The Catholic Church in the Philippines is giving away free rosaries to children

The Catholic Church in the Philippines will distribute rosary beads to children as part of a worldwide event, “One Million Children Praying the Rosary,” which would have children all in the world united in prayer.

The event was organized by the international Catholic pastoral aid organization, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). The campaign was envisioned in 2005, when a group of children were praying in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela. While they prayed, a group of women who were present reported that they felt the presence of the Blessed Virgin, which brought to mind the promise of St. Pio:

“When one million children pray the Rosary, the world will change.”

“One Million Children Praying the Rosary,” scheduled to take place on October 18, encourages parents, teachers, and priests to lead their children through the devotion. In the Philippines, ACN is distributing rosary beads to the children, some of which The Manila Bulletin reports are left overs from World Youth Day, and were blessed by Pope Francis himself. Of the event, Aid to the Church in Need Philippines National Director Jonathan Luciano commented:

“Actually this is a call to families. If children don’t see their parents or elders’ praying it’s going to be very difficult for them to imbibe the importance of praying the Rosary and prayer for that matter,” he said.

The program expects to draw participants from 80 countries on all continents. On the ACN’s website, millionkidspraying.org, children are provided a Prayer Kit that contains fliers, a cover letter, and religious instruction on the prayers of the Rosary in 29 different languages.

This year will also feature a live stream of the Rosary, broadcast from the Chapel of Apparitions from the Sanctuary of Fatima, to better unify the prayer. Families and communities can join the stream and pray along with Catholics from all over the world at 6 p.m. local (1 p.m. EST). The stream is viewable through a link on the banner of the ACN website, or by clicking here. The stream is live right now, so take a look to see what’s happening in Fatima at any time!

The “One Million Children Praying the Rosary” worldwide campaign aims to pray for peace and harmony among nations and reconciliation, especially in the Middle East. For more information on how your children can participate in “One Million Children Praying the Rosary,” visit the website here.