The Jubilee of Marian Spirituality to be held on October 11th and 12th

The Jubilee of Marian Spirituality will be held in Rome on Saturday October 11th and Sunday October 12th. Over 30,000 pilgrims will take part, including rectors and support staff from shrines, as well as members of movements, confraternities, and various Marian prayer groups. Approximately 100 countries will be represented at the Jubilee, including large delegations from Italy, Poland, France, Spain, Ireland, Portugal, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, Ecuador, Argentina, Peru, Chile, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Saudi Arabia.

For the two days of the Jubilee, the original statue of Our Lady of Fatima will be brought from the Portuguese shrine to Rome. The Jubilee will begin on Saturday October 11 with Mass presided over by the Rector of the Shrine of Fatima, Father Carlos Cabecinhas, at 9:00 am in the Church of Santa Maria in Traspontina. Those who wish will be able to venerate the statue of the Virgin Mary from 8:30 am. This will be followed by the recitation of the Rosary at 12:00 noon. In the afternoon, at 5:00 pm, the statue will be carried in procession from Santa Maria in Traspontina to St. Peter's Square. Members of the Association of Saints Peter and Paul will carry the statue during the initial part of the procession. Once it enters the square, it will be escorted by the Pontifical Swiss Guards and the Vatican Gendarmerie until its arrival at the steps in front of St. Peter's Basilica. The procession will pass through the square to allow the faithful to venerate the statue and will pass by the site of the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II. The choir of the Diocese of Rome will sing Marian anthems and hymns throughout.

Then, at 6:00 pm, the Prayer Vigil will begin in St. Peter's Square with the recitation of the Rosary, as personally requested by Pope Leo XIV, to implore the gift of peace. At the beginning of the prayer vigil, the Holy Father, as a devotional gesture, will offer a Golden Rose, made for the occasion by the company "Diego Serpone" of Naples, to Our Lady of Fatima to be taken to the Shrine. Each decade of the Rosary will also be accompanied by the reading of a passage from Chapter VIII of Lumen Gentium, the conciliar document which discusses the role of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the mystery of Christ and the Church, thus marking the anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council on October 11, 1962. A period of Eucharistic adoration will follow, to pray earnestly for the gift of peace.

On Sunday, October 12, pilgrims will participate in a Mass in St. Peter's Square at 10:30 am, presided over by Pope Leo XIV. Admission to the celebration is free.