Pete Munsey of Baltimore prays the rosary in Rehoboth Beach, Del., May 23, 2021. (CNS photo/Chaz Muth)
On Saturday, Oct. 7, the date on which the Church celebrates the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, the fourth edition of the worldwide Men’s Rosary will take place with more than 40 countries uniting in prayer.
The initiative originated in Poland and Ireland in 2018 and in just a few years has spread to other nations on different dates.
In Argentina, a pioneering country in this global crusade, the purpose is for all cities to pray on the same date. A major location will be the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires.
The first worldwide Men’s Rosary was held on May 28, 2022, and the second on Oct. 8 of the same year, with the participation of more than 150 cities on all five continents. In Buenos Aires about 2,000 people attended.
On May 6, the third time the prayer event was held, men from more than 40 countries prayed for the role of men in society to be valued once again and for the conversion of the entire world.
Segundo Carafí, one of the organizers of the initiative in Buenos Aires, said on that occasion that “the importance of this rosary lies in the fact that it is precisely men who want to bring back faith to the public sphere, praying to recover their own essence in a world that criticizes and attacks them.”
The purpose is to demonstrate that “faith is not just a woman’s thing and that the man, as a male parent of the family, the priest as such, is ready to fight in the defense of his most absolute essence as a man.”
Carafí shared with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, the prayer intentions of this new edition of the Men’s Rosary:
In reparation for the offenses committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary; following the example of St. Joseph, to reclaim masculinity as a man’s role in God’s plan to protect, guard, and defend the sanctity of our families and loved ones; and to protect and defend our families from human ideas that are anti-Christian.
Argentines will also pray “for our country to recover the Catholic faith and for us to be encouraged to profess it in the public sphere,” the organizer said.
“We pray to Mary for our country and for the Church. We place our country in the hands of Our Mother, especially in this year of profound social and economic crisis, begging her for the conversion of those who govern us,” he concluded.
The event is not limited only to Catholic men but is addressed to all men and people of goodwill.
Why a men’s rosary?
On their website, the Polish originators of the Men’s Rosary state that the objective is to fulfill the will of the Virgin Mary, which is the will of her Son, Jesus Christ.
They note that “the role of men in God’s plan is to protect for eternal life all those whom God has given us here on earth.”
“Just as St. Joseph was the earthly protector of the Holy Family, we also have the task of defending the sanctity of our families and loved ones. We want to do it together, in a community of men. In this unity, we strengthen our male identity and masculine virtues,” the promoters of the prayer movement explained.