Vatican City, Apr 22, 2020 / 07:00 pm (CNA).- The Vatican has released a free online prayer book to help Catholics seeking divine assistance amid the coronavirus crisis.
The 192-page book is available for download on the website of the Vatican’s publishing house, the Libreria Editrice Vaticana. The publication, which is in PDF format, is available in English, Italian, Spanish, and French. A Portuguese version will be published soon.
The book, which is called “Strong in the Face of Tribulation: The Church in Communion – a Sure Support in Time of Trial” and has an image of the Archangel Michael on its cover, is divided into three parts.
The first part contains prayers, rituals and supplications, including prayers for the sick and for liberation from evil. The second explains how Catholics can continue to practice the faith without the support of the Sacraments. The third section gathers together Pope Francis’ reflections since the pandemic struck.
The book is edited by the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication and will be updated regularly.
In the introduction, Andrea Tornielli, the dicastery’s editorial director, writes: “This book is intended to be a little help offered to all, so as to know how to discern and experience God’s closeness and tenderness in pain, in suffering, in solitude and in fear. Of course, faith does not eliminate pain; ecclesial communion does not eliminate anguish. Rather, it does illuminate reality and reveal that it is pervaded by the love and hope based not on our abilities, but on the One Who is faithful and never abandons us.”
He continues: “On the cover there is an image of the Archangel Michael, who protects the Church against evil and sustains us in this difficult trial, so that this evil may not prejudice our trust in the Father and the solidarity among us, but rather become an opportunity to look at what is truly essential for our lives and to share the love received from God among us all, and in a special way with those who are most in need today.”
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Vatican City, Dec 3, 2018 / 11:13 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In a speech on Monday, Pope Francis called for humility as a path to world peace, urging world leaders and citizens of every nation to work for an end to violence and a greater respect for human di… […]
Pope Leo waving at the crowds gathered on St. Peter’s Square for the Jubilee for Families, Children, Grandparents and the Elderly, June 1, 2025 / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
CNA Newsroom, Jun 1, 2025 / 07:31 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV declared families “the cradle of the future of humanity” as he celebrated Mass for thousands of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the Jubilee of Families, Children, Grandparents and the Elderly on Sunday.
Speaking to families from nearly 120 countries on a sunny morning in Rome, the pontiff emphasized the fundamental role of family relationships in God’s plan for salvation, drawing from the Gospel reading of Jesus’ prayer at the Last Supper.
“Dear friends, we received life before we ever desired it,” Pope Leo XIV said in his homily on June 1.
Pope Leo XIV gcelebrates the Holy Mass Holy Mass for Jubilee of Families, Children, Grandparents and the Elderly at St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, June 1, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
“As soon as we were born, we needed others in order to live; left to ourselves, we would not have survived. Someone else saved us by caring for us in body and spirit. All of us are alive today thanks to a relationship, a free and freeing relationship of human kindness and mutual care.”
The Holy Father made an extended tour of the square in the popemobile before Mass, blessing children and greeting the crowds of families who had traveled to Rome for this major event of the Holy Year of Hope 2025.
Pope Leo XIV blesses a child from his popemobile on St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, June 1, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
Marriage as measure of true love
In his homily, Pope Leo XIV emphasized that marriage represents “not an ideal but the measure of true love between a man and a woman: a love that is total, faithful and fruitful.” He cited Pope Paul VI’s 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae, noting that conjugal love “makes you one flesh and enables you, in the image of God, to bestow the gift of life.”
The pope highlighted several beatified married couples as exemplars for today’s world, including Louis and Zélie Martin, parents of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, and Blessed Luigi and Maria Beltrame Quattrocchi, who lived in Rome in the last century. He also remembered the Polish Ulma family, “parents and children, united in love and martyrdom” during World War II.
“By pointing to them as exemplary witnesses of married life, the Church tells us that today’s world needs the marriage covenant in order to know and accept God’s love and to defeat, thanks to its unifying and reconciling power, the forces that break down relationships and societies,” the pontiff said.
Practical counsel for families
Pope Leo XIV offered specific guidance to different generations present at the celebration. To parents, he recommended being “examples of integrity to your children, acting as you want them to act, educating them in freedom through obedience, always seeing the good in them and finding ways to nurture it.”
Children received counsel to “show gratitude to your parents,” with the pope noting that saying “thank you” each day “is the first way to honour your father and your mother.”
Families from nearly 120 countries wave flags and cheer during the Jubilee of Families celebration at St. Peter’s Square, as Pope Leo XIV declared families “the cradle of the future of humanity” during his homily on Sunday, June 1, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
To grandparents and elderly people, he recommended watching “over your loved ones with wisdom and compassion, and with the humility and patience that come with age.”
The Holy Father emphasized the family’s role in transmitting faith, declaring that “in the family, faith is handed on together with life, generation after generation. It is shared like food at the family table and like the love in our hearts.”
Prayer for peace amid global conflicts
Following the Mass, Pope Leo XIV led the Regina Coeli prayer, using the occasion to remember families suffering from war.
“May the Virgin Mary bless families and sustain them in their difficulties. I think especially of those who suffer because of war in the Middle East, in Ukraine and in other parts of the world,” he said.
The pontiff also commemorated the beatification of Blessed Cristofora Klomfass and 14 companion religious sisters of the Congregation of Saint Catherine Virgin and Martyr, who were killed by Soviet soldiers in 1945 in territories of present-day Poland.
“Despite the climate of hatred and terror against the Catholic faith, they continued to serve the sick and orphans,” he noted.
During his remarks, Pope Leo XIV expressed particular joy at welcoming so many children to today’s celebration, calling them sources of renewed hope. He praised grandparents and elderly people as “genuine models of faith and inspiration for young generations.”
The Palazzo del Sant’Uffizio, the seat of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. / Jim McIntosh via Wikimedia (CC BY 2.0).
Vatican City, Oct 28, 2021 / 06:00 am (CNA).
The Vatican’s doctrinal congregation has recalled Pope Franc… […]
1 Comment
Right now there is hunger and thirst for prayer all around. Presidents, prime ministers, and other fellow mortals, keep counting on prayer as the mother of all remedies.
Right now there is hunger and thirst for prayer all around. Presidents, prime ministers, and other fellow mortals, keep counting on prayer as the mother of all remedies.