THE Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines called on all Catholic priests to pray the “prayer for healing” during Mass and urged Catholic schools to also pray it before the start of classes to help stop the rising number of deaths under President Rodrigo Duterte’s fight against illegal drugs.
“The spate of killings and other challenges is hounding the country, and we are calling all the faithful for prayer to heal the wounds and divisions afflicting the country.
“Our first armor is prayer. So let us pray even more,” said CBCP president Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan.
The archbishop has also issued a “prayer for healing of the nation”, which asks for unity, solution to crimes and corruption, and compassion for those who died “in the present purge.”
“The killings continue to rise. The divisions seem to widen even more. The indifference to the violations of the Commandments of God is spreading. We must not give up,” he said.
The prayer will be recited before the start of every Mass in his archdiocese for nine days starting Aug. 30 until Sept. 7, a day before the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Titled “Lord Heal Our Land,” the prayer was released in three languages: English, Pangasinense and Tagalog.
“We trust in the mercy of God to answer our prayers for healing when we celebrate the birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary,” said Villegas.
The prelate also said that in Catholic schools in the archdiocese, it must be prayed before the start of classes in every classroom.
“Believe in miracles and the power of a praying people. When we pray together, we are strong with the strength of God,” he added.
