Aid to the Church in Need. Published with permission.

Today, the day of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, ACN joins the requests of Pope Francis and the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, inviting you to live this day in fasting and penance and to pray the Rosary for peace in the Holy Land and throughout the world.

It is one year since the heartbreaking conflict in the Holy Land started. “Let us pray that God gives comfort and hope, courage and strength, to those affected by the war, especially those who have lost their loved ones,” said Regina Lynch, International Executive President of Aid to the Church in Need.

May Our Lady, Queen of Peace, be with us as we pray for peace to come to this hurting region. We ask you to pray, especially today, for lasting stability in the Holy Land, and to the entire Middle East.

We keep the victims, all who have passed and all who continue to suffer, in our thoughts and prayers. May they feel our loving embrace and know that we send them strength for the present and hope for the future.

With Pope Francis, let us pray “that the sincere search for peace may extinguish fighting, that love may conquer hatred and that vengeance may be disarmed by forgiveness.”

Please visit us at www.lightingacandle.org to light a candle and leave your special intentions.