More than 1700 hours of rosaries were pledged as part of the annual rosary bouquet in honour of Our Lady’s birthday on September 8.
Fifty-one WA parishes, three Victorian parishes, and several USA parishes contributed to the rosary tally.
The rosary bouquet consists of rosaries prayed continuously for the 48-hour period before Our Lady’s birthday on September 8.
Each rosary is offered without any private intentions, and is solely offered as a gift to Mary.
In total, 1,995 people committed to praying a rosary, in addition to students from seven schools.
Several parishes, as well as the Indonesian Catholic Community, each committed to praying rosaries throughout the 48 hours. About 150 people gathered at St Joachim’s in Victoria Park on September 7 to mark the 25th anniversary of the event.
A scroll containing the details of the pledged rosaries was presented to Fr Paul Carey SSC during the offertory procession.
During his homily, the Columban priest said it was important to offer prayers for good government.
“The only way this government is going to be a source of justice and peace is if each individual member turns to God and asks the Holy Spirit to lead this country,” he said.
“That is the only hope for Australia, and we need to pray for this as we cast our vote.”
Fr Carey read Pope Francis’ letter proclaiming a World Day of Fasting and Prayer, which coincided with the event.
“This is God’s way. He does not want us to take up arms, but he wants us to follow Mary and pray… as you have been doing for 25 years,” he said.
Fr Carey said we should strive to respond to violence, conflict and war with forgiveness and love.
“Help us, Mary to overcome this most difficult moment and to dedicate ourselves each day to building, in every situation, an authentic culture of peace,” he prayed at the conclusion of his homily.
The event began in 1988 in the central wheat belt area of WA, before quickly spreading to Perth parishes and schools.
Last year more than 1600 hours of rosaries were pledged.