St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney will host its first Mass to include a blessing of runners taking part in the Sydney Marathon, before they take their marks on Sunday, August 31. Source: The Catholic Weekly.
This year, the race has been officially upgraded to an internationally significant event alongside other Abbott World Marathon Majors such as the annual Boston and Tokyo marathons.
About 35,000 runners from around the globe will start at Miller Street in North Sydney at 6.30am and race to the Sydney Opera House forecourt finish line.
Fr Eduardo De Pedro Orilla, parish priest of St Patrick’s at Kogarah in Sydney’s southwest, aims to be among them.
Fresh from completing his fifth City2Surf fun run, he applauded cathedral dean Fr Don Richardson for extending an invitation to the Sydney Marathon runners, and Bishop Daniel Meagher, who will celebrate Mass for them at the cathedral at 6pm on Saturday, August 30.
“I have been training a lot in the last months with sacrifices and endeavours done in the spirit of thanksgiving to God and the Blessed Mother for the gift of good health after a time of illness, and desire for continued fitness and well-being,” Fr Orilla said.
“The comfort of ‘sleeping-in’ in the morning and the seduction of relaxing in front of Netflix or Amazon movies are nothing compared to the peace of mind brought by sacrifices and ardent longings for both spiritual and physical wellbeing.
“Participating in the City2Surf was an amazing experience, being among the happy throng of people just wanting to share the gift of good health and camaraderie,” he added.
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St Mary’s Cathedral Sydney to host a Mass and blessing for Sydney Marathon runners (By Marilyn Rodrigues, The Catholic Weekly)
