Shrine Hosts Vigil For “Splendour Of Human Life From Conception”
The Shrine of Our Lady of Europe hosted a vigil last night organised by the Catholic Diocese of Gibraltar for a ‘Greater Love for the Splendour of Human Life from Conception.’
Organisers say that “well over 250 persons” attended the Vigil and a screen placed outside the Shrine for those who did not fit inside so that they were able to follow the proceedings.
The Vigil consisted of meditations on and the reciting of the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary and the singing of hymns. Each decade was preceded by a meditation and followed by a hymn.
Before the blessing, Bishop Carmel Zammit addressed those present thanking them for their attendance, as the vigil had been called at short notice.
He said: “We have come together in a spirit of fraternal harmony to pray for all of Gibraltar. Our Faith proclaims that God is our Creator and made us in His image and Likeness, and by this we mean from the beginning of our existence, that is that from conception we have the dignity of being children of God. Ours, therefore, is a Gospel of Love, of Reconciliation and of Life. As disciples of Christ, we are called to spread God’s love for all, even including those who are not yet born.
“We pray that we may give witness of this peace and message. May God, the source of all good, bless us, our family and our society.”
The Bishop asked the congregation to sing St Francis of Assisi's prayer ‘Make me a Channel of Your Peace.’
The final hymn was William Gomez’s ‘Ave Maria’.
