By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
Children from around the world are being invited to participate in the annual Worldwide Children’s Eucharistic Holy Hour on Friday, Oct. 2.
According to the Catholic News Agency (CNA), the Holy Hour is sponsored by Children of the Eucharist, the children’s program of the World Apostolate of Fatima. It will be led by the Archbishop of New Orleans, Gregory Aymond at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC, with more than 4,000 children in attendance. Children from around the world can join in by praying the Rosary before the Blessed Sacrament in their own parishes, diocese and schools.
Connie Schneider, founder of Children of the Eucharist and local president of the World Apostolate of Fatima, Saint Paul/Minneapolis division, described the event by recalling Pope Benedict XVI’s teaching that catechesis is about bringing “the flame of Jesus’ love” to the hearts of small children and through them, to their parents, to “reopen the places of faith in our times.”
“He explained our movement to a tee,” Schneider told CNA. “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.”
According to the World Apostolate of Fatima, the Worldwide Children’s Holy Hour responds to the requests of Our Lady of Fatima in 1917 for prayers and sacrifices, and for the particular requests of the “Angel of Peace” to the three shepherd children visionaries for prayer and reparation before the Eucharistic Lord.
Todd Amick, Director of the Archdiocese of New Orleans’ Office of Eucharistic Renewal, said the invitation to the Holy Hour is an opportunity for “Eucharistic intimacy” and for witness to “our Catholic Culture.”
“Hopefully we can start to see this in more and more dioceses,” said Todd Amick, Director of the Archdiocese of New Orleans’ Office of Eucharistic Renewal. “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 Holy Hour will be broadcast live to over 40 nations on the Eternal World Television Network (EWTN) beginning at 10:00 a.m. EST.
More information on the Holy Hour, including prayers and programs, is available at http://www.childrenoftheeucharist.org
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