Posted on 04/11/2020 6:56:47 AM PDT by Kaslin
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Nearly every afternoon just before 12:30, the sisters of the Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matará leave their Capitol Hill convent to greet Monsignor Charles Pope at Washington’s Holy Comforter – St. Cyprian church. Together, they circle the popular Lincoln Park praying the rosary, an ancient and beautiful Catholic devotion.
It’s a contemplative prayer, rooted in scripture; a meditation on the sacred mysteries of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection that’s been prayed through many centuries and plagues before our own.
“The church remains open during the day for private prayer; people come and go all day long,” Msgr. Pope says. “While we can’t gather in the church with the people, we want the people to know we’re praying. We’re praying for them, and we’re praying for an end to this plague.”
“We’re used to praying for our neighbors and for the neighborhood all the time when people don’t see us and when they do see us,” Sister Theotokos agreed.
Six sisters and the monsignor were joined by Deacon Nathaniel Anderson, whose studies in Rome were interrupted, just as so many of our lives were. “He’ll be here with us the next few months,” Pope says, while he resumes his classes online.
“Thank you for keeping the church open,” Patricia Catalano told the monsignor as she walked by on her daily stroll. “It has been such a refuge.”
“This is just our way of saying we’re here, we still love you and care for you. We can’t gather like we used to in the churches but we’ll come out to see you. We’re hoping for a quick end to the death, and also so that people can get back to work and we can get back to receiving the sacrament and everything in the regular and the normal way.”
Many of us are used to spending holy week at church, and Easter with our family and friends. This year will be a quieter celebration, but just as holy.
BEAUTIFUL!!! Prayers are just what we need!
I love Monsignor Pope
I wish he were Pope Pope!
So many prayers needed in this world. Thanks be to God for such pious men and women.
Ping!
Thanks ... a friend emailed this to me this am and I was going to post. Glad someone else did. I am so proud of Msgr Pope .. he’s what all priests/ministers/clergy should be ... totally sincere and God-centered. And I am proud to be one of his congregation that I can’t wait to get back together with, sooner rather than later.
God bless them abundantly for their prayers. We thank them.
A lot of people have voiced that sentiment to me.
May their prayers convert the CINOS (Catholics in name only.)
“I wish he were Pope Pope!”
You’re not alone, but we need him in DC!!
Msgr Pope in a homily one day told us that these sisters can one day get a call from their Mother Superior to move to another venue and when they leave, ALL of their earthly belongings fit into one suitcase they carry.
One of the sisters in this video has a twin sister who is in the same order and had been attached to HCSC, but I haven’t seen both together lately so the other one may have been transferred. I will have to ask.
It’s a very devoted thing they are doing. Also, the pix are lovely!
Kaslin, you made my day.
Pray for America.
well, you know DC is beautiful this time of year ... but they are out there every day, not just when it’s lovely outside. So God bless them.
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