“By prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God,” Philippians 4:6.
During his final remarks at the Festival of Families in Philadelphia, the Roman Catholic pontiff, Pope Francis, led the thousands in attendance in a prayer to Mary and Joseph out of his belief that the former earthly parents of Christ serve as protectors of families in the present.
“Before the final blessing, let’s pray a prayer to Mary and also an invocation to Saint Joseph, so that they can protect our families and they can help us to believe that it’s worth the struggle and the fight for the good of the family,” he said at the conclusion of the event, which included song and dance from various musical celebrities, as well as speeches from Catholic families from around the world.
Francis then led the crowd in the “Hail Mary,” who recited the common prayer with him.
“Hail Mary, full of grace, our Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus,” he prayed. “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.”
The Roman Catholic leader immediately followed the prayer with an invocation to Joseph.
“Saint Joseph, pray for us. Saint Joseph, pray for us. Saint Joseph, pray for us,” he repeated three times. “In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”
The event also featured a reading by Gianna Emanuela Molla, the daughter of Gianna Beretta Molla, who was canonized as a saint following her death in 2004 and was proclaimed to be the “patron saint” of the World Meeting of Families. According to reports, “women pray to St. Gianna to intercede in difficult pregnancies or with fertility issues, or to solve family crises.”
“By prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God,” Philippians 4:6.
Read here about the state of the dead. Can we pray to the dead?
