Marian Prayer Program - Our Lady protector of persecuted Christians

The Knights of Columbus has been sponsoring a Marian prayer program since 1978.  This is the 18th icon commissioned by the Knights of Columbus and is titled “Our Lady, help of persecuted Christians”.  The purpose is to encourage devotions to Mary and to raise awareness to the plight of persecuted Christians throughout the world. 
 
In every age, Christians have suffered for their faith, from the Roman Coliseum to the recent beheadings perpetrated by ISIS. Brave men and women, embracing the cross of Jesus, have gone to their death rather than deny their faith. Today, the witness of martyrs continues in an especially intense way in the Middle East, where priests are murdered for offering Mass and families are driven from their homes for displaying a cross. With this Marian devotion, we honor the martyrs over the centuries as we call particular attention to the suffering of today’s Christians in the Middle East.
 
Created by Italian iconographer Fabrizio Diomedi, this icon depicts the Blessed Mother, with the Child Jesus over her heart, spreading her protective mantle around a representative gathering of recent Christian martyrs—men and women, young and old, from East and West; priests, religious and laypersons.
 
The Knights of Columbus has responded to the plight of persecuted Christians through our Christian Refugee relief fund which has distributed close to $20 Million dollars to help feed and clothe needy families in the Middle East and to resettle and rebuild villages destroyed by ISIS. 
Through this Marian devotion, they would ask you to join them in rendering spiritual aid to those who suffer today for their faith.
Let us ask the holy martyrs, ancient and recent, to intercede for persecuted Christians everywhere as we invoke upon them the protection of Mary.
 
The icon has been travelling throughout all the parishes on the island and even around the world and it will be on display in our unit over the next few weeks.  There would normally be a prayer service to accompany it, but because of Covid19, we’re not able to do this.  Instead, I would invite you to stay after mass or through the week if time permits to spend some time in the presence of the Mary and pray for persecuted Christians in the world.