Parishes in the Diocese of Worcester are among those offering special times of prayer in response to SatanCon, the Satanic Temple convention scheduled to be held at the Boston Marriott Copley Place this weekend. St. Denis Parish in Ashburnham is to hold a Forty Hours devotion – 40 hours of eucharistic adoration – starting after a special 9 a.m. Mass Friday. St. Joseph Parish in Charlton is planning adoration and Benediction, praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet, Scripture reading and different preachers from 3-4 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday. St. John, Guardian of Our Lady Parish in Clinton added 12 more hours of adoration – on Friday and Saturday – to its regular schedule. And Sacred Heart-St. Catherine of Sweden Parish in Worcester is planning a “public reparation rosary” outside the church on Saturday, to “storm the heavens” with prayer, as requested by Bishop McManus. Even people in Fort Meyers, Florida, have been alerted to pray – because of Bishop McManus’ request. Barbara Hitchcock, formerly from St. Anne and St. Patrick Parish in Sturbridge, saw the bishop’s letter in The Catholic Free Press. She distributed it and said the Divine Mercy Cenacle at the Church of the Resurrection of Our Lord will be praying for St. Michael’s intercession. In his April 13 letter, Bishop McManus said, in part, “By baptism we are called to be witnesses to the Good News, in particular in light of this SatanCon event. Let us remember that our power to combat evil lies in the power of prayer. … Petition God to enlighten those who are calling on the prince of darkness to turn toward the light of his saving power. Use formal prayers, such as the Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel or pray the rosary or simply use your own words.” At St. Joseph’s, the bishop’s letter and a prayer by the pastor, Father Robert A. Grattaroti, were inserted into the parish bulletin, along with details about the adoration periods, said Deacon William Shea, who serves there. “We wanted to get the entire parish involved in the prayer,” he said. He said Father Grattaroti asked him to plan it. In other parishes, lay women suggested prayer. Lynn Lorusso, president of the Ladies Guild at Sacred Heart-St. Catherine Parish, said the Guild came up with the idea of praying a rosary for peace, and God’s love and mercy, in front of the church, and everyone is welcome to join them. St. John’s parishioner Sheila Beirne said a woman there asked their pastor, Father James S. Mazzone, about extending adoration hours, after seeing an announcement requesting adorers at a parish in the Boston Archdiocese. Sue Belfield, St. John’s adoration coordinator, said Father Mazzone asked her last Friday to coordinate the extra adoration hours. She contacted their hourly coordinators, who contacted regularly scheduled adorers, seeking to get someone to come pray at each of the additional hours. “The calls started coming in right away,” she said. “People were excited to do something about this.” Some didn’t know about the SatanCon. Some volunteered for two hours when they learned why they added extra time slots. “We have a minimum of three people on each hour,” she said Tuesday. Some hours have five people. She encourages everyone who is interested to come to the chapel in the lower level of the church, accessed by the ramp behind the church. An announcement about the extended adoration says it is “in loving and prayerful solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the Archdiocese of Boston … to pray for the safety and wellbeing of the hotel staff (where the SatanCon is to be held), all Bostonians and all of our sacred churches and shrines.” St. Denis parishioner Antonette Comeau said she got the idea for their Forty Hours from a Flock-note message sent to participants of the Worcester Catholic Women’s conference. It told about Forty Hours being held at St. Brendan Parish in Bellingham. “I brought it to the attention of our priest,” Mrs. Comeau said of St. Denis’ administrator, Father Thiago Da Silva. He agreed to hold Forty Hours, she said. “We’re such a small parish,” Mrs. Comeau said. She contacted neighboring parishes and people she knows “to ask them if they’d like to participate.” She said there is at least one adorer scheduled for each hour. “I feel like we are in continuous spiritual warfare” in our society and world, she said. “We want to pray for families, for our state, for our country,” against the demonic influences. She said she hopes the Forty Hours devotion brings all Catholics together and that “we rely on prayer … the most powerful spiritual weapon.”
40 HOUR ADORATION DURING SATANCON - Ashburnham: Join St. Denis Parish, 85 Main St., for personal or public prayer in adoration of our Lord. Adoration begins after 9 a.m. Mass Friday, April 28, and ends on Sunday, April 30 at 3 a.m. Let us unite our prayers for protection of our families, our state and our country against any evil from the Boston SatanCon event. Visit https://tinyurl.com/24g5xydb to sign up. Three days of prayer-Charlton: In response to SatanCon, St. Joseph Parish, 10 H. Putnam Road Ext., is planning adoration and Benediction, praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet, Scripture reading, and a homily from 3-4 p.m Friday, Saturday and Sunday, April 28-30. ADORATION HOURS EXTENDED DURING SATANCON-CLINTON: St. John, Guardian of Our Lady, 80 Union St., will hold extended adoration hours, 6 p.m.-midnight, Friday, April 28, and 8:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Saturday, April 29, to pray during the SatanCon event taking place in Boston. Email sbelfield14@gmail.com to sign up. FIGHT EVIL WITH PRAYER-ATHOL: Our Lady Immaculate Parish, 192 School St., will celebrate Mass at 9 a.m. Saturday, April 29, followed by adoration, 9:30 am.-noon, in response to the SatanCon event being held in Boston April 28-30. PUBLIC REPARATION ROSARY-WORCESTER: Sacred Heart-St Catherine of Sweden Parish, 596 Cambridge St., will hold a public rosary 1 p.m., Saturday, April 29, in front of the church, to “storm the heavens” with prayer as requested by Bishop McManus, in reparation for the SatanCon being held in Boston. PRAYERS OF REPARATION AND PROTECTION- WEBSTER, OXFORD: The parishes of Sacred Heart in Webster, St. Roch, Oxford and St. Anne, N. Oxford, in response to the SatanCon in Boston, will join in prayers for reparation and protection 12-3 p.m. on Friday, April 28 and Saturday April 29, and 2-5 p.m. on Sunday, April 30 at the Sacred Heart Guadalupe Chapel 18 East Main St., Webster.