NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

    VATICAN CITY, 11 (NE) Pope John Paul II encouraged Sunday the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square to pray frequently the Rosary. During the Sunday Angelus prayer, the Pope recalled the "singular form of Marian prayer which is the holy rosary." Remembering that the feast of the Virgin of the Rosary had been celebrated last Thursday, he said that those who pray the Rosary "unite themselves to Mary in the meditation of the mysteries of Christ, and invoke the grace of these same mysteries in the different situations of life and history."

    The Holy Father stated as well that "in the past, the prayer of the Rosary has helped to safeguard the integrity of the faith of the People of God." He also urged faithful to practice this prayer to sustain "the Church's crossing to the Third Millennium, so that she may continue to be 'sign and instrument of the intimate union with God and among all the human people."

    Concluding his brief address before the Angelus prayer, the Pope raised his prayers to Blessed Mary, asking the Mother of God to help the Church "be the bridge that unites man with God and human beings among themselves."

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