VATICAN - The feast of St. Therese of Lisieux, Patroness of the Missions, opens the Mission Month

Wednesday, 1 October 2014

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - With today's liturgical feast of St. Therese of the Child Jesus (1873-1897), proclaimed Patroness of the Missions in 1927 with St. Francis Xavier, October month of the missions begins, which will culminate in the celebration of World Mission Day on the third Sunday of the month, October 19. In some countries the Day is moved to another Sunday for pastoral reasons. This year on Mission Day the closure of the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops will be celebrated, on the theme "The pastoral challenges on the family in the context of evangelization" and the beatification of Pope Paul VI, who in his more than fifteen years of pontificate gave a strong impetus to the missionary awareness of all members of the Church through his teaching and his missionary journeys.
In much of the world, the Catholic Church celebrates October as the "Month of the Missions", using the many subsidies that the National Board of the Pontifical Mission Societies prepare in order to recall the duty of every Christian to cooperate in the Church's universal mission with prayer and economic support. October was chosen as a missionary month to commemorate the discovery of the American continent, which opened a new page in the history of evangelization.
At the opening of his Message for World Mission Day 2014, the Holy Father points out that "today vast numbers of people still do not know Jesus Christ. For this reason, the mission ad gentes continues to be most urgent. All the members of the Church are called to participate in this mission, for the Church is missionary by her very nature: she was born “to go forth”. World Mission Day is a privileged moment when the faithful of various continents engage in prayer and concrete gestures of solidarity in support of the young Churches in mission lands. It is a celebration of grace and joy". (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 01/10/2014)


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