CV NEWS FEED // Over one million people participated in the first week of a Lenten prayer campaign launched by an archdiocese in England, prompting the archdiocese to call it a “huge success.”
The Archdiocese of Southwark, in London, England, launched a Lenten campaign encouraging Catholics to pray the Act of Contrition, the Nicene Creed, and a prayer written by St. John of the Cross, among others.
Since February 14—Ash Wednesday—the archdiocese has released a new video with prayers every day on its social media pages, including Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Over 1.5 million people have watched the videos since the campaign’s launch, according to a news release on the archdiocese’s website. The news release noted that the Nicene Creed was the “most popular” prayer so far, seen by 510,000 people.
“The campaign’s success is entirely organic, as the Archdiocese of Southwark hasn’t spent a single penny on advertising of the videos or advertising the campaign itself,” the news release noted.
Archbishop John Wilson of Southwark stated, “Prayer is a gift from God, it’s his way of revealing his desire to have a meaningful and lasting relationship with each of us.”
Wilson was installed as archbishop of Southwark in 2019 and has worked especially to promote evangelization in his archdiocese.
“But too often, with the busyness of life, people put up barriers between themselves and God. Too often people find it hard to take a moment to lift their hearts and mind to God,” Wilson stated:
I want people to rejoice in the wonder of prayer and that is why I’m encouraging people to give prayer a go. Christ thirsts for us and our hearts are restless until they rest in Him.
The Lenten prayer campaign is a part of the #GivePrayerAGo initiative launched by the archdiocese on January 1. The initiative “is being run to support the Year of Prayer designated by Pope Francis ahead of the upcoming Jubilee in 2025 for the Catholic Church,” the news release added.
The broader initiative is also encouraging Catholics to pray the rosary as a family and attend Adoration of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.
“The extraordinary reach of this simple prayer campaign underlines how much people do desire a relationship with Christ, but sometimes just need a little support in lifting their hearts and minds to Him,” Wilson stated. “Prayer is a precious gift and I am delighted people are embracing it this Lent.”
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