Prayers for the future
Annual service ecumenical in nature
You may have seen the notices and now you’re officially invited to the World Day of Prayer event at St. Joseph’s Church on Friday at 3 p.m.
“It’s always the first Friday of March, always,” said Marlene Bailey, one of the event’s Northside organizers. “North Sydney has been involved in it since the 1950s.”
Bailey has been a member of the St. Joseph’s Catholic Women’s League for the past 30 years and each year, she and other CWL members devote a considerable amount of time to organizing the annual event. It’s held at a different church in North Sydney each year.
The North Sydney services stem from the International World Day of Prayer which connects more than 170 countries that come together to pray for issues affecting women and children.
Each year, a different country composes the program which is used in churches worldwide. It usually takes the country three years to put the program
together. This year, the South American nation of Suriname is in the spotlight and the theme will be “All God’s Creation is Very Good.”
“It takes three years for the country to write the program because they’re trying to involve every religion that they can — it’s very ecumenical,” explains Bailey. “It involves women of every race and religion in the world and it’s always centred around the country, their traditions and
their beliefs.”
Suriname is well-known in its efforts to become environmentally sustainable.
“Suriname is a very green country — they recycle, upcycle and reuse everything,” said Bailey. “There’s no waste.”
This year’s service will pass that message on to those who attend the service locally. Attendees will be asked to write their environmental improvement wishes on pieces of paper shaped like frogs and turtles
which will then be placed into a “pond.”
“It’s going to be picked up and it’s going to be taken with all these wishes and we’re going to bless them,” said Bailey adding some of the wishes will be read aloud anonymously so everybody gets a chance to hear what they are.
A collection will be taken during the service and it will go to women’s groups in Suriname to help develop programs. Part of the money will also go to the
World Day of Prayer to further promote women.
There are several other World Day of Prayer services taking place in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality including at St. Paul’s Church, Brookside Street, Glace Bay, on Friday at 7 p.m. and in Port Morien on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. at St. Mary’s Catholic Church with guest speaker Fr. Norman MacPhee.