady at Fatima in 1917 and her request that the faithful pray the Rosary daily for peace and conversion, the procession has always taken place on the Saturday closest to October 13, which marks the anniversary of the final apparition at Fatima.
This year, the Crusade fell on the same day as the Feast of the Divine Maternity that was instituted in 1931 by Pope Pius XI. It also took place on the same Saturday that Pope Leo XIV led the Jubilee of Marian Spirituality in St. Peter’s Square, in which the faithful prayed the Rosary for peace.
Welcoming the pilgrims to the Brompton Oratory, Oratorian Fr Ronald Creighton-Jobe, who has served as the spiritual director of the crusade for more than 25 years, underscored the importance of the devotion and its purpose in making reparation for blasphemies against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
He stressed its particular importance at this juncture in history as reparation “for the many sins and scandals rampant in the world today,” and “for the sins of the English Reformation which force so many souls from God”.
He recalled the “terrible conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine” and the need to make reparation for the “bills and amendments in parliament which are anti-life and against God’s law” – a reference to lawmakers in England and Wales who recently voted to decriminalise abortion up to birth, and who are trying to bring in legislation to allow assisted suicide.
“Pray very hard for conversion, the conversion of this country, and also for our own conversion, that it may continue with the grace of God,” Fr Creighton-Jobe said.
FULL STORY
2,000 Join Rosary Crusade Through Streets of London (By Edward Pentin, National Catholic Register)
