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THE WORLD APOSTOLATE OF FATIMA Saint Paul/Minneapolis Diocesan Division |
| Contact: | Connie
Schneider |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
“CHILDREN’S Eucharistic Adoration is reaching kids
that were unreachable”
Fr. Thomas Dufner, Pastor, Holy Family Parish, St. Louis Park, MN
Children of the Eucharist unites children worldwide
in Eucharistic Holy Hour for families and for priests
For the seventh year Catholic school children in the U.S. will be uniting with children around the world in prayer and adoration before the Blessed Sacrament as they follow the way of the little shepherds of Fatima into the presence of the Hidden Jesus.
(St. Paul, Minnesota – August 27, 2009) – Archbishop Gregory Aymond of the Archdiocese of New Orleans will lead the annual Worldwide Children’s Eucharistic Holy Hour, Friday, October 2nd, 2009, at 10 a.m. (EST) at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. Sponsored by Children of the Eucharist, the children’s program of the World Apostolate of Fatima , the event will be broadcast live to over 140 nations on Eternal World Television Network.
The Worldwide Children’s Eucharistic Holy Hour spiritually unites the prayers of children around the world as they are gathered before the Blessed Sacrament to console the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, and to pray for their families, and in this Year for Priests, there will be special intentions made for children to pray for the world’s priests. More than 4,000 school children will gather at the Basilica, the “Eucharistic epicenter” of the global event. Children around the world will be spiritually united as they gather before the Blessed Sacrament, in their own parish churches and chapels. The children will pray the Rosary, prayers of reparation as taught by the Angel of Peace of Fatima, Entrust themselves to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, with closing Benediction.
“While our new archbishop is leading the world’s children in prayer, he’ll also be leading his children in the Archdiocese of New Orleans,” says Todd Amick, Director of the
Archdiocese of New Orleans Office of Eucharistic Renewal. “This invitation presents an opportunity for Eucharistic intimacy and to witness to our Catholic culture. Hopefully we can start to see this in more and more dioceses. As human persons, we are made for the Eucharist and our children in particular have a receptivity for the Eucharist that is only waiting for an invitation. That’s our job as adults to make that invitation to help them come to love and serve Christ.”
The Pontifical Mission Society of the Holy Childhood Association and Option C, Inc., a Catholic focused school management system used by Catholic schools throughout the country, have partnered with the Children of the Eucharist to promote and support the event in the U.S. and globally. The Worldwide Children’s Holy Hour is a response to the requests of Our Lady of Fatima in 1917, for prayers and sacrifices, and the particular requests of the ‘Angel of Peace’ at Fatima, Portugal who was sent from heaven as a ‘Tutor of Love’ to teach the three little shepherds, how to pray and adore Jesus, truly present in the Blessed Sacrament.
Most Reverend Bishop Robert Finn, who led the Worldwide Children’s Holy Hour in 2007, said, “Fatima’s “Angel of Peace” appeared to the three little shepherds in 1917, and convened the first “Children’s Holy Hour.”
Marlon De La Torre, Superintendent of Schools of the Catholic Diocese of Kansa City-St. Joseph, said that Children of the Eucharist has served the Catholic schools in the diocese by helping to foster deeper appreciation for the true presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. “In a world where atheistic opinions tend to be given more credence than not, this wonderful apostolate has provided a sanctuary for our students to embrace Christ in a truly remarkable way. Children of the Eucharist, I believe, will be a continual asset to foster this desire within our Catholic Schools,” said De La Torre.
For the past two years the Office of Catholic schools has been cooperating with the World Apostolate of Fatima promoting the Worldwide Children’s Holy Hour.
Connie Schneider, founder of the Worldwide Children’s Holy Hour, and local president of the World Apostolate of Fatima in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, said she was always inspired by the messages of Our Lady of Fatima, which are messages of hope for the entire world and entrusted to little children. Schneider said the idea for a global Children’s Holy Hour came after reading Pope John Paul II’s letter to the world’s children, which said, “My Dear Young Friends, it is to your prayers that I entrust the problems of your own family and all the families of the world.” And uplifted by the words of Pope Benedict XVI, who said, ‘The proper meaning of catechesis, in fact, must be this: to bring the flame of Jesus’ love, even if it is a small one, to the hearts of children, and through the children, to their parents; thus reopening the places of faith in our times.’
“He explained our movement to a tee,” said Schneider. “It gathers the children of the world before our Eucharistic Lord as they make reparation and pray for their families. Then Jesus does what no one else can do; he fans the flame of faith in the hearts of the children. This is the door that will initiate the new times in the families of the world.”
Schneider said, little planning necessary, just walk the children to their parish church and unite the prayers of your students with children around the world. Our Heavenly Father who sees all will see them united as one!
They can simply download the program off the website at www.childrenoftheeucharist.org and lead the children in the prayers before the Blessed Sacrament in their own churches and chapels.
“Imagine our Eucharistic Lord Jesus in all the tabernacles of the world, seeing an ocean of children adoring His Presence in prayer,” said Schneider. “In the uncertain times in which we live, is there any reason why anyone would not want to unite our children in prayer? Our Holy Father said he is counting on the children because he knows they have an important mission in the Church.”
For more information and to download the program, go to www.childrenoftheeucharist.org or contact Schneider at connieschneider@earthlink.net.
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