Prayer for the canonization
In our communities, disseminated over four continents, we pray daily for the canonization of our Founder. The prayer ends with a request for grace. In addition to the specific intentions that each person or community can express, all of us can unite to ask for a common grace. Our sincere and selfless prayer can lead us to the miracle necessary for his beatification.
Twelve intentions proposed by the General Council to the whole Society
The General Council proposes twelve intentions, from March 2017 to February 2018, and I am glad to convey them to you. Thus, for a whole month, we ourselves and our friends can ask through the intercession of Bishop Marion Brésillac a grace on some specific points of our missionary activity, a work which he himself began.
How to add the intention to the prayer?
At the point where the prayer says: "... By his intercession we will receive the graces of which we have need. In particular..." we will add the proposed intention, by saying it aloud. Here below follow the intentions for the 12 months, starting from March 2017
Commenting of and gathering information on each monthly intention
Each community can find a suitable occasion to focus on and elaborate the intention of the month with examples and quotations taken from our newsletters, documents and website. (EG for the month of March taking the experience of primary evangelization of one of our members from the SMA Web Site; or reading out the list of the newly ordained for the month of September, etc.)
MARCH 2017:The grace that SMA missionaries develop their ministry of primary evangelization to remote and poor regions in Africa.
APRIL 2017: The grace of taking generous and wise initiatives to help African migrants
MAY 2017: The grace of a good discernment and inspired decisions at the SMA Plenary Council in Nairobi.
JUNE 2017: The grace that SMA presence in Sierra Leone will help to actualize the missionary spirit of Brésillac for the West African Church.
JULY 2017: The grace of spiritual accompaniment and formation for SMA associates, lay missionaries and volunteers.
AUGUST 2017: The grace of continuous sharing of personnel and financial resources among the units of the SMA for the good of mission.
SEPTEMBER 2017: The grace of joy in pastoral ministry for the newly ordained SMA priests.
OCTOBER 2017: The grace of fruitful collaboration among priests, brothers, sisters and laity, who share the common patrimony of the African Missions.
NOVEMBER 2017: The grace of actualizing our missionary vocation through Event 2017.
DECEMBER 2017: The grace of perseverance and hope for Christian communities facing daily insecurity and terrorism
JANUARY 2018: The grace of a renewed evangelizing presence of SMA communities in Europe and America.
FEBRUARY 2018: The grace of justice and reconciliation for African countries with social, ethnic and political troubles.