POPE FRANCIS’ FEBRUARY PRAYER INTENTION
February 1, 2022
POPE FRANCIS' FEBRUARY 2022 PRAYER INTENTION
"For religious sisters and consecrated women"
Pope Francis releases his prayer intention for the month of October, calling on everyone to pray for religious sisters and consecrated women; thanking them for their mission and their courage; may they continue to find new responses to the challenges of our times.
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In the spirit of the Month of Prayer for "consecrated women" - a.k.a. Sisters, Nuns, Religious Women -let us remind ourselves of four consecrated women that were relatively recently brought to our attention by Pope St. John Paul when he visited Ukraine in 2001. These are the co-founder of the Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate - Blessed Josaphata as well as the young Sister - Blessed Tarsykia of the same congregation, who was gunned down by a soldier of the Soviet Red Army. The other two - Blessed Olympia and Blessed Laurentia are member of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph who were imprisoned and eventually exiled to a Soviet Siberian camp where they soon died from the harsh conditions and treatment. In presenting his prayer intention for this month, Pope Francis gives a strong fatherly message about the challenges that women-religious face today as they strive to combat horrific realities of our present society - the anger, the hatred, human trafficking, vulnerable people - children and adults; as well as their great contribution to teaching the faith and caring for children and the elderly. The Holy Father also touched upon the mystery of service about which the Lord spoke (Matthew 20:25-28) encouraged them not to be relegated to a position of servitude only, especially when God has blessed them with various talents and aptitudes and developed skills.
