20 Parishes hosting opportunity to pray as a community
The month of October each year is dedicated to the Most Holy Rosary. On Oct. 7 each year we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary in honor of the Blessed Mother. October was also the month in which Mary appeared for the last time to shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal, urging them to “say the rosary every day to obtain peace for the world.”
In celebration of the month, 19 Parishes in the Diocese of Venice will be participating in a Rosary Congress from Oct. 1, to Oct. 8, 2022. During the Rosary Congress, the host Parishes (at least two in each Deanery) will provide the hourly praying of the Holy Rosary as well as Eucharistic Adoration. Many of the Parishes taking part will also have the celebration of the Mass at the opening and closing of a 24-hour period of Adoration. Several Parishes will make the Sacrament of Reconciliation available during specific times of the Rosary Congress.
Initiated in 2021, the Rosary Congress is encouraged by the Diocesan Office of Evangelization as a way to present a unique opportunity to place all prayer intentions and the needs of all the faithful into the loving arms of the Mother of God.
“The Rosary Congress offers a great means of grace, combining many aspects of our Faith,” explained Jim Gontis, Diocesan Director of Evangelization. “Each Parish session will include Eucharistic Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, the hourly praying the Our Lady’s Rosary, and most importantly, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. This is an opportunity to experience a river of grace coming from the infinite ocean of God’s Mercy.”
Each hour the Rosary will be said for intentions such as the Church, the Faithful of the Diocese of Venice, our country, and difficulties for all throughout the world. The faithful are encouraged to renew themselves to the Blessed Mother and for a renewed love for Jesus Christ in the Most Holy Eucharist.
This is of particular relevance as there is an ongoing National Eucharistic Revival which continues through to 2024. The Revival is an initiative of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to reaffirm a devotion to, and belief in, the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.
“What better way to do this than through praying to Mary, Mother of God, in the way She taught us, through the Holy Rosary,” Gontis said.
The Diocese of Venice has continually fostered its devotion to the Blessed Mother. Our Lady of Mercy is the Patroness of the Diocese. Under this patronage, the Diocese was formally consecrated to Our Lady during Advent of 2017.
Pope Francis frequently describes praying the rosary as armor to be used in the spiritual battle we all face each day.
“The recitation of the rosary is the most beautiful prayer we can offer to the Virgin Mary; it is a contemplation on the stages of the life of Jesus the Savior with his Mother Mary and is a weapon that protects us from evils and temptations,” the Holy Father said in 2021.
Pope Francis said that the Blessed Virgin Mary has urged the recitation of the Holy Rosary in her apparitions, “especially in the face of the threats looming over the world.”
In May 2022 Pope Francis invited all Catholics and led the world in praying the Holy Rosary for peace in Ukraine and around the world from Rome’s Basilica of St. Mary Major.
As part of his prayer, the Holy Father said, “Today we raise our hearts to You, Queen of Peace: intercede for us with Your Son, reconcile hearts filled with violence and vengeance, straighten thoughts blinded by the desire for easy enrichment, on all the earth may Your enduring peace reign.”
Some host Parishes have announced additional aspects of their Rosary Congress. For example: St. Katharine Drexel Parish in Cape Coral (Oct. 1 to 2), will host a Divine Mercy Chaplet at 3 p.m. on Oct. 2; Ss. Peter & Paul the Apostles Parish in Bradenton, (Oct. 5 to 6) will host its Congress in the Chapel; Ave Maria Parish in Ave Maria (Oct. 6 to 7) will conclude their Congress with a Eucharistic Procession throughout the community following 5 p.m. Mass on Oct. 7; St. Agnes Parish in Naples (Oct. 6 to 7) will be having its Congress in an Adoration Chapel and those wishing to participate in the overnight hours need to contact the Parish for details about accessibility; and finally, Resurrection of Our Lord Parish in Fort Myers is hosting an abbreviated Rosary Congress from noon to 7 p.m., on Oct. 7, the Feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary.
More information regarding the Diocesan Rosary Congress may be found at www.dioceseofvenice.org or by contacting Jim Gontis at 941-484-9543 or gontis@dioceseofvenice.org.
Diocese of Venice Rosary Congress
Oct. 1 to 7, 2022
Saturday, Oct. 1 to Sunday, Oct. 2
- 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. – St. Katharine Drexel Parish, 1922 S.W. 20th Ave., Cape Coral, 239-283-9501
Sunday, Oct. 2 to Monday, Oct. 3
- 10:30 a.m. to noon – Christ the King Parish, 1900 Meadowood St., 1900 Meadowood St., Sarasota, 941-924-2777.
Monday, Oct. 3 to Tuesday, Oct. 4
- 8 a.m. to 8 a.m. – Epiphany Cathedral, 350 Tampa Ave., Venice, 941-484-3505,
- 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. – St. Elizabeth Seton Parish, 5225 Golden Gate Parkway, Naples, 239-455-6895,
- 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. – St. Francis Xavier Parish, 2157 Cleveland Ave., Fort Myers, 239-334-2161,
- 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. – St. Charles Borromeo Parish, 21505 Augusta Ave., Port Charlotte, 941-625-4754.
Tuesday, Oct. 4 to Wednesday, Oct. 5
- 8 a.m. to 8 a.m. – Our Lady of the Angels Parish, 12905 E. SR 70, Lakewood Ranch, 941-752-6770,
- 6 p.m. to 6 p.m. – St. Peter the Apostle, 5130 Rattlesnake Hammock Road, Naples, 239-774-3337.
Wednesday, Oct. 5 to Thursday, Oct. 6
- 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. – St. John the Evangelist Parish, 625 111th Ave. N.. Naples, 239-566-8740,
- 11 a.m. to 8 a.m. – Ss. Peter and Paul the Apostles Parish, 2850 75th St. W., Bradenton, 941-795-1228.
Thursday, Oct. 6 to Friday, Oct. 7
- 5 p.m. to 5 p.m. – Ave Maria Parish, 5068 Annunciation Circle, Ave Maria, 239-261-5555,
- 11 a.m. to 11 a.m. – Incarnation Parish, 1901 Bee Ridge Road, Sarasota, 941-921-6631,
- 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. – Our Lady Queen of Heaven Parish, 355 S. Bridge St., LaBelle, 863-675-0030,
- 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. – San Pedro Parish, 14380 Tamiami Trail, North Port, 941-426-2500,
- 8 a.m. to 8 a.m. – St. Catherine Parish, 882 Bay St., Sebring, 863-385-0049,
- 10 a.m. to 10 a.m. – St. Agnes Parish, 7775 Vanderbilt Beach Road, 239-592-1949,
- 2 p.m. to 2 p.m. – St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Parish, 12001 69th St. E., Parrish, 941-776-9097,
- 8 a.m. to 8 a.m. – Holy Cross Parish, 505 26th Palmetto, 941-729-3891.
Friday, Oct. 7
- Noon to 7 p.m., Resurrection of Our Lord Parish, 8121 Cypress Lake Drive, Fort Myers, 239-481-7171 (*Not 24 hours).
Friday, Oct. 7 to Saturday, Oct. 8
- 8 a.m. to 8 a.m., St. Patrick Parish, 7900 Bee Ridge Road, Sarasota, 941-378-1703.
