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Participants in one of the over 500 rosary rallies held in 2022.ISFCC

DUBLIN, Ireland (LifeSiteNews) — Irish Catholics are being encouraged to take part in a nationwide rosary rally next month, with 500 public rosary gatherings set to be held on the feast of Our Lady of Fatima. 

On May 13, Ireland will be blanketed with over 500 rosary rallies in a now-annual event celebrating the feast of Our Lady of Fatima. Organized by the Irish Society for Christian Civilization (ISFCC), the rallies will “honor the requests made by Our Lady of Fatima,” members say.

“Since 2013, we have been holding a public square rosary rally on O’Connell Street in Dublin,” said Gregory Murphy, an ISFCC volunteer and coordinator of the events.

A typical public rosary rally involves singing Marian hymns, followed by the public recitation of the rosary, the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the prayer of total consecration according to St. Maximilian Kolbe, the recitation of the Divine Praises, and a closing hymn to Our Lady.

The effort began in 2017 when the ISFCC organized 200 rallies to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the last Fatima apparitions. The public rosaries form part of Ireland Needs Fatima campaign, organized and coordinated by the lay-led ISFCC.

Year after year the number of public rallies has continued to grow, with 515 public square rosary rallies taking place on May 14, 2022.

“One person described it as a tsunami of graces for Ireland, and it really was,” said Murphy of last year’s event. “I’m sure that God will bless Ireland, despite the nation’s sins and shortcomings, after having so many Rosary Rallies in honor of His Mother.”

With the 2023 event now weeks away, ISFCC is encouraging people to sign up for leading a rally, in order to bring the Catholic faith into Ireland’s streets.

Murphy stressed the ease of organizing a rosary rally. “Organizing a rally is not difficult or overwhelming,” he said. “All one needs to do is invite friends and family to pray the Rosary for one hour in a public space.”

READ: Catholics in Ireland hold over 500 Rosary rallies nationwide for 105th anniversary of Fatima

The ISFCC told LifeSite that many captains of previous rosary rallies were so enthused by the experience that they have signed up to repeating the public witness. “Some two hundred captions from 2022 have already signed up for this year because they saw the immense good it did for them, their friends and the public in general,” Murphy said.

“People also see how the only real solution to Ireland’s problems is conversion,” he added . “That is why they sign up again because a public square rosary rally creates an occasion for Our Lady to reach out to people and inspire their conversion.”

The ISFCC pointed to a number of benefits for holding the rosary rallies in public particularly. Highlighting the decline in the number of practicing Catholics in Ireland, the group noted how a public rosary “is a great way to reach non-practicing Catholics. If they see you praying in a public place, they may be moved to become better Catholics.”

Such public demonstrations were lauded by St. Louis-Marie de Montfort, the great Marian priest, who wrote how “public prayer is far more powerful than private prayer to appease the anger of God and call down His mercy, and Holy Mother Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, has always advocated public prayer in times of public tragedy and suffering.”

Those wishing to sign up to lead a rally can call 089-461-7935 (from Ireland) or register online. The ISFCC volunteers will coordinate sending a banner and a how-to manual to the rosary rally captains.

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